Page 7 of The Coveted
“No,” I lied.
He smirked, but his eyes remained soft. “You look… enticing.”
Heat flared across my cheeks. I tensed and straightened. His audacity was astounding. I fought the urge to cross my arms over Taryn’s revealing top.
“Fuck off,” I said, channeling Taryn’s confidence from before. I had to admit—it felt fantastic on my tongue.
He remained cool and collected, his gaze unwavering. He leaned up against the wall, the candlelight casting shadows over his angelic yet sharp features. “Have you eaten?”
“Have I eaten?” I scoffed. “After you’ve made it abundantly clear that you couldn’t care less about my well-being, that’s what you’re worried about?”
My mind flashed to how cold and detached he’d been when I’d woken up in that foreign bed, listening to him joke with Lucius like they were the best of friends. Because they were. Everything was at my expense, like nothing that happened between us had ever mattered to him. He even admitted that he only slept with me to keep up the charade in learning everything he could about me and my power. Even after he snuck into my room and tried to explain it all away, I would never be able to shake that haunting image out of my head—the moment he regarded me with such indifference before walking away and leaving me all alone.
“Áine, I will always care about your well-being. Whether you believe it or not.” He narrowed his eyes. His features revealed the dominance that had once been so alluring. So safe.
Without any warning, my fiery defenses were collapsing to heavy, turbulent waves. I wanted to cry. I needed to get the hell away from him. “I’ll figure it out,” I muttered. “Have fun at your celebratory orgies with the literal devil.”
Daelon quirked a brow, bemused. Any hint of humor dissipated as he sighed, no doubt noticing the tears that were building.
Damnit. I cursed my body for making me look weak. I couldn’t afford to do that anymore. I tried to sidestep him to at least attempt to conquer this castle’s maze of corridors, but he reached out and circled his fingers around my arm.
I gasped, unable to wriggle free before we were transported through space. I totally forgot this was even an option… considering every time I tried to leave the castle I was teleported right back into my bedroom. So, there was at least one perk of my magickal imprisonment.
“Get your hands off of me,” I spat, stumbling backwards as my temporary chambers came into focus. I could tell he was fighting the urge to steady me, but he pulled back instead.
“I just know you wanted out of there. And I didn’t want your powers to flare up in public.” He glanced around the room, his eyes landing on the pile of burned clothing. It was what I’d been wearing when he betrayed me. I tried my best to give him a look that said:that could be you next.
“And so that you could get me alone to continue lying and attempting to assuage your guilt. I told you I didn’t want to hear it.”
He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “Áine. You know that’s not why I want to talk.”
“So youdon’tfeel guilty?”
“Of course, I feel fucking guilty,” he snapped, his tone turning cold. When I flinched, he softened his tone. “I’m sorry. It’s just—this is the moment I was trying to tell you about. All of those times I needed you to understand I was on your side, no matter what. You know the energy I showed you couldn’t be faked. I care about you more than anything else in this world.”
I faltered, gripping hard to my resolve. “I didn’t know that all ofthiswas what you were hiding. You lied to me, every single day.”
“I never lied to you.”
I scoffed, my perception overcome with red hot anger. “Omission, especially of this magnitude, is lying! Going to bed with me just because it was thenatural progression of thingsfor your little special intelligence mission, islying.”
His features darkened, and he took a step forward. “You know I would never.”
“Do I?” That was word for word what he said to Lucius when I first arrived in this place.
“Who do you think benefits from your questioning of your entire perception of reality?”
I clenched my fists at my side. I was blinded by rage, but I couldn’t seem to let go, even as it burned through me and hollowed me out.
“You’re playing right into his game. Look, you can be angry. You can fight me and the truth for as long as you need to feel safe again. But Lucius can’t know about the things I told you, or the way I feel. Or the way that you still feel, no matter what you tell yourself.”
Wind bore down on the windows, and even the sun seemed to be hiding now from the darkness stirring within me.
“Breathe.” He made a small step toward me again. “He also can’t know I trained you. I wasn’t supposed to actually help you with your power. I was only meant to make you feel weak, helpless, and confused, so that you would be less of a threat.”
“I’m not going to rat you out to my enemy, Daelon.”And congratulations, you succeeded.
He shook his head. “It’s not for my sake. It’s for yours. Everything I’ve done has been for your benefit, even if you can’t see it now. There was a reason for everything I did, and I can finally be honest with you. About all of it.”
