Page 15 of Monster's Secret Baby

My heart shatters so sharply I nearly double over from the pain. The honey cakes in my pocket feel suddenly heavy, ridiculous. A servant's pathetic offering compared to the glittering world this woman represents.

The sack tears as I stumble backward, spilling crumbs down my apron. I can't breathe. Can't think. My vision blurs with tears as I turn and run.

I run as if the world is collapsing around me, because it is. My feet pound against the earth, careless of the noise I'm making, of the branches that claw at my arms as I veer off the path and into the woods that border the estate.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I gasp between sobs, the word becoming a crushing rhythm matching my heartbeat.

How could I have believed I was anything but a diversion? A secret toy he played with when bored with his glittering xaphan world. All those whispered promises, the tender touches, the way he called me his "little bird"—lies, all of them.

I stumble over a root and fall hard, my palms skidding against rough dirt. The pain is welcome—physical hurt to match the agony tearing through my chest. I stay there on my knees, dirty and broken, letting the tears come.

"He never even told anyone about me," I whisper to the indifferent forest. "Never once claimed me in the light."

A thalivern flutters past, its beautiful iridescent wings catching the sunlight filtering through the leaves. I watch it drift away, free and unburdened, as I kneel in the dirt, my world destroyed by a single kiss.

8

ADELLUM

Iam stunned when Lilleth's lips meet mine. It's so sudden, so unlike the friendly but platonic banter we've been sharing as I fulfill my obligation. She's nothing like Harmony, and I keep finding myself comparing them.

Like right now. With Harmony, I want to pull her closer and memorize every inch of her skin. With Lilleth, I'm disgusted. And that's what whips me out of my shock.

I jerk back as if struck, my wings snapping outward in reflex. The impact knocks over one of the garden statues, sending it crashing to the flagstones with a satisfying crack that matches the fury burning through my blood. My hands find Lilleth's shoulders, shoving her away harder than I'd meant to, but the revulsion crawling across my skin demands distance.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The words scrape from my throat, sand-rough and dangerous.

Lilleth's perfect silver flight feathers quiver as she stumbles back. Her composure fractures for just a moment before that aristocratic training reasserts itself. She smooths hands down her impeccable silk robes, those polished fingers trembling slightly.

"I—I thought... Sior said you were..." Her voice falters, a crimson flush spreading beneath her high xaphan cheekbones. "He told me you were available. Interested."

Of course he did. I drag a hand through my hair, feeling it stick up at wild angles around my temples. The persistent urge to wipe my mouth overwhelms me, but I resist. Barely.

"Well, I'm not." The words come out clipped, brutal in their finality.

"I misunderstood," Lilleth murmurs, her posture straightening with wounded dignity. Those silver wings—her claim to status, her family's pride—fold tightly against her back. "I apologize for the... misunderstanding."

I should leave it there. Should bow, should offer her amerinth, should salvage what's left of this disaster before Sior hears how I've humiliated the relative of the Third Praexa. But my skin still crawls with the ghost of her touch, my mind fixated on the only pair of lips that belong against mine.

"I think you should go," I say, struggling to moderate my tone into something resembling politeness. "This meeting is over."

Lilleth's composure slips again, her dark eyes widening. "Just like that? Sior arranged?—"

"I don't give a damn what Sior arranged." My wings flare again, uncontrollable in my agitation, knocking a ceramic pot off its pedestal. "He doesn't own me, doesn't decide who I..."

The words die as something cold slithers through my chest. Doesn't he, though? Hasn't he always? I've let him control my life, helped me find a way to salvage it after everything happened.

Lilleth studies me with new interest, her head tilting. "There's someone else."

It's not a question. I don't answer. I don't care to deny it when I'm aching for Harmony right now.

"Does Sior know?" she asks, voice gentler now, almost sympathetic.

My silence is answer enough.

"The great Adellum Vey," she says, gathering her dignity around her like a cloak, "turn down a binding with pure silver bloodlines for what? Some secret affair?" A hint of venom creeps into her tone. "How... disappointing."

"Get out." The words emerge too soft, too dangerous.

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