Page 39 of Masked Fate

I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Pandora

Before he started pacing the length of the bedroom, he gently placed me in the middle of his extremely big bed. Glancing around, I take in the large armoire, the door that leads to his bathroom, and his wall of fancy-looking swords. Besides that, the room is empty. I’m overwhelmed with emotions right now. I’m so angry that he used his magic and forced me to remove the necklace, but it also is quite freeing for the truth to be out there like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Soren now knows the truth.

Even if we decide not to complete the bond, he knows the truth, and I will sleep better at night knowing that fact.

Sitting up, my fingers touch his white silk sheets, wondering how many women he’s had in his bed. It makes me feel sick, and I find myself scooting to the very edge of the mattress, my feet barely touching the floor.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, brow furrowing.

“Are these sheets clean?” I blurt out, eyeing them with distaste.

When was the last time he fucked one of hispets?

An undefinable emotion flickers in his eyes before he reaches down and touches my cheek gently. “Yes, they are fresh sheets.”

I tug my bottom lip with my teeth, still feeling uncomfortable.

“Fuck,” I hear him mutter, closing his eyes tightly before reopening them.

Soren runs his fingers through his hair, messing the normally perfectly-styled length. “Who else knew about this?” he finally asks.

Only Astrid, but I’ll never tell him that. I’m not pulling herinto this mess any more than she already has been. I don’t know if she ever told Rave, and I have never asked her.

I decide to stay silent, which must push Soren to his limit of patience because he storms into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly open. The water turns on, and when he still hasn’t come out after a good twenty minutes, I decide to enter and investigate. I find him standing under a fountain of water, palms against the wall, head bowed. I don’t have a shower in my bathroom, so I know his must be customized. There’s plenty of room in there for more than two people, and that knot makes its way back into my chest. His muscular back flexes as he takes a deep breath, and I can’t help but admire his tight, round ass. He’s built like a warrior—perfection and hard angles.

But he looks more defeated than I’ve ever seen him, his tall frame hunched.

And even after everything that’s happened between us, I don’t like that. But I can’t fix it.

My family hurt him, and he hurt me in return.

Not in the same way, no, but he hurt me all the same.

“Are you okay?” I ask, standing away from the water so I don’t wet my linen dress.

“I should be asking you that,” he replies, sighing as he turns around to face me. “I’m so sorry, Pandora. So fucking sorry for everything.” The despair in his voice makes my chest hurt.

Forcing a small smile, I make sure to keep my eyes on his. I don’t want him to catch me looking any lower. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t know how, and I didn’t want you to hurt any more than you were.”

His expression crumbles further at my words.

“I’m going to go to bed. Maybe we can talk more in the morning?”

We may have softened toward each other slightly in the last few days, but it’s not enough. There is so much hurt, regret, andpain between us. He didn’t know. I know he didn’t know, and that’s on me, but it doesn’t make my broken heart stop hurting or erase the last few years.

His brows draw together. “No. Stay here tonight. I don’t want you out of my sight right now.” He pauses and then adds, “Please,” almost as an afterthought. It’s like he’s not used to saying it.

And with all the females normally at his feet to do his bidding, I’m sure he isn’t.

My first reaction is to run, to get some space from him, just so I can think straight, which I can’t do when I’m around him. My heart is racing, my body pulsing with magic and freedom after being contained for so long by my spell. I feel more in my own skin than I have in a long time. It’s now my heart that’s about to take a beating.

“I don’t know, Soren…”

---