Page 159 of Bloodguard

I pull her closer. Her eyes scrunch shut, and several tears slide along her bruised nose.

She tells me about the aviary and the shifter she cut to pieces. Ordering the place to be burned down? That’s something I would do—except instead of an order, I would have lit the match and personally added more wood.

Across the lake, a moonlight dove sings her mournful tune. Another joins, and their brethren throughout the forest follow their lead. Tucked away beneath the canopy of sweet, fragrant flowers, the world feels perfect. Spread those branches, step out, and we’d quickly discover that it’s not. There’s so much wrong. And aside from the murder spree I’m planning to unleash, there aren’t many ways to make it right.

“Youwerewrong for not telling me,” I say. “I should have known. Their loss would have fueled my drive and made me stronger.”

She stiffens in my hold. “Leith, I’m sorry—”

The slow shake of my head might as well be a soak in the cold lake with how much Maeve pales. I lift her chin with my thumb and kiss her. “That’s what Iwantto believe, at least, Maeve,” I say quietly against her mouth. “But I can’t be sure. Not when I see this place—feelwhat it has done to me.” I trail my gaze in the direction of where the manor once stood as tall and proud as the family who lived there. “You, like me, lost everything, and now we’re here, damaged spirits that may never be whole.”

Each tear that Maeve spills is a knife wound to my soul. “You’ll find someone to fill that void,” she says. “Someday.”

I gently cup her face, growling my words. “You’re the only one who can do that. Do you hear me?” Her breath hitches, and I continue. “I love you. I always have. There willneverbe another.”

She sits up and hugs her knees, her voice cracking with each syllable. “I’m not worthy of love.” She takes a shuddering breath. “I’m the one who killed my grandmother.”

I push to a sitting position. “That’s not true. You could never.”

“And yet I did.” She sniffs, the breeze fluttering over the lake blowing auburn strands across her face. “I used to think I was a good person. Not perfect, by any means, but kind and determined to heal, not harm. But I’ve hurt so many, and I continue to fail those who suffer.”

I don’t believe her. I can’t. My jaw clamps, and I shake my head. “Maeve…”

“I caused Grandmother’s death,” she says, “and my papa’s emotional collapse.”

I put my arm around her and pull her close.

Maeve’s shoulders rise and fall several times before she begins. “I didn’t stop Grandmother from killing innocents, Leith. I didn’t get Vitor to end the games. I didn’t protect Papa, who lost his mind protectingme.” She pauses and takes several breaths. “And despite being someone whose sole purpose is to be queen and protect all citizens of Arrow, I can’t stop Soro from feeding Aurora my people’s blood.”

“Maeve…who is Aurora?”

And then she tells me the sordid tale of the phoenix.

Fuck the aviary.

I’m ready to burn the Erth down.

Sullivan, and everyone before and after him, died and bled for a fucking bird—a creature who never should have been caught in the first place? What kind of hell did we wake up in?

I stand abruptly and yank on my pants. Maeve slips back into her gown, her movements rote and gaze haunted. They broke her.

Those motherfuckers broke the most beautiful person I know.

“We’re getting out of here. We’ll regroup with Giselle and Caelen, find your papa, and get the hell out.”

Maeve’s head jerks up, confusion creating two delicate lines between her eyebrows. “I can’t.”

“Like hell.”

She jerks her head to the side. I think she hears something. As she reaches for my hands and glances briefly behind her, I know we’re no longer alone. But Maeve simply clutches my hands and brings them to her chest, the silk of her fine gray gown rising and falling along my knuckles with each breath.

Shit. She’s a fucking mess. I’m no better.

“I need you to live,” she says. Her voice quivers, but not with grief or fear—it’s the steadfast determination this woman has demonstrated from the start, even as her blue eyes well and shimmer beneath the moonlight. “I need to know that I’ve done something right, that I’ve helped more than I’ve harmed. And I need that something to be you.” She releases a breath. “I love you, Leith. If you hear nothing else tonight, know that my heart will only continue to beat because of you.”

I haul her to me, my voice more beast than man despite the gentle way my forehead presses to hers. “I fucking love you, Maeve. Don’t you dare leave me, too.”

I shove Maeve behind me as someone approaches, causing Hilltop and Knight to whinny in challenge. They’re gunning for a fight.

---