Page 8 of King of the Dawn

He winced, as if he felt my pain.

I took his hand and did the same to him. As his skin split in two, he didn’t flinch. Not like when I had cut myself. I placed his wound over mine, our blood mingling between our hands as I rushed to bind us with the hair ribbon. Securely wrapped, I leaned down to kiss where our hands joined.

“You are blood of my blood, bone of my bone,” I said in a rush, staring at our joining. “From this day forward, I will never have another.”

I kissed our hands again, and felt a tear fall down my cheek.

“My life is yours.” I looked up at his face, to see him watching me with that sorrow written in his brow. A sorrow he would not share. “Say it back to me,” I begged.

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

“You are blood of my blood, bone of my bone. From this day forward, I will never have another. My life is yours.”

He leaned forward and kissed me, caressing my face, and I felt a surge of bittersweetness. The way he’d been acting since this morning, I knew something was wrong.

“I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you safe,” he said on a gasp, shutting his eyes. “You will want for nothing.”

“Your wants are my oaths.” I leaned forward until my chest was on his, our hands tucked between us.

“Really?” His eyes opened, searching my face for… something. I didn’t know what. “You swear?”

“I do!”

I had never meant anything as much as I did right then. I do. I will. I swear. I pledge. I am Jericho Vasiliev’s wife.

“You’ll come to regret those words, witch,” he said, quietly. It was so quiet, I barely heard it.

My heart clenched, taking in the uneasy state of his mind. I hated him thinking that he didn’t make me happy. We would have to fix that.

“My first wedding was the worst day of my life. Today is the best day of my life.” I sprinkled kisses along his jaw, his cheeks, his ears. “I am honored to call you mine.”

He stared at me in that deep assessing way of his, and I knew he was searching for the truth in my eyes. He’d find no lies here. “Your first wedding means nothing. That man was not your husband. You will never call him that again. I am the first and the only.”

I placed my hands over his on either side of my face, stroking the back of his hands. “Yes, husband. Only you.”

He grinned, satisfied with my answer, and released his hold on me.

“Join me in the shower?” I asked, climbing out of the bed. I pulled the nightgown and undergarments off, heading for the hamper in the corner of the room. He hadn’t responded, so I turned back to see if he was coming.

Jericho was sitting up now, his head dropped as he stared at something in his hands. My breath caught when I realized he was reading the note inside of my book. His body was stiff, and when he looked up at me, I may not have seen the rage inside of him, but I swore it shook the ground beneath my feet.

“Who is Ryan?” he asked, keeping his tone cool.

I shrugged. He couldn’t know, I wouldn’t allow Ryan to be hurt because of his jealousy. That was, if Ryan was even alive. Still, I wouldn’t take that risk.

Jericho snapped the book shut, then pushed off the bed. “You may be his moonlight,” he said, and I caught the slight ticking of his jaw that he hadn’t managed to hide. “But you are my queen of the night. Tell me, who the fuck he is.”

His quiet voice did little to mask the anger brewing in his heart.

I shook my head, stepping back. “Jericho, stop.”

“Is he a guard? Was he the one who helped Kira escape?”

I shook my head again, closing my eyes. I knew what he would do in order to get the answers he wanted. But this? This one I couldn’t share. Tears threatened to escape. I had spent years building up walls.

But this secret, if Jericho took it from me, would shatter me.

Jericho was a good man. A good protector. But I knew he was also jealous and possessive, and prone to violence.

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