Page 135 of The Nymph Prince
It’d happened anyway.
“You loved him,” Haman stated, stepping toward me. He tapped his fingers to the side of his head. “Most of his memories faded when his soul left this body, but memories are much like imprints in the mind. Never truly forgotten, only hidden. He loved you, too, you know. More than his own life.”
A lump wedged in my throat. “Do not speak of him.”
“His final thought was of you,” he continued as a chilling smile spread across his face. It was a face I’d caressed and kissed. Yet, it was a face I now wanted to stab a thousand times, if only to rid myself of this pain. “He wanted a family with you. To have a son with silver hair and pointed ears. He never told you, did he? I suppose not. He feared it wouldn’t become reality if he did. He rarely even allowed himself to think of it. But he dreamed of it, oh how he dreamed.”
His words created the sweetest of images in my mind.
Alek and I walked through the garden behind our cottage home in a town beside the sea, hand in hand, while our son ran around and pretended he was flying. Alek laughed and lunged for him, placing our son on his shoulders.
“Look to the sky, little bird,” he said. “Believe you have wings, and they shall appear.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. “Stop.”
“It’s unfortunate that your story had to end this way,” Haman said with a sigh. “Alek lost his family at a young age. How sad that his deepest desire was to finally have a family to call his own, and now he’ll never get the chance.”
“Enough!” I ran toward him, gripping my last dagger.
Haman pushed Ezra behind him before focusing on me. Purple flashed in his eyes.
I cried out as my throat tightened, feeling as if it was being slowly crushed. I halted in step a few feet from him, and when I tried to force my feet to move, I couldn’t. I was frozen in place. There was nothing I could do. My arms weighed heavily at my sides and the dagger slipped from my hand.
“What do you want to do with him, my love?” Haman asked.
Ezra tapped his chin. “Killing him is tempting. I doubt his death would hurt Triton much, but it’s worth a try.”
“Kill him instead of use him as leverage?”
“I love the way you think, my sweet,” Ezra said with a purr before nuzzling Haman’s cheek. “However, there is no use for him. If anything, he’s in my way. I want the throne. With the crowned prince out of my way, all I have left is to take care of the beast who occupies it now.”
Haman smiled and slipped an arm around Ezra’s waist. “I’ll give you the honor. He’s your brother.”
Ezra approached me with an evil gleam in his crimson eyes. He turned a dagger in his hands, and I seethed with anger when I realized it was the blade I’d given to Alek. He’d stolen it from my mate and intended to kill me with it.
Again, I tried to break free of the force that kept me in place.
“You would kill me while I stand here unable to defend myself?” I asked as all my attempts proved to be useless.
“Why not?” Ezra tucked a strand of his pale hair behind his ear. “The result will be the same. You dead at my feet. Why prolong the torture, little brother?”
Frozen and utterly helpless, I watched as he lifted the dagger.
Strange that my mind would choose that moment to remember I’d often wanted a brother. Troy was more like a brother than a friend, and so, in a way I’d had one. But it would’ve been nice to have the chance to get to know Ezra. With his anger and bitterness stripped away, I wondered what kind of man he’d be.
“Prince Lorcan!” Malik called from somewhere behind me.
He sounded too far away and would never reach me in time. Ezra’s blade was nearing my neck, inching closer.
I closed my eyes.
Alek appeared in my mind. He smiled and offered me his hand. I took it. We were at our cottage. There were no clouds in the sky, only blue for as far as the eye could see. Our son, who I’d never before met but wanted to more than anything, tugged at Alek’s leg.
Then our son’s eyes moved to me, and I marveled at the unique shade of them; a swirling mixture of blue and green. He looked like me, but he reminded me of Alek in his mannerisms. He ran toward me and wrapped his tiny arms around my legs.
I met Alek’s gaze, and his tender expression was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
I love you, my heart,I thought to him as I felt the cold blade touch my throat.
