Page 139 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

Orym didn’t say anything, just held my hands as I found the words.

“I had a sister.” My voice was barely a whisper. “Who I loved very much. She is the reason I am what I am. I gave up my life to keep her heart beating, and then she was taken from me. I couldn’t save her. Then Samkiel . . . I couldn’t lose him, too. I refused to, so I threatened to burn all the realms in those tunnels, and I meant it. I would destroy everything, and I was prepared to do just that. Then . . .”

Orym squeezed my hands, grounding me. “And then?”

I nodded toward my finger. “It went away. Our mark had formed. It burned and sealed and went away. I lost us our mark. That was my price. He’s not mine anymore.”

Orym’s eyes softened with pain as he looked at me. “That’s not your price, Dianna, trust me. I’ve lived with you both and heard the way he speaks about you when you aren’t even around. Gods, the way he looks at you. It’s as if you have hung the stars themselves. He’s tied to you now, Dianna. Trust me when I say that you don’t need the mark.”

The crack in my heart I’d refused to acknowledge seemed to heal at his words. I had been so scared that losing our mark meant we would lose us, and he’d leave me. That I had ruined us like I had ruined so much in my life. I glanced up at Orym, who was still gently patting my hands. “You think so?”

“There’s no way you could have brought your amata back from the dead without being tethered in some deeper way.” He smiled at me, attempting to cheer me up. “It would have been utterly impossible.”

“Maybe.”

“But the universe does not give you anything without paying for it. There always has to be balance.” Orym’s eyes burned into mine. “Dianna, I’m sorry you had to watch him die. I’ve been there, and I wish I were as strong as you. I would have paid the same price to keep her.”

“You lost your amata.” Everything made sense now. “That’s what you lost.”

I heard a throat clear from the doorway a moment before I felt his power encompass me.

“Am I interrupting something?” Samkiel asked.

I pulled my hands back, brushing a strand of hair from my face. The moment we were no longer touching, Orym stumbled back, pushed by Samkiel’s power.

“No, I was just checking on Dianna.”

“After I punched a hole in an oracle’s face,” I added.

Samkiel kept his gaze pinned on Orym, and I swore I saw sweat forming on Orym’s brow.

“I believe I am pretty capable of taking care of her,” Samkiel said, folding his arms across his chest.

I guessed from an outside perspective it had looked intimate and secretive. It was made worse because Orym couldn’t tell him what we were talking about. So, instead, Orym cleared his throat and made his way out of the bathroom in a hurry.

I smirked, leaning on the sink. “I thought gods don’t get jealous?”

Samkiel kept his eyes on the door until we heard Orym head downstairs, his arms folded so tightly that his shirt was straining over his biceps, shoulders, and chest. Then he dropped his arms and strode toward me, his lips pressed into a hard line, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. Watching him walk toward me seemed to ease my soul.

“You know I was joking, right? If I thought he was even slightly interested, I’d boil him from the inside out.” He raised his hand and tugged at the strap of my dress. “Besides, you were gone all night in a lovely dress, spending time with another who all but tossed herself at you, and then you came back smelling of her. Now, I find you holding hands and whispering with Orym in our bathroom. I am feeling . . . territorial.”

I studied his face, every line and beloved feature transcribed in my brain. Samkiel truly had no idea the lengths I would go for him and only him. I understood his jealousy. I had left him before at my lowest and had been with others to push him away. Even with all his power and self-confidence, a part of him would always worry. I regretted putting that doubt in his eyes. I cupped his face and forced a smile. “There is nothing more important to me than you.”

His eyes softened, and that haunted look disappeared. He dipped his head and kissed my palm, his storm-colored eyes holding my gaze. “I know the feeling.”

I smiled, this time not having to force it, and leaned forward to kiss his lips before stepping out of his embrace. He felt the hesitation there, the lack of me, I suppose. But I was still shaken by the oracle and all she’d said. I turned my back to him.

“Can you help me?”

He slid his fingers across the exposed skin of my back, undoing one small button at a time.

“I want a bath,” I said softly. “And I want to go to bed.”

“Anything you wish, akrai.”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “Can you just hold me tonight?”

Worry creased his brow, not because he minded but because I never asked for that. My need for affection usually resulted in us both screaming with pleasure, never the soft, delicate moments he loved so much. Those moments scared me more than I wished to admit. I didn’t know how to deal with the emotions those tiny moments gave me. I could fuck him until his legs refused to work, but I’d never truly had that level of intimacy.

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