After she left, I sat on the couch and rubbed my face with my hands.
Oh, what a day.
As much as I wanted to sit there and just take a minute to relax and enjoy the fact that my father was going to be okay, I knew I had to return Ember before Ariyon—
There was a knock at the door. I crossed the space quickly, pulling the door open only to come face-to-face with the prince himself.
“Hey…” I said. “What are you doing here?”
He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. “You stole my horse.” He indicated Ember, who was eating a bowl of oats and apples right near my front door.
He’d been avoiding me and Eden and spending all of his time with Blair, and it really pissed me off for some reason.
“I’m surprised you even realized I’d taken Ember with your tongue down Blair’s throat all the time,” I snapped.
“Jealous?” He grinned.
“Jealous I can’t tongue-kiss your brother, yeah,” I gibed back, surprised to hear so much anger in my voice.
His entire body tensed then, and he stepped closer to me. “Isaw you first,” he snapped.
“What the Fae does that mean!” I retorted.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Is everything okay? I know you wouldn’t take Ember unless it was an emergency.”
A subject change. Fine.
I nodded. “My dad had an accident at work. Needed tinctures and stitches. He’ll be fine.”
Ariyon frowned. “Does he need healing?” He peered deeper into my house as if searching for my father.
I reached out and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him off the top step. “No, he does not. I would prefer if you lived longer and just let others suffer sometimes.”
He looked down at my lips and swallowed hard, silence stretching between us.
“What?” I asked, knowing he was thinking something.
Finally, he shook his head and looked at me with a sadness I wasn’t prepared for. “Nothing.”
Then he walked away, got on Ember, and rode off into the fading sun.
What made him so sad? I was so confused I just stood there for a full ten minutes, watching as he and Ember faded into the horizon.
I saw you first.
What did it mean?
I finally stepped into the house and went to my room.
Ayden’s flowers had long since died, and Ariyon’s remained. Immortalized in red and green, paint on canvas. It hung on my wall as a constant reminder that maybe this entire flower thing might be a metaphor. What I had with Ayden would eventually die. He wouldn’t stay with a woman he couldn’t kiss, couldn’t touch. But with Ariyon I could have forever…if only that was what he wanted. The tortured artist was so enthralled with his own impending death, I didn’t know if he even knew what he wanted. But I knew that I was not the type of person that could have feelings for two people at once and if I was being honest, I’d felt something for Ariyon from the start. So now I had to do something about it. Because I thought about kissing him tonight when he looked at my lips and I couldn’t do that to Ayden.
With a sigh, I checked on my sleeping father and left my house, leaving the door unlocked and a note for Mable and Eden that I would be back soon. I walked through town, flashing my ID at the gate of the West Side, and trekked all the way to Ayden’s house.
He deserved more. So much more.
I knocked on the door and tensed when it opened and Ariyon stood there. His brow furrowed. We’d just seen each other, so this was horribly awkward.
“I’d like to speak with Ayden,” I said formally.
