Page 81 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“I thought that it sucked. Because after surviving a shit life for so long, I hadfinallyfound someone who seemed to actually care for me. Someone who didn’t bully me or take advantage of me when they could easily have done so,” I said, yanking my shirt down to reveal where he’d marked me.
Korr’ok’s eyes fell on my skin, but he still said nothing. Which was fine by me. I had more to say.
“I was finally experiencing what most people take for granted. I thought, for a brief moment, that maybe I could behappywith you. What a fool I was. It was all just an act from you, wasn’t it? That’s how you’re able to be such a dick now. I should have seen it. Should have realized you weren’t real. You’re just a monster, after all.”
“You expect me to believe you’ve been oblivious your entire life that you weren’t a Fae? That you weren’t different?” he barked. “Even tying your power to the book doesn’t make you completely human, Mila.”
I hesitated.
There had been things that were odd. I healed faster than most. Not, like, immediately, but I’d always recovered quicker than the other kids who received beatings at Mrs. Johnson’s foster home.
“Exactly,” he said, shaking his head.
“That doesn’t mean I knew what it meant or that I was actively trying to fool you,” I said.
“So, it’s all real, then? You really cared about me, and you weren’t trying to expose me, to bring me out into the open?” he challenged.
“No!” I shouted. “No, I wasn’t trying to do that at all. Yes, I care about you. Cared about you. I don’t know.”
“Prove it, then,” he said suddenly.
“What?”
“Prove that you cared about me.”
I frowned at him. “How do you expect me to do that?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But if you do, you’ll find a way.”
I licked my lips, thinking furiously. What could I do? Did he want me to tell him that I loved him?
Instantly, I knew that was what he wanted. He wanted me to say it, to make that irrevocable act, to take the next step in a relationship that neither of us had really been aware was developing until it was suddenly there before us.
I took a deep breath. Could I say that? Was I ready to?
I hesitated again, unsure of what to do. What if I told him, but I was wrong about myself? I didn’t want to say it just to make him happy, to show him that I cared. But I also wanted him to know I wasn’t making it up. That he’d wormed his way deeper into my heart than I’d ever had any intention of letting him.
That I cared deeply, I could say that, but it wouldn’t be enough to sway him. I had strong feelings, yes. I just maybe didn’t love him. Not yet.
I looked away, unable to say the three words he so badly wanted to hear.
“Exactly,” he said sadly.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Korr’ok
The door opened before more could be said. Aurr’av strode into the room, uncaring of what may or may not have been going on.
“Come,” he barked officiously. “The Dark Lady will see you again.”
“Already?” I asked, narrowing my eyes suspiciously at the Mirgave captain. “That was fast.”
The high-ranking Fae—as high as one could be without being one of the Sidhe—curled a lip at me in a sneer. “In House Mirgave, we respect our rulers.” He snorted. “That means when given a command, I obey it. I don’t have a temper tantrum and try to kill my House Leader.”
The comment was clearly designed as a jab against me, but it slid off like water and oil. While I didn’t think my family deserved death, I was a Fae—and a Sidhe at that. Familialattachments held little sway with us. Therefore, Aurr’av’s comment didn’t hit the mark.
Perhaps,I wondered,House Mirgave feels slightly differently about their blood? An interesting insight.
