Page 11 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

He resembled a defeated man.

“Did you want me to sleep on the floor?” My throat thickened. I hadn’t considered it, but now that the trials were over and after risking so much, maybe he didn’t want me lying next to him. I uncovered myself and threw my legs over the side.

“Of course not!” He turned to me. Something fell from his cheek onto the chair.

Was it a tear?

I’d come between him and his cousin, and I hadn’t considered how that might make him feel. “I’m not sure how to make this better. I never meant to cause a disagreement between you and your only family.”

He straightened, and his eyebrows lifted. “Is that what you think has me upset?”

I nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate you stepping in and protecting me, but I understand—”

“Protectingyou?” He laughed bitterly. “I wish I could claim that was what I did?”

The sound reminded me of the man he’d been when I arrived here. I’d missed something, and it must be important, judging by this change in him.

I swallowed, realizing the truth. “You still plan to kill me.” That had been his plan from the very beginning—to kill me in front of the Seelie. My mouth dried.

He moved toward me with a scowl on his face. “Is that a statement or a question?”

A whimper lodged in my throat, and my lungs refused to fill with air.

He repeated his question and added, “Because if it’s a question, you’d better be prepared for the answer. I’m done hiding things from you.”

For some reason, I needed to hear him say it. “It’s a question.” I needed to find a way to construct a barricade around my heart once again.

Before I realized what was happening, he’d closed the distance between us and lowered his mouth to my ear. Then he whispered.

4

LIRA

“You’re safe with me forevermore, sprite.”

His lips brushed my earlobe, and I shuddered. I breathed in his amber and musk scent and grew dizzy.

“If you let me, I’ll spend the rest of eternity making up for what I put you through, but even then, it won’t be enough.” His voice broke at the end.

This had to be a dream because Tavish would never speak like this to me. It was impossible. I shook my head, realizing that someone had to be using illusion magic on me. I leaned back, trying to come to my senses before I wound up with a broken heart.

Straightening, he let out a shaky breath and grimaced. “I don’t blame you for not wanting anything to do with me. I kidnapped you to kill you, and I’ve put you at risk too many times to keep count. It took losing you for me to finally come to my senses.”

I lifted a hand, and my heart squeezed. “Stop,please. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

“I understand I may be too late, but I blasting need to say it anyway.” He clutched his chest. “I know how risky this is for me,of all people, to say, but Lira, I’m so sorry for everything that happened to you. I don’t care if my apology causes me to owe you something substantial because I already plan to make things right between us for the rest of my existence.”

A lump formed in my throat. I’d never dreamed he’d sayanythinglike that. My heart fluttered with the hope that this was real.

I needed to wake up, so I pinched the inside of my wrist. A sharp pain stabbed me, but nothing changed.

“If waking each day to grovel at your feet will help you forgive me one day, I’ll gladly do it.” Tavish’s hand tugged at his thin gray tunic. “If pulling back all the darkness so the sun can rise and melt the snow from the only sanctuary my people and I know, I’ll make it happen. Just tell me what I have to do to keep you in my life. If it’s within my power, I’ll do it without question, and if it isn’t, I’ll find a blasting way to make it happen. At the end of the night, I’ll give up whatever it takes as long as you stay with me.”

The world tilted underneath me, and I wrapped my arms around my waist to anchor myself to this strange, new reality. “Tavish, I—”

“Don’t say anything. Not yet.” Tavish bit his bottom lip and took a hesitant step closer. “This might change how you feel, but I need to be honest.”

The hair on the nape of my neck rose in warning, so I nodded, afraid to speak.

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