Page 161 of A Debt of Darkness

I rest my head on his chest. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Henry laughs and its vibration rumbles through me. “No, and truly, I’ve stopped counting. How about I tell yousomething else instead?”

I grin, letting my mind wander through the disarray of the memories he gifted me when he turned me. It’s a jumbled mess, but every day I make a little more progress with sorting through the chaos. Henry’s telling me his story, helping me make sense of the history he’s gifted me and we’re growing closer as my confusion slowly—agonizingly slowly—abates.

He waits until I nod. “Let me tell you about how I stole that ruby from Burma's last king.”

My lips part and Henry’s laugh turns into a riot, and my heart almost skips a beat. I’m delighted my mate’s as happy as I am and our laughter reverberates around us, filling us with unbridled and unsurpassed joy as we rest easy, certain we’ve found our home.

45

NEVER LET YOU GO

HENRY

Irage through the castle, irritated that yet again I’m chasing after Ivy. She’s become hard to find and it irks me. She’s my wife, my pet, my fucking Queen and this is my goddamn castle and it is taking far too fucking long.

“IVY.”

My voice reverberates through the hallways and rooms as I call her, railing against the echoes bouncing back. I need her and she’s missing. It’s an affront and we are going to have to talk about it. As soon as I find my goddamn wife and fuck some sense into her.

My wife is far from timid and she grows stronger every day. Her transformation was fraught and prolonged, partly of her own making. She refused to feed as often as she needed, and it made the agony last longer. What should have happened in days took weeks and her stubbornness cost her dearly. It may be that her father's nature was the only thing that saved her, and part of me is convinced that being half-vampire waswhat got her through this and every other ordeal.

I stayed with her through every moment, drying her tears and washing her broken body.

I hated myself for doing this to her.

I should have been stronger. And faster.

I never should have let her leave this goddamn castle and if I’d acted faster, more decisively, then Ivy would never have been in danger in the first fucking place. I should have ripped Marcus’s head off his fucking body before he ever hurt my wife.

Ivy misses her sister but is too afraid to reach for her. Ivy fears rejection and, for now at least, keeps Izzy at a distance. I listen to her cry for her sister and it breaks my heart, understanding Ivy’s need to protect her and sure we have time to repair any damage in their relationship. Ivy’s wails are loudest over Izzy and even my assurances that she’s well and taken care of do little to soothe my wife.

“IVY.”

She still doesn’t come and I close my eyes, narrowly avoiding losing my goddamn shit. It’s too early for her to be out of the castle and it reminds me of the days she’s lost and the ones she’ll spend locked inside, crying because she misses the light and the colors of the world. I see her, staring out the window at night, watching the moon as it lights the clouds and the stars as they dance through the darkness.

Ivy cries almost every day.

More than once.

I don’t shy away from it. Or away from her.

I did this to her and it’s as much my burden as it is hers.

Sometimes, she shuts herself in the bathroom and tries to hide her tears. I don’t know why Ivy does it. I feel her distress in our bond like a knife striking in my goddamn chest. I hear every fucking tear as it runs down her face and falls to the floor. Her sobs sound like songs of sorrow and songbirds weep as they join her chorus.

And then she’ll emerge from her haven as if whatever passed never happened. The perfect lines of her soft lips invariably curl into a smile that lights my life, and I feel like I’m the light that lights hers.

“IVY.”

She walks through the door and her hair flows behind her as she races toward me. Her eyes are bright and their emerald is as stunning as always. They’re beacons that call me home.

The little girl who almost killed me when she tried to die gives me back my life when she smiles and I sigh, forgetting my irritation in an instant.

“You called?”

I’m tempted to throw her onto the floor and fuck her senseless now. Her lips part as she pouts and they’d look fucking glorious, screaming my name as she comes. The coven ought to see me fuck my wife, and Ivy’s going to push her luck a little too far one day.

---