Page 40 of Tears of Ruin

I faltered for a brief second as I gazed at her but then recalled how she’d stood by my father’s side, never once stopping Stephan from punishing me, from having me shackled to the dungeon walls to savagely whip me.

Neither lived through my wrath.

Then I turned to find myself surrounded by the very vampires he’d let into our home.

“I guess we don’t have to abide by our agreement any longer,” one said, baring his fangs at me. I was surrounded by at least a dozen of them, and knew I wasn’t going to make it out alive.

At that moment, I hadn’t cared. I’d lost everything that had ever mattered to me. I’d left a trail of bodies in my need for revenge, had killed my own family. By ending Stephan, I had not only become the king of corpses, but was now the last of my kind.

In my anger, I had wiped out our firebird legacy. My kind would become extinct the moment the vampires killed me. It was a death I deserved. Matilda had shown me love, and I repaid her kindness with unrelenting carnage.

I had been ready to accept my fate, until I heard a loud hum. A stranger, tall and broad, his face a mask of pure rage, stepped into the room. His black wings stretched outward, a sword with a dragon’s hilt clutched in his hands.

When he bared his fangs, I thought my executioner had arrived. I started to lower to my knees and drop my head, welcoming my fate. Only, he didn’t end my life but those around me, leaving only the two of us standing among the dead.

“I caught word of their plans and tracked them.” He glanced around the room then his gaze landed on my parents’ burned remains. “Has your thirst for revenge been quenched?”

“Yes.” That single word rang hollow. I had killed everyone in the castle, but their deaths hadn’t brought back Matilda or the others. This was my fault. Their love for me had sealed their fates.

“I am Prince Malachi.” He put away his sword and approached me. “Come with me to Winterhaven, where you may finally rest.”

“My identity must remain a secret.” If I was to go with him, I didn’t want anyone killed because I was in their home.

“You have my word your identity will remain a secret.”

Not in that moment or since then had he asked the reason behind any of it. He’d helped me bury Matilda and the others, then we left, leaving Wellington Castle behind.

And now I was back for some reason.

Noam gasped, pulling his hand away. Too late I realized I’d pulled him into my thoughts to relive what I’d done that night.

I waited for him to recoil, to call me a monster, to demand I send him back to Winterhaven. I didn’t deserve happiness.

I didn’t deserve someone as sweet and innocent as Noam.

But even knowing that, my heart sank at the horrified look on his face, making me feel no better than Martin in his eyes.

“How could he do that to you?” Noam’s voice was filled with pain. “He killed them because you cared about them, didn’t he?”

“Her name was Matilda.” I touched the pendant around my neck, my throat burning from unshed tears.

Noam threw his arms around me, hugging me close. Fuck. I really didn’t deserve him. “But I killed all those people. I’m… I’m a monster.”

Slowly, he pulled back, glancing up at me. “I don’t know how I saw into your past, but from what I gleaned, everyone knew what your father was doing and no one stopped him. That makes them just as guilty, Richard.”

I was rendered speechless. This sweet man, who had suffered horrifically at the hands of his own father, knew the pain, the heartache I had endured.

Because he had endured the same kind of heartache his entire life.

“You really are amazing.” I cupped his cheek, smiling down at him. “No wonder my magic allowed you entrance,mon cœur. It knew you needed me as much as I needed you.” I brushed my thumb over his soft cheek. “Je t'aime, petit chaton.”

“What does that mean?” he asked breathlessly.

I smiled and whispered into his ear. “I love you, little kitten.”

He inhaled a shaky breath. “I…” He swallowed, taking his time, and I waited patiently. “I love you too.”

“How sweet.”

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