Page 84 of Enchanted Kisses
The faint light of his skin illuminated his body. I looked from his black boots to his velvet Edwardian coat. “Wow, you look amazing. I didn’t notice before.”
His eyes cast down, their brightness dulling. “You miss a lot when it comes to me.” He leaned back against the wooden railing.
“I’m so sorry. I forgot how much you’ve been through lately. I never wanted to make it harder for you. I’ve been so confused, and you’ve been so different. Why didn’t you tell me before that you had given up your talisman? No wonder you’ve been acting crazed.”
I lifted a hand to his cheek and froze at the sight of my skin. It glistened with white light. I gasped. “What’s happening to me?”
Caiden looked up and his dim eyes widened. “You got your powers.”
I had forgotten about the orchid and what I’d done earlier. I stepped back and rubbed my skin, trying to make the shimmery glow fade.
“How do I make it go away?” I cried. “He’ll come for me now. He won’t wait. I didn’t know my skin would do this.” I rubbed harder, glancing around. Every little creak and rustling shrub made me tense. My eyes filled with tears, and the effects of the enchanted food and drink faded. “I have to make it go away. Help me, Caiden.Please.”
He grabbed my hands. “It won’t hurt you.”
I tried to pull free, but his grip was too tight. “Let go. I need to rub it away.”
“You’re hurting yourself. Calm down. Look at me.” He dipped his head to my level.
I blinked away tears and tried to focus on his eyes. My breath blew rough and fast. “I didn’t know I had powers. I thought I was broken. I never would have vowed—”
“Shh.” He wrapped my arms around his waist. “You didn’t vow anything to me, I promise. I would never trick you like that.”
I pressed my cheek against the soft lapel of his jacket and whispered, “I didn’t mean you.”
He went rigid. “Dagan? What did you do, Lily?” He peeled me away from him to look at my face. His eyes glowed brightly with rage.
“He said he’d torture you and take your soul. He said he could take it without killing you. I could never let that happen.”
“What did you vow? What exactly did you say?” he demanded.
“I, um…?” Needing to focus, I moved from his grasp. With our skin illuminating the area, I felt exposed and vulnerable. I sat on a bench at the far side of the gazebo and tried to remember exactly what I had told Dagan.
Caiden walked to me. “Exact words, Lily. I need to know your exact words.”
“I know. Just give me a minute.” I closed my eyes and pictured the silver room where Dagan had taken me. I relived the moment and recalled my words. “‘I’ll stay in exchange for Caiden’s untouched soul, unharmed body, freedom, and the time to prepare my father for my good-bye. Do you accept?’” Certain I’d remembered it correctly, I opened my eyes to Caiden.
He knelt before me, moisture glistening in his turquoise blues. “You do love me.”
“Of course I do.”
He cupped my cheeks. “I never threw the poem into the fountain. I couldn’t. At the time, I was desperate to hold on to the darkness inside me, to make my father proud, and to serve my realm. But my need to protect you was stronger. You freed me from the shadows, and from that night on, I wanted to earn your love, not take it.”
His confession took me by surprise, and my heart leapt from my chest. But all the love in the world couldn’t save me now. I lowered my head.
His hands fell from my cheeks to the puffy dress covering my legs.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? What I vowed to Dagan?” My heart shrunk back into my chest.
“I did.” He kissed my head, confusing me more.
“I belong to him now.”
“Fortunately, your vow was vague.”
I lifted my head. A teeny amount of hope surged within me.
“If you hadn’t,” he closed his eyes briefly and pressed his lips together, as if struggling for self-control, “kissed him, he would have amended it.”
