Page 37 of Immortal Sins
“You’re a prince, are you not?” I don’t know why I’m pushing his buttons so much. Panic has set root inside me.
“You don’t belong here,” he answers.
I push his chest, and the glare I serve him is half-angry, half-discouraged. We haven’t found one tiny lead yet, and time is slowly ticking away.
“You know what I mean. You’re not a citizen of Faerie, so there’s nothing—” He freezes and turns to Flynn.
“What are you thinking?” I ask.
The earlier current of desperation and rage morphs into a restless, elusive energy as he turns back to me, clasping my upper arms. “Bear with me for a moment before you say no.”
He stares deep into my eyes. “Marry me.”
“Oh, for Queen Mab’s sake!” Flynn rolls to his stomach, his face hidden in the pillow. “Dark mother, wake me from this nightmare,” he adds, the words muffled.
A hiccup chokes me. “Whaa—Have you lost your mind?”
I wait for the punchline, but Cole looks dead serious. A little eager, even.
“It’s the only way Oz doesn’t leave with you tomorrow,” he breathes.
“I don’t want to marry you, Cole,” I blurt out in a daze.
A dark shroud obscures his features, and I realize I need to fix my insensitive, knee-jerk answer. Him and his damn ego. He thinks it’s about him.
“I don’t want to marryanyone. I’m eighteen years old.” I bite the insides of my cheeks.
The lines on his forehead ease. “Fae marriage is not at all what you’re used to. It’s not restrictive. It doesn’t preclude us from marrying someone else.”
My lips quirk at the insanity of this conversation. “Is that what you say to all the girls?”
He presses his fingers to the space between his brows. “Only the ones who do not wish to marry me. Which means just you, basically.”
I stick out my tongue.
A deep inhale rocks his chest. “Jules. Oz can’t afford for you to testify against him. He will kill you or enchant you or worse. Let me do this. Let me save your life and the horn. This way, we can regroup and find a better plan.” His amber gaze pulses.
Doubts crumble in my mouth. There’s no way I can marry Cole. No way.
He inches closer, his voice soft and non-threatening. “It’s nothing more than a technicality. Plenty of people marry for citizenship. We wouldn’t be the first.”
The more he tries to frame this as a rational, bureaucratic move, the more my stupid heart entertains the idea. “Tell me all about it. In detail. What are the drawbacks? There must betons.”
“You will attract some unwanted attention from Fae purists who don’t believe in cross-realm marriage.”
“That’s…weird but whatever.” Cross-realm marriage. I didn’t know that was even a thing.
“If you ever wanted to run for a political seat on the High Council, it will destroy your chances.”
A dark chuckle escapes me. “Myotherproblem prevents me from going into politics anyways. And I won’t get elected for anything if I’m dead, so continue.”
Demons can’t run for office, can they? Maybe I’m being sarcastic. Maybe I’m being naive, but Gods, I don’t find any of these drawbacks important. People already think I’m a Fae groupie. No one takes me seriously, and my future at Dark Falls is bleak considering I want to expose the headmaster for the fucker that he is. Even my ambition to become a Magus means nothing if the Magisterium is under the leadership of a two-faced murderer.
Cole squares his shoulders. “Servants will address you as your Highness.”
“That’s annoying, but doable. What else?”
He caresses the edge of my jaw with his thumb. “We would share a bond that can never be broken. Marriage is not just a promise here, it’s an actual spell. I don’t exactly know what that would mean for a mortal because it’s never been done, but mated Fae and supernaturals sometimes share powers…and dreams.”
