Page 119 of Of Spindles and Nightfall
“You… You knew what was coming with the chimera, and you weakened yourself, made yourself vulnerable so that I would be safe. It’s clear they want me dead and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Why not let me die and be done with it? Why put yourself at risk like that?”
He spit out the yarrow and stood, albeit unsteadily. The plant may have counteracted the poison, but the demon king had still lost a lot of blood. “I have a meeting I need to get to.”
She shoved him, and he fell back into the chair, looking startled. He scowled, snarling.
“Answer the question,” she demanded.
“You are ungrateful, Vampress. Can’t you accept what I did for you and not demand more?”
She folded her arms. “If you expect to gain the vampire throne—”
He snorted. “You have no claim on the vampire throne after you betrayed your uncle and your people. You’re virtually disowned.”
Her fingers pressed into the symbol of the upside down crown on her wrist. “Then why?”
He glared at her, but then averted his gaze. “You are my wife.”
And then she realized… “Everything you do is necessary.”
“Everything.”
“You sent Marbas to watch over me and to protect me when you couldn’t.”
“Yes.”
“You saved me from Balafur because… because you care for me?”
“Yes.”
“At the opening ceremony, when you drew my blood and behaved as if you didn’t care.”
He threw up his hands in exasperation. “You had drawn my blood. You were about to give me away. Only the smell of your blood could cover it.”
“Give you away?”
His jaw clenched. “It doesn’t matter.”
She stepped closer to him. “Zarathos.”
“The point was you weren’t helping me to win the tournament, you were working against me, when you brought me to my knees, when you…”
“I was about to break our bargain.”
“You were about to die unless you did something to make up for it, and the only way I could think was if you were frightened enough of your imminent death…”
“That I would grovel…” Oh, gods. Each action Zarathos had taken had been to protect her. She swallowed, her throat going dry. “And the scepter?”
He ran clawed hands over his horns. “What about it?”
“You didn’t have issues with getting the scepter piece. You actuallychoseme over the scepter, didn’t you?” She hadn’t seen it until now. The way he’d lied about the potion not working but still seeking more. “The potion you want to get more of that breaks spells. You used it on the effigy to break the enchantment. To free me.”
She hadn’t thought it possible before. But it made perfect sense. Zarathos cared for her. He cared for her more than she had ever imagined.
“You’re my wife, my Bloodbound. After seeing your memories and realizing you and I are the same.” He motioned between them. “You and I both understand what it is to have our hearts used against us. Our broken parts are mirror images of each other. We are bound, and I didn’t want to lose that.” His voice softened. “I couldn’t lose that.”
The Bloodbinding had tied them together. But it wasn’t causing these feelings. The bond wouldn’t come into play unless they actually cared for one another. She couldn’t pretend that if she was Bloodbound to Raydin that he would have done any of the things that Zarathos had done. The demon arch king had been there for her, fighting for her the entire time, before she even realized.
“Do you love me, Zarathos?”
