Page 519 of Flirting with Darkness

9

Ihad to find Tor. I went out, running along the passageways. For a few desperate seconds, all the pink marble hallways looked the same, and then I caught a glimpse of the enormous tree that grew at the center of the castle. I stopped, breathing hard trying to get my bearings. The prince had not been wrong with that my body begged for his attention. My panties clung damply to my throbbing center. I wanted him, but not like I wanted Tor.

When I saw Tor, relief lifted my chest.

“Tor!” I called, before I could stop myself.

He turned, and I caught a glimpse of a tiny glittering fairy clutched in one of his big fists. His eyes glittered with general genuine delight when he saw me, and answering warmth rose in my chest.

“Fly away and don’t come back,” he warned the little fairy, before throwing it into the air. It fluttered away, chittering indignantly.

“You told me you would tell me everything. The Wild Hunt? Is it true?”

He nodded, his gaze studying mine. “You came. To find me. I didn’t think you would, after I abandoned you in the garden… I’m sorry for that.”

“No, you don’t get to just apologize. Then how am I going to be mad at you? You left me.” But I understood how upset he had been at the terrible things they said about who he was. I couldn’t stand there and listen either. “From what they said, they should be glad you didn’t eat them.”

He shuddered. “You know that they taste like bad magic and worse decisions.”

I grinned. “I have no idea what that tastes like.”

I’d been furious at him, but now I couldn’t be anymore.

I probably shouldn’t be furious anyway, given that I had betrayed him. Or at least it felt like I had, even though we’d made no promises.

“The prince kissed me.”

“That’s no surprise.”

I stared at him, affronted, even though I wouldn’t want to have explained to him why. He didn’t even care?

The girl I usually was would have assumed that I meant nothing to him and faded into the background. And that was my first impulse, to flee back to my room.

But I was in the Fae world, and nothing was the way it was supposed to be back in the real, mortal world. And I didn’t have to be the same either.

“You don’t care?” I demanded.

“I care abot you. But it’s no surprise. Kissing you is a very tempting proposition.”

He looked me as if he hadn’t said anything outrageous, as if he’d asked me if I wanted dessert. As he studied my face, a slow smile spread across his lips, tilting up only one side of his damaged face. It was as if he could sense the way those words turned my insides to liquid. Everything about Tor felt cozy, like books and hot chocolate as rain drizzled through the trees.

“Then why haven’t you kissed me yet?”

“I’ve been assured all my life—and at great length—that I am very ugly. Perhaps I was waiting for you to kiss me first.

“You know that’s not true.”

He looked at me skeptically. “It is objectively true. I look like a monster, and a damaged one at that.”

“What’s so wrong with being damaged? I’m damaged.” I’d never said those words out loud before, and for a second after saying them, I felt shaken. Then I let out a breath it felt like I’d been holding all my life.

Tor’s gaze met mine, his face unexpectedly tender despite those harsh features. “You’re a queen.”

“If I do become a queen, I’ll be a broken one. But I don’t want to marry him. I want to you, Tor.”

It took him a second to respond, as if he were struggling to find the right words, and my breath froze in my chest. It felt like I would die if he told me he didn’t want me. It felt like the floor had just fallen under my feet. As if I’d been the one to release the trap beneath my feet, speaking too wildly. I wished I could go back in time, lean over my crib, and enchant myself from ever learning how to talk.

He finally managed, “For your people sake, try to love him… he isn’t as bad as he seems.”

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