Page 15 of King of the Dawn

Now and then the light would flicker in his velvet eyes, mostly whenever I spoke of our future together, or pressed kisses along his scars while he scrubbed my body in the shower. He was stressed, looking for the last remaining man we needed before justice could finally be served.

Until he could join him in the hell my husband created beneath this house, punishing them like my own personal Devil.

I wasn’t being brought in on the details of the manhunt. I’d only caught Jericho whispering in the halls with Yuliya, or on the phone with his friend, Corbin. I didn’t ask, he didn’t tell. I trusted when the time came, he would see to it that I’d be there to witness the dead man’s demise.

While he managed business, I hid away in the greenhouse working on my candles and growing my plant babies. He hadn’t visited me while I was in there the way he normally did. I mostly saw him for dinner and when I went to bed. I was desperate for more time with him, but every spare second went toward the manhunt… or maybe he was avoiding me too. I couldn’t be sure.

I resented the hunt, even as it was made in my honor. Wherever Brock was, he was buried deep, hidden well, and not coming out anytime soon.

I sighed, returning to the candles. I was bored here which was new for me. I’d spent much of my previous marraige making myself invisible. Any spare moment I had was left worrying about my next punishment. Now my days were filled with empty thoughts. Did my husband care about me? It didn’t feel like it.

Not when he was never around.

What was the point of revenge, if I was alone?

There was nothing but emptiness in being alone. The numb ache wishing for… something.

I gritted my teeth as I glared at the lit candle in front of me. The black wax taunted me, the snake poking from the eye of the skull ready to attack. And for a moment, I thought about the pain that would come if I poured the hot liquid over my skin.

I was no stranger to agony, and the desire to feel again had me reaching for the candle. I stopped when I heard him.

Jericho’s hushed voice came from the library. His urgent, clipped tone made me want to rush toward him, but the hurting inside of me won. I wouldn’t be a weak woman who longed for the affection of a man. I was stronger now, more independent.

His voice grew nearer, and I peered over my shoulder for the briefest of moments. There he was, standing near the fireplace and dressed in his perfectly tailored suit and ready to reign terror on anyone who dared to cross him. He walked back and forth, phone to his ear.

“It’s been weeks,” he murmured. “Where the fuck is he?”

He never once looked toward me, but he knew I was here. This is the only place I’d be if I weren’t in our room. My heart pounded faster, and the rage bubbled inside of me. Why did he make me think he wanted me if he was just going to toss me away once we wed?

“Smoke him out.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. I despised the sickening anger that came whenever he ignored me. I didn’t deserve that. Jericho had made me realize it. And yet here I was, desperate for him to love me the way I was desperately in love with him.

I hummed my song, needing to ease the ache building inside of me. The wax on my body would make me focus on the physical pain. She and I were old friends. The emotional pain was too much for me to bear.

“You look like you’ve been rolling around in a garden.”

My eyes snapped open when I felt his arms wrap around me from behind. He plucked a soft purple petal from my hair and brought it to my face for inspection.

He was touching me. I eased into him, desperate to coil into his arms. I was the wax. He was the mold.

I sucked in a sharp breath. “I had some essential oils delivered last night. I wanted to get a head start on my candles.”

“From Charlie?” Jericho asked, referring to the man who owned the greenhouse botanical that held the single Queen of the Night bloom. The same greenhouse I visited when I realized I was in love with the man I was bound to. “He’s been getting you everything you need?”

He looked around my little sunroom, and I wondered if he noticed the little snake plants, and tropical flowers. Did he recognize the dark purple orchids? All the little companions that had been around that little Queen of the Night flower, that had cemented my place by Jericho’s side? The gesture that had made me fall intoxicatingly in love with the man I had feared and stabbed when I first met him.

His hands snaked around my waist and he tugged me into him, my arse pressing against his groin.

“Have lunch with me?” I hated how desperate I sounded.

He hummed against my neck. “I’ve already eaten.”

“Oh.” I tried not to let the disappointment show in my reaction, but my voice held it anyway. I moved to pull from him, but he gripped my waist so I couldn’t get away.

“I have about an hour before my next meeting. I’ll sit with you while you do your witchy business.” I turned in his lap, and he leaned down to graze his lips against mine. For a moment I pretended the weird tension between us was gone. I wanted to get back to how we were before the wedding. To the man who loved me, who demanded I have meals with him in the common areas.

Where had that man gone? He was replaced by someone who was a world away despite the firm grip on my hips, tugging me into him. I closed my eyes, inhaling his familiar sandalwood spice, savoring the warmth of his breath against my ear. It tickled me, causing a shiver to run down my spine, but it was gone just as quickly as he pulled away.

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