Page 71 of The Dawn of the Cursed Queen

“I know a place?” I screamed. “You didn’t tell me we were flying!”

He smiled, revealing two perfectly small dimples. It lit up his eyes, and I was gobsmacked by how utterly beautiful and tragic it was. Gods, when was the last time he had done it?

He placed the two small bags he’d carried up on the smooth stone of the highest point of the palace before sitting down. “You asked me once before where I go, and this is it. Sometimes, I come up here after a battle or early in the morning. It is a place I can just go to get away.”

The wind pulled at my hair, throwing it into my face. I pulled it back into a loose knot and walked to him. With a flick of my wrist, a soft blanket appeared beneath him. I sat down with him and turned my face to the sky. The sun hung high, casting a shimmering glow over the city below, and far off at the curve of the planet, I could see an ocean.

“It’s beautiful.”

“It is. And quiet. No guards or people staring, no whispers. Just silence.” He looked at me. “And no one up here looks at me like the bastard traitor I am.”

“You mean Cameron?”

He said nothing.

“What about Imogen? Have you seen her?”

“I can’t,” he said, his voice a whisper. “Every time I even get close to her . . . I just can’t. Besides, Isaiah keeps her safe and fed. No one gets close to her.”

“And you trust him with her?”

“Isaiah is not like some of the lower generals. He may be powerful, bloodthirsty, and cruel, but he would never touch anyone without consent. He’s not that low. Besides, he is screwing the brains out of Veruka.”

I snicker at hearing Vincent so candid and relaxed for once.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” I smirked. “Have you thought of apologizing?”

“There is nothing to apologize for. It would only make me a liar. I did what Nismera asked from the beginning. I always will.” Pain flared in his eyes. “I belong to Nismera. She is who I want, who I have to want. The only one.”

“That’s not fair to you. What about what you want?”

He met my gaze, something burning in those cobalt eyes. “I can’t have what I want.”

My skin flushed with the way he looked at me. I didn’t know how I felt about his words, but my body understood exactly what he had said. It was all in and ready for whatever he wanted to give.

Vincent cleared his throat and broke eye contact, opening the bags and spreading our food between us.

I pulled my knees up and rested my cheek on them, watching how he moved. “You always brought me food back when I was locked up on Rashearim.”

He half smiled. “I remember.”

“Can I ask? Why visit me? Samkiel had guards even if you chased them away. Was it just to get close to me for this?”

He glanced up at me. “The plan was always to bring you here. Kaden would have still brought you, regardless of how you felt about it. I didn’t have to get close to you.”

I appreciated his honesty, even with the uncertainty of my fate. I nodded. “So why then?”

He shrugged, sitting back and unwrapping his sandwich. “You keep my head quiet, I suppose. I can just exist around you. If that makes sense. I don’t have to talk or be anything. That’s why.”

His words touched a lonely, vulnerable part of me, easing the ache of loneliness that had been constant since being here. I’d never had anyone just want to be around me. Everyone wanted me for my power, not just me.

“Does this mean we’re kind of friends again?”

Vincent rolled his eyes. “You’re persistent.”

“Not persistent. Just lonely.” I looked up at the rolling clouds. “I kind of hate this place.”

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