Page 55 of Secrets & Curses of Crimson

“Yes.” He nodded. Gods, why didn’t she just tell him they were mates? “I didn’t think I could feel more passionate about anything as I did when I loved her, but I was wrong. It turns out my hatred for her far surpasses any love I ever had for her.”

“Gods, that seems harsh.” I frowned.

“What is harsh is watching the woman I love rip my sister’s soul from her body, killing her, even after I begged her to save her. The day she killed Remiah is the day she killed me too.”

His hands balled into fists as he looked at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, regretting bringing this up. Especially seeing how much Della still loved him and how much he hated her. I couldn’t imagine hating Cassius for any reason. He could have killed my father, and I would probably thank him. Fuck, he killed me, and I’d still get on my knees and crawl to him if he asked me to.

“I need to go for a walk,” he said angrily. “Leer and Zade are standing guard outside the door if you need anything.” He stormed out of the room. I stared at the wall, feeling like an asshole for bringing it up.

Chapter 17

Thea

Icould hear harsh whispers somewhere in the room. My mind was confused when I opened my eyes and saw I wasn’t in Cerithia.

When I turned around, Haden was talking with one of the other fae, Zade; I think they had called him that before. They both stopped and looked at me for a long moment.

“Good morning, Thea.” Zade smiled.

“Good morning, Zade.”

I laughed when both of their faces fell in horror. I was not supposed to know his name, but this was well worth learning it on my scouting trip.

“You remember me,” he stuttered.

“No.” I looked up at the ceiling of the room. “We did a scouting mission a few months back, and I overheard it.”

When I looked back, he frowned at my confession. Haden chuckled and patted his friend on the shoulder. Amoment later, the big fae, whose name I couldn’t remember, walked in with breakfast.

“Thank you.” I smiled. “What’s your name? I can’t remember.”

“Leer.” He raised his bushy eyebrow at me. “You recognize me?”

“Yes. I recognize all three of you.”

Their faces lit up like this was the best news they had ever heard. All three of them stayed in my room and talked amongst themselves. It was a nice distraction from the fact that I was a prisoner and that I had upset Haden last night. Better here than Cerithia, I supposed. At least they like me here. My eyes watched the storm moving in over the castle. I loved the rain and the dark gloominess it brought.

The guys stopped talking suddenly, and I looked over to see what was wrong.

Cassius was glaring at me from the doorway, dripping wet from the rain outside. I stood up and looked at the guys. They all just stared at me and then at him with big smiles on their stupid faces. Cassius leveled a glare at them too. He was mad, but fuck, I could hardly keep myself in check knowing he was my mate.

Husband.

“Leave,” he ordered, and they took off without a word. Cassius looked back at me with black eyes. His fists were clenched tightly.

“If you’re going to kill me, then get on with it.”

This seemed to snap him out of his angry glare. He blinked slowly at me and then took a step toward me. Gods, it was difficult to be near him without touching.

“Did you believe Jesper when he said you could have learned to love him?”

He was jealous.

“No.”

Something murderous flashed in his eyes as he moved toward me. His hand grabbed the back of my neck so he could pull me an inch from his face. “You know I would never let you belong to anyone else, don’t you?”

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