Page 125 of A Broken Throne of Bronze

I say nothing, silently fuming. It’s as if Viridian’s quiet rage has somehow passed onto me.

“Cryssa.” He gapes at me in horror. “What the hell happened to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Cryssa I know would never have defended one of them.”

He doesn’t know that I am one of them. But I don’t have enough time to tell him that.

I clench my jaw. “You know nothing.”

“I don’t need to know anything,” he spits. “I’ve seen more than enough.”

I spin around on my heels, poised to march in the opposite direction.

Loren grabs my arm, hard enough to bruise. When I look back at him, his eyes plead with me. “Don’t go back to him.”

“Let me go.” Each syllable is sharper than steel.

“Don’t go back to him,” he repeats, still holding onto me. “Please.”

I wrench my arm from his grip. “You can’t stop me.”

“Then at least tell me why.” Loren’s face twists with pain. “Why have you chosen him over me?”

Why is it that I find myself in this exact situation again, with a different man? Only this time, I don’t feel conflicted. Even though it’s hard for me, my inability to give him the answer he wants doesn’t tear me apart.

If anything, it feels right.

“You and I—we’re not compatible, Loren. We have vastly different ideas of what we want our lives to look like.”

“That can’t be it,” he says, shaking his head. “We could work through that. We could find common gro—”

“No, Loren.” I say, my voice firm, like stone. My gut tells me that I should have done this a long time ago. “I won’t settle. Not anymore.”

“Settle?” His eyebrows shoot up, as if I’ve slapped him. “You’d have to settle to be happy with me, but not him? The noble fae that was so horrible to you? Even if you don’t want to marry me, why go back to him?”

Tightening my mouth, I harden my expression.

“Don’t tell me you…” Loren falls silent. His eyes widen with realization. “You… Oh gods. You love him, don’t you?”

I want to reply, but I can’t seem to summon the words. My silence is confirmation.

He’s right.

I have changed.

Loren just stares at me, an awful concoction of hurt, anger, and rejection burning on his face. Heat stings my cheeks and tears prick at my eyes.

I never wanted to hurt him. But I meant what I told him that fateful day.

Meeting Viridian changed the course of my life forever.

He’s my destiny, my future, and my solace, all wrapped up into one.

My mate.

I pause, like the whole world has frozen around me.

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