“What’s wrong?”
I know I don’t do a good job of hiding my worry because Angel catches it, smiling gently. “Hey, no need to let that brain go haywire. I just wanted to share a few stories with you. Most of them aren’t fun, but I’d rather you hear them from me than through the hushed gossip around the kingdom.”
I nod and snuggle closer, preparing for whatever he’s about to throw at me.
Angel hesitates, and realization hits me like a punch to the gut. I’ve been so wrapped in my past and the pain I carry that I didn’t stop to think who I was hurting by keeping it all in.
Since we met, Angel has been hyper-focused on helping me heal, but I’m ashamed to admit that I never stopped thinking about my own problems long enough to ask ifhewas okay.
I have to do better. I can’t keep asking him to tend to my bruises and heal my broken soul if I’m not doing the same for him.
Angel lets out a deep sigh, his arms tightening around me like I’m the only thing holding him together. “Growing up in Conquer… It’s not the kind of childhood I would want for August. Life was pretty much awful before the kingdoms merged. My parents…”
He’s dragging the words out, and I already know I’m going to loathe my future in-laws after tonight.
“Let’s just say parenting didn’t come naturally to them. I was never enough. Always a disappointment.” He pauses,searching my face, but I don’t show him what’s running through my mind. I need to know everything before I decide how Luke and Kiara Alarie deserve to die.
“Sometimes they got physical. Between their glamorous extracurricular activities, they didn’t have much time to reprimand me. A beating was the fastest way to let me know how I was ruining their lives.”
A rage I’ve never felt before takes root in my chest. Not the wild, explosive kind I’m used to but something that simmers just below the surface of my skin… waiting to break out.
I count the beat of my mate’s heart to calm myself. I know how dangerous it is for me to harbor this rage, but his parents aren’t here for me to dismember, and there’s no way I’m letting this go.
I have a long list of people I want to see bound and bloodied in my torture cell, and his parents just made it to the top.
I don’t give a fuck about who they are. Anyone who lays a finger on my mate deserves every fucked up idea that comes to my head.
“Take me home, Angel. Right now.”
Before I can hunt his parents and make a bloody mess of them, Angel yanks me back and starts… laughing. He’s laughing like he didn’t just tell me something that makes me want to set two good-for-nothing assholes on fire, and it’s only making me angrier.
“Relax, my avenging goddess.” He chuckles. “No need to go on a murder spree. That was a long time ago. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
“It matters to me! Theyhityou, Angel. They put their hands onmy mate. I’ll rip those arms off—” He shuts me up by kissing me breathless, unfairly ending my murder rant.
I bury my fingers in his hair and kiss him harder, hoping to tame the fire inside me with his touch. He kisses me until I melt into him, then pulls away with that goofy, heart-stopping smile that will be my ruin one day.
I think Angel secretly loves it when I get all protective overhim. But I’m not sure he fully understands the level of violence I’m capable of… or how crazy I can be.
“Want to hear about the time I ran away from home?”
Hewhat?!
“Oh yeah…. I was only sixteen. My Divine wasn’t as strong then, so blending in with the crowds was easy. I was jumping from one realm to another with no real plan. I just didn’t want to go back to that house.”
There is a faraway smile on his face while I’m barely keeping myself together. Angel laces his fingers with mine, playing with them on his stomach. Unlike when he talked about his parents, he seems more relaxed and at peace now.
Angel chuckles, lost in the memory. “Even though I felt guilty for leaving all my responsibilities behind, I would’ve kept running… if your father hadn’t found me.”
I shift closer until I’m halfway lying on Angel, resting my chin on my knuckles on his chest. Angel brushes his thumbs over my cheek, momentarily losing his train of thought.
“He was pissed that I hid the abuse, and even more pissed that I let those ‘good-for-nothing bastards’—his words—drive me away from my home. Dean already hated my mother, but now he had a real reason to act on it. When I told him I wasn’t going back to my parents, he lookedsooffended that I thought he was taking me back to them.”
His laugh sends a flutter through my chest. I watch his breath hitch when I kiss his chest, right where his heart beats steadily.
“You already know the rest.”
“Uh, no, I don’t. I wasn’t there, remember? So details, please.”
