Page 31 of Ink Deep Devotion

“Oh, little fox, you’re so predictable.” He belittles the nickname I used to cherish,“Changing your coat, spreading your legs when you feel lonely.”Stop!“You did it with Jared, then me, and as soon as I left, you ran to Dominic. It’s pathetic. You thinkI want to be married to you?” He bristles and rolls his eyes as if they were the hand of God flicking me off his throne.

I wish I could swallow down the pained cry that flees my lungs.“It’s been years. You left me! You abandoned me despite my desperate pleas.”

Dash grabs his cuff links.“And yet I remained loyal.” He mutters under his breath.

“You… you…” Shock renders my tongue into putty.“You left with Casandra. You kissed her!” My eyes narrow, and I see through his walls. I see the pained, broken prince who did, in fact, lie to me.

Dante was correct. So was Dash. The past was a game of trickery, but the final trick was to protect me.

It was all a lie. He kissed Casandra to push me away because he knew he was leaving that night.

I wish I knew.

“You should have just told me. I would have waited.”

“And you should have remained loyal, but what can I expect from a creature who roams aimlessly,” he rolls his eyes,“searching and stealing from others in order to survive a long, cold winter?”

“You’re a bastard.” I hold my inhale, forming it into a shield over my chest.

“And you’re a witch!” He roars, breaking his cold mask to reveal his grief.“A thief in the goddamn night! But guess what,” he snorts,“I don’t need what you stole. I’m better off without it.”

Without your heart?

Dash stayed true to me, to us. He hasn’t fucked around. I hug myself, nails digging into my skin, and as I scratch it, I feelgrimy. His eyes follow the marks I leave on my arms, but unlike last time, he doesn’t stop me from hurting myself.

He really doesn’t care anymore.

“I would have waited for you.” I step closer, eyes drinking him in. He’s changed so much; he was always secretive and cold, but now he’s glued himself back together with the agony of his pain.

He turned his desire and fury, the devotion we had to one another, into ink and marked himself with it, staining and destroying what I once loved.He's tried to use that black hatred to write over what we had.

I don't want to let the ink seep in, but how can I stop it now that he has spilled it and tossed it back into my soul to absorb?

I brace myself for the anger that is about to be unleashed as his jaw clenches tightly. I can’t say I don’t deserve it.“Now you will know how I feel.” He grins.

The heaviness on my chest is unlike anything I’ve encountered before, making each inhale seem like an incredible task.

He waited, fought to stay alive, only to come back and find out I had been with Dom.

“I’m not the only one at fault.” I move closer, yet he moves back.“You should have been honest with me.”

“I’ve always been honest.”

“Through tricks and lies!”

“It’s my nature, and yours is to run into the arms of another. What’s done is done.”

“Dash, don’t be like that.”

“I don’t want to speak to you or be seen with you!” He jabs a finger into the air towards me.“You disgust me.”

“And a part ofyoudisgusts yourself.” I retort.

His eyes darken in warning.

I can’t stop.“We’ve always seen what no one else does. You can’t deny it.”

“I see the dirtiness in you, only this time, I don’t care to clean it up.” His eyes look away from me and towards the door.“We will attend the same school. You will be the perfect little doll. When we need to make a public appearance, we will; you will smile and nod, and you will not fucking touch me. You stand by my side and do nothing else. Nothing. Exactly what you are to me.”

---