“One year. After that, maybe one of my sisters will be married and we can end it.”
His eyes tighten, but he says, “It’s enough time to see.”
“See what?”
He shrugs. “What else our magic can do.”
A shiver works its way down my spine. “And what about…the other thing.”
“I’m taking your lead on that.”
Which means, if I want him, he won’t stop me. “Is there someone else you’ve got dangling on a string? I won’t be publicly humiliated.”
“There’s no one else.” He folds his arms. “Do you have someone else?”
“No! Would I be discussing this with you if there was?”
“I hardly know you.”
Roses, he said. He knows me well enough to know we make roses.
One year. Separate bedrooms. My terms, my timeline. This isn’t romance. It’s strategy. I can do this. I can choose this.
I offer my hand. “Then it’s settled. Let’s shake on it.”
“Should you discuss this with your parents first?”
I scoff. “Compared to what happened with Addison, my oldest sister, when she was magically joined to a fae king who hated my family, this agreement is a piece of cake.”
Eryx eyes my hand briefly before sliding his palm over mine. Prickles of magic wash up my arm and flood my chest. There’s something almost sentient about his power.
It’s unnerving.
A small smile flickers on his lips. “Then let’s get married.”
Eryx
I’ve stepped out of my district. Out of my walls. Into hers. Kings aren’t meant to marry on borrowed ground. Yet here I am.
We’re in her living room. Outside, it’s raining. Thunder booms. Lightning cracks.
It feels like the weather is commenting on this marriage.
Chelsea stands beside me, the scent of her filling my senses, making it almost impossible to focus. But my distraction isn’t entirely because of her.
Why did you tell her she can have her own bedroom?Nightmare demands.I was hoping to watch her sleep.
Try that and she’ll probably cut our throat.
She wouldn’t do that…would she?
I’m not willing to risk it.
In front of us, Chelsea’s grandmother says, “We are here to join these two people in holy matrimony.”
I had wanted a priest, but it was impossible to get one on such short notice. We only finished breakfast half an hour ago.
Her parents didn’t put up as much of a fuss as I thought they would.
