Page 67 of Taken By the Shadow Prince

Armin blinks. Shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter.”

“I want to know.”

He blows out a breath. Holds his hands out in front of him, then around him, as if giving in, or giving up, I don’t know. “This,” Armin breathes. “All of this.”

“The—the battle?”

He nods. “Yes.”

“So why’d you do it? Don’t you care about Joula, at least a little? She’s Elix’s daughter.”

He sighs. “I knew it would piss Elix off, and it’s not my place to say no to bargains. Besides... I saw this.”

“This?” I echo.

He gestures between the two of us. “This. Us. I saw meeting you. Loving you. And I would do anything to have it—even fucking over an entire country.” He looks away from me, starts walking again. “I don’t regret it, either, so don’t bother asking.”

I know I should be appalled by this. I know I should blame him, because that bargain steamrolled into this. The deaths of so many people and this war that has changed the country forever.

Instead, I grab his arm.

I turn him around.

And I bring my mouth to his.

“You’re fucking mad,” I breathe against his lips. “To have done all of that for me.”

“I have never been afraid of admitting that I love you, Mavey. Why is it so hard for you to do the same?”

It comes so easily now. “I do love you,” I say, pulling back just enough to get the words out. “I love you. So much, and I don’t know why, or how, or when.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he murmurs, and kisses me again. Hard, passionate kisses. And then he backs away, so quickly it takes my mind a second to process that he isn’t there anymore.

I open my eyes. He’s already staring at me. “Don’t kiss me if you aren’t coming, Mavey.” He shakes his head. “Are you? Are you going to come with me?”

The answer is so very clear, all of a sudden.

“No...”

Armin’s face crumples.

I’m quick to explain. “I mean no, right now. I can’t come with you right away. I want to stay for another week, to make sure everything’s going to be okay. And then after... after I’d like to go. I’d like to be with you, in Atheya. For as long as you’ll have me.”

He’s grinning now. He’s so beautiful in this moment that it is hard to look at him, but even harder to look away.

Armin comes to me again. But he doesn’t kiss me. He just wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a hug, so tight it’s hard to breathe and impossible to smell anything but him. A smile grows on my own lips as I wrap my own arms around him. I look up at him. “I don’t know that I could live without you anymore, even if I wanted to. I’m going to miss my brother, my family here, but... but I need you, I think.”

He brushes his lips against my forehead. “We will visit. Often. Now that you’re no longer being punished with your stay there, there’s no reason you can’t leave whenever you wish.”

I laugh, feeling a lightness inside that I am not accustomed to now that I have made my decision. “Come on,” I say. “I think we should tell everyone about us.” I pause, then add, “But not about the second bargain. Let’s keep that to ourselves, okay?”

“I’m sure they’d be very interested to know who saved their asses today,” Armin urges.

I just shake my head. “No. I want them to think that this country redeemed itself. That a demon didn’t need to do it for them.”

He chuckles and takes me by my hand, twining our fingers together and pulling me toward the door. “Come on, then. I can’t wait to show everyone just how deeply you’ve fallen for me.”

I grin. “I’ll deny it.”

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