Page 24 of Enchanted Kisses
His eyes were hopeful. “Yes?”
I turned to him on the bed and drew up one knee. “This is going to sound strange.”
His features twisted with amusement.
“Right.” I shook my head. “We’re beyond strange at this point. It’s just, in admitting that I believe you, something changed inside me. I feel aware in a way I hadn’t before, like my senses were muted and now they’re awakening.” I laughed at my absurd words. “Forget it.”
“No, Lily. You’re right. You should feel more aware.” He laid his hand over mine where it rested on my knee.
Energy charged between us. My breath hitched, and Caiden’s eyes flashed fluorescent.
“Sorry.” He removed his hand from mine.
I studied him—his face, hair, skin, and body. Was there more to see, things I’d missed in the past?
His lips curved with a knowing grin. “You won’t find what you’re looking for, not until I’m ready to show it to you.”
So therewasmore. “Why can’t you show me? Are you forbidden?”
He shook his head.
“Then why? Are you worried about what I’ll think, or is it that you don’t trust me to see the real you?” Saying the last part hurt. I turned my head away.
“I trust you more than I trust anyone.” His soft tone drew my gaze back to him. “I want to ease you into it is all. But first, I want to thank you for believing me. There are many things I can do to prove the truth to you, but knowing you believe me without asking for verification…well, it’s one of the reasons I did what I did, and why I’m here.”
“What did you do?”
His gaze shifted to my long white dresser and stopped at a framed picture of the two of us at the beach. “When I left here—when I left you—I went home to renounce my throne and realm.”
I shivered at the memory of his stories about the Realm of Death. He’d always portrayed it as a dark place on top of a frigid mountain in the middle of nowhere.
“I couldn’t be a part of the cold and death anymore. I had to break free.” He paused to face me on the bed. “You lifted a dark cloud from my eyes, and now all I see is you and light filled with warmth and possibilities. You brought back a side of me I once knew but had lost long ago.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d never heard anything so sweet in all my life, and I knew what he went through to get here. In his tales, he’d talked about leaving the Realm of Death, had said it was near impossible, like defecting from a communist country or breaking free from the mafia, but worse. He had compared it to having your soul ripped from your body. I remembered cringing when he’d told the story. Knowing it was true…
I placed my hand over his. “Are you okay?” I wanted to ask how bad it had been but assumed there was a reason he hadn’t elaborated.
He glanced at our hands, then met my eyes. “I will be now. How about you?”
“Me?”
“In addition to the last three months, the last two days have been far from normal.”
I laughed. “My life has never been normal, you know that. And as far as the last two days go…I can’t remember them. Not really. It’s like my brain is rebelling.”
“It’s not your brain. It’s…other influences. I’m afraid I’ve had a part in some of it.”
I leaned away, confused.
“I’ve never lied to you, Lily. And I won’t start now.”
“Does that mean you’ll stop withholding information, too?”
“I’ve always told you everything. In every story, I never held back. You know more than you realize.”
“You never connected the dots. In your stories, you only referred to people by their titles. Older Prince of Death. Younger Prince of Death. King of Death. You were careful.”
“I had reason to be,” he said. “But things are different now. You need to know everything. And for that to happen, I’ll need to restore your memories. Will you trust me?”
