Page 38 of The Unseelie War
“I ask you to trust me. To trust us.” Ava reached up to cup his facein her hands. “I know the odds are terrible. I know we might all die anyway. But if we don't try, if we run away and let Valroy slaughtereveryone? Everything?Not just innocent people?There won’t be a world for us.”
“I know.” His voice was barely audible. “I know what the ‘right’ choice is. I have always known. I simply do not care.”
“Then why won't you make it?”
“Because you matter more to me.” He cringed. “Because for the first time in millennia, I have something to lose. Something worth protecting. And the thought of losing that, of losing you…”
“You won't lose me. Whatever happens, however bad it gets, you won't lose me. I promise.”
“You cannot promise that.”
“Watch me.” She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him, pouring all of her love and determination into the contact. When she pulled back, her voice was steady. “I promise you, Serrik. Whatever you become, whoever you have to be to stop this—I will love you. All of you.”
Serrik stared at her for a long moment, his golden eyes bright with unshed tears. Then, slowly, he nodded. “As you wish…however. If I go too far…”
“You won’t.”
“But if I do,” he continued firmly, “you must take actions to stop me. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to protect those worth protecting.”
The implication was clear. If he lost himself to his so-called impulses, she'd have to be the one to destroy him.
Ava felt her heart clench, but she nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.” Serrik took her hands in his, his touch gentle despite the sharpness of his claws.
And if they were going to face the end of everything, she'd rather do it with him by her side than watch him run away from the only chance they had to save everyone they cared about.
Including themselves.
Even if it destroyed them both in the process.
It would be double or nothing, it seemed.
“Tell me if you mean your words, Weaver.” Serrik’s hand settled at the base of her throat, his fingers resting on one side, his thumb on the other. “I will follow you regardless—lie or not—but I must know. Tell me if they are the truth.”
“Which ones?” The warmth of his touch—the strength in it—immediately made her cheeks go warm.
He took a step into her, forcing her to retreat. And another. “Your words of love. Your insistence that you wish to see me…feel me…have me…endure me…as my monstrous self.”
Her stomach dropped into a pit.
God, yes.
Fuck, yes.
What had she done?
The warring excitement and fear coiled together into a ball in her like a pit of snakes. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I meant every word...”
“Then I intend to test your honesty.” His golden eyes bored into her—through her. And slowly, like the waning of a dream, his glamor began to fade, and more golden eyes appeared as his form began to shift. “And we shall see come the dawn if you change your mind about a great many things, indeed.”
Oh, fucknuggets.
Ava was in for it now.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ava hoped she would never get used to watching Serrik transform into his true form.
