Page 85 of Clash of Kingdoms

“Well, he wasn’t this way when my mother was alive. He was a good man then. Taught us how to hunt, how to provide, spent time with us because he wanted to, not because he had to. I guess we continue to tolerate his extremism because we remember the way he used to be.”

“Why did you hate humans as much as he did while your brothers didn’t?”

Another complicated question. “I guess I hated humans for what they’d done to my mother. My brothers were wise enough to understand that just because a few men were evil didn’t mean everyone was evil, but I disagreed. I held on to the grudge, held on to that pain—and so did my father.”

“Does Harlow know what happened to her?”

I shook my head.

“Why haven’t you told her?”

I stared at my hands on the table. “For the longest time, I tried to hold back as much as possible because I knew where our relationship was headed—and I didn’t want it to happen. But in the end, it didn’t matter, because I fell hopelessly in love with her anyway.” I didn’t meet his gaze as I said that so I could avoid the discomfort in his eyes.

Huntley said nothing, just as I expected him to.

I continued to stare at the table.

“I’m sorry…that your father treats you this way.”

I lifted my gaze.

“I love my children differently, but I love them the same.”

I knew how much he loved his wife and children because I felt it whenever they were in the same room together. “I feel your love whenever you’re around your family, and my father has never felt that for me, for any of us. At least, not since we’ve been vampires.”

Huntley stared at me, softness in his eyes, sadness in his heart. “If I lost my wife…” He paused for a long time, like saying the words was enough to make him inconsolable. “I would never be the same. But if anything, my love for my children would deepen because they’d be all I had left.” He swallowed. “You’re a good man, Aurelias. So are your brothers. You all deserve that kind of love.”

I couldn’t hold his gaze any longer and dropped it, looking at the table again, his stare suddenly too much for me. I’d never realized my father’s love was conditional until now. I’d never realized I was only the favorite because I had the same poison in my heart. Now that love had replaced my bitterness…I’d lost my place.

NINETEEN

HARLOW

Our relationship had come to an abrupt halt, but he continued to be a part of our lives like he’d always been there. He continued to fight alongside us like he cared for us as much as we cared for ourselves. I was in my room, trapped in my misery, but he carried on like nothing had changed.

I would give anything to feel him the way he felt me.

To know I wasn’t alone.

He never came to my bedchambers. Never tried to speak to me. The most he ever did was stare at me. Now that he was about to leave to destroy the crystal, our relationship would be over soon anyway, but it was all I could think about.

They were going to depart in an hour, so I walked down to his cottage, my beating heart in my throat. I tried to swallow it back, but it was lodged in the space. A rush of nerves flooded me, and I hated the fact that he felt all of that.

The door opened when I hadn’t even knocked, and he stood there, staring at me in the heavy armor that would keep him alive on this dangerous journey. His dark eyes had storm clouds, and his breathing was immediately different, like his dead heart had jumped into his throat as well.

I stared.

He stared back.

I’d had the courage to come all the way down there, but I didn’t have the courage to speak. My eyes dropped to the floor, and I let myself inside the small cottage, the fire almost out in the fireplace, frost pressed up against the windows.

He shut the door behind me then faced me again.

Now that I was the recipient of his stare, I froze in place. I had so much to say, but not a single word would form on my tongue. I was still wounded by his betrayal, but no amount of anguish would make me stop loving him. “I’m scared…” That was the best I could articulate, sounding like a child.

He stepped closer to me, eyes locked on mine with desperation. “I’ve been there before. I’ll be alright.”

“They’ll know you’re coming?—”

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