Page 58 of Death Game: Supernatural Battle

They thought Fyrlia was evading their efforts to tear down Mr Ringly because of Julia Dinh?

I took his hand in mine. “Kyros, is there anything I can do to help?”

He regarded me for a long time. “I won’t drag you into this further. To see how knowing me has changed you. You were always this young, but you weren’t always this serious. Not before me. Thinner. Scarred. Wary. Hurt. Too aware of danger.”

I struggled to understand what he was saying. “You find those things unattractive?”

“No, my beauty. They’re nothing more than regrets spoken in a regretful moment.”

“Those things are nothing more than a moment in time,” I told him. “And not all of those things you listed are bad. I had lessons to learn. Would you rather lock me in your tower?”

“Yes.”

Fell into that one.“You’ve changed, too, since we first met.”

“But I don’t run from you because of them.”

“Kyros, you’ve run from me twice. Once after your siblings found out our bond was far stronger than you’d let on. And again after the third thrall. Not only that, youstillkeep me at arm’s length whenever you fear I can’t handle something. Like the other day when you tried to brush aside what happens beyond the fifth exchange.”

“What else should I do when you feel panic and fear at every turn? What lies between us overwhelms you with its intensity, but our bond will only grow stronger. That’s why you run.”

I rubbed my temples. “That’s… No. I’m not running.”

“Move into the tower then, or this house. With me. Permanently.”

“Kyros, that doesn’t prove anything. That’s asking me to leave my home. Why don’tyouleave your home?”

His eyes gleamed. “Why don’t you ask and find out?” My chest rose and fell, and his expression smoothed. “I didn’t think so.”

“I’ve only known you for three months,” I choked. “What’s the hurry?”

“When two people are true mates, time is meaningless.”

The urge to get up and leave was nearly unbearable. Not for any of the reasons he thought he’d correctly deduced. My reasons had everything to do with everythingelse. Grandmother. Tommy. The triplets. King Mikael. Grandmother’s friends. Sandra. Rhys. The game.

For the first time, I truly wished everything else would disappear. If it were just me and him, things could be so different.

Kyros closed his eyes. “If you want to leave, then leave, Basilia.”

“If I have a tendency to run,” I withered, “then you have a tendency to push me away.”

He growled, facing me. “Pushing you away? Everything I do is to keep you by my side, including the lies. Without that, you’d be long gone.”

“Maybe in the beginning,” I acknowledged. “I’m here now when I don’t have to be.”

“And if I told you all, vixen, would you stay?”

I shifted, hugging myself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kyros gripped my hips and slid me toward him until we were nose to nose. “How long will it be before telling you that I’ve never cherished another as I cherish you doesn’t fill you with dread?” He searched my gaze.

My heart leapt at the words. Then twisted, plummeting to splatter on the ground.

“You know, my beauty. Don’t you?”

I held a finger over his lips. “Don’t.”

Please don’t tell me you love me.

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