Page 306 of Cursed Evermore
The sight of him was almost too much—too beautiful, too real. I drank him in, my chest tightening with a hunger to be close to him again.
He turned as if he’d felt the weight of my gaze. Bright blue eyes found mine, and a slow smile curved his mouth.
“Morning, Ziyka,” he said, voice rough with sleep and threaded with something darker.
“Morning.” I sat up, dragging the sheet over my chest.
“Gods,” he murmured, eyes roaming over me, “look at you.”
A laugh slipped from me, breathless and shaky. “I look a mess.”
“No.” His gaze sharpened. “You’re my goddess. And right now, I’m jealous of the sun.”
Heat flared in my cheeks. “Why in the six hells would you be jealous of the sun, Wolfe Nightblade?”
His mouth curved into that sinful grin. “Because it gets to touch you when I can’t.”
I laughed, blushing. “You could get a girl in trouble, my Lord.”
He smiled back at me and spread his arms wide. “Not if I’m the trouble she likes getting into.”
“She does.”
“Then we’re good.” His smile lingered, but the playfulness in his eyes slipped away. The shift suggested the escape we’d created was thinning, opening the gateway for the difficult things we needed to talk about. “Come here, Ziyka.”
I pulled the sheet around my body and made my way over to him. He planted a soft kiss on my lips then turned back to the window and wriggled his fingers in the air.
Webs of white magic flowed from his fingertips, twisting into spirals before drifting outside.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Putting things back the way they were.”
“Is everyone here now?”
He nodded. “Yes, they’re all back.”
My breath slowed when I thought of the other question I needed to ask. “Is it safe?”
“It is. I did a revocation spell and resealed the house so no one who shouldn’t be here can get back in.”
I dipped my head, pulling in a shaky breath before I looked back at him. “I’m so, so sorry. Everything that happened was my fault.”
“No. It’s not.” His eyes softened. “I’m the one who should apologize. For leaving you the way I did. I needed to… breathe. To gather myself before I returned to you.”
“It was understandable.” I nodded, though the ache in my chest only deepened. “I should have gone to you when… when I first saw her.”
Her—Zyrra. I couldn’t even bring myself to say her name.
He reached out, brushing his knuckles along my cheek. “It’s not your fault, Elariya.”
“But it was.”
His thumb traced the line of my cheekbone, and his hand settled firmly on my shoulder. “You can’t apologize for falling into a trap. People who weave lies know exactly what they’re doing. They know exactly who to break. You can’t blame yourself for that.”
“I still feel terrible. I didn’t know about… your sister.”
He breathed out a ragged sigh, and his shoulders sank. “I could have fixed that problem by telling you. It’s just a difficult story to tell.”
