Page 43 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

Not to mention he would never forgive me if I didn’t tell him about Addie straight away. I should have already done so but it was such a shock seeing him that I didn’t even have the words to speak to him. I thought he was a ghost at first, or a specter.

I thought I was seeing things. That I was going insane from how deeply I’ve missed him. Seeing Kerym and Layla together was what set me off, the love between them so pure and radiating so brightly—it hurt to watch. Like staring into the sun.

And that’s why I must be insane now. Imagining my dead lover. But I touched him. I saw him. Layla saw him. He’s real and he’s here.

I push his hands away again. “No,” I tell him, a little more firmly. I’ve gotten used to saying no with my daughter. With a toddler, you have to be firm or they’ll test your boundaries.

“No? But...Harper,” Demethys says in a soft voice, looking at me with teary eyes. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”

“Because it isn’t right,” I tell him. It’s not right to do this without speaking first. After we talk about everything, I’ll willingly fall into his arms and give him every piece of me once more. But first we have to have the difficult conversation.

“Not right?” he says, eyes widening. He draws himself up, hurt radiating from his watery eyes. “Not right?” His voice is rising and I can see I’ve messed up. I need to explain myself, explain that I’m not pushing him away for good.

“Demethys, please,” I beg. “Let’s go somewhere private and talk.”

“Why?” he asks, recoiling as though I’ve slapped him. “What about this isn’t right? Are you trying to hide something, hmm? Scared that he’ll find out?”

I didn’t realize just how drunk Demethys was. He’s starting to cause a scene, his voice getting even louder. “Are you trying to preserve yourself for that man?” he screams.

“What?” I look at him, eyes bulging. What is he on about? What man? “What are you talking about, Demethys?” I demand.

“Why...why did you leave me?” he asks, voice hoarse, tears rolling down his cheeks. I reach out but he jerks away from me. “Why did you leave?”

“I thought you died!” I yell at him. “Someone told you that youdied! I was devastated!”

“Liar!” he’s shouting, pushing me away so I tumble onto the floor. I stare up at him in complete shock. “You’re a liar!”

I can’t believe him. What has gotten into this man? This isn’t the same Demethys that I know and loved. The man I loved would never treat me this way!

19

DEMETHYS

Ican’t believe I’m standing here with the woman I thought left me forever and she’s telling me all kinds of lies like this! I can’t believe she can look in my fucking face and lie. How dare she! “You are a liar!” I tell her, tears streaming down my cheeks. “You fucking left me Harper!”

She stares at me, mouth agape. “I know I’m drunk but I’m not so gone that I can’t tell when someone is lying to me,” I tell her coldly.

“I’m not lying!” she yells, wrapping her arms around herself as she pulls back from me. “I really thought you were dead!”

“But you were with another man!” I yell back, emotions going haywire inside. “How long did you wait until I was in the cold ground? One day? Two?”

“Demethys!” she cries out, cheeks going red. Have I caught her in her lie?

“You left me for someone else, didn’t you?” I demand. “It’s your fault I’m like this. You destroyed me by leaving!”

I’m inconsolable. I couldn’t function after Harper left. I became a shell of myself. My zagfer servants tried to cheer me upbut I wasn’t having it. Nothing helped to bring me back from the dark place I went to emotionally.

At one point I even considered jumping from the city bridge. Ivrir told me I needed to get myself together and that if I wanted to find her, I needed to look. So I did. I spent years asking around, trying to see if anyone knew where she went. Trying to find her. I looked high and low. I tracked her for years without success.

And now she’s just here, standing in front of me. Lying to my face. Trying to tell me she didn’t run off with another man when the proof is right in front of me.

“Demethys, please, calm down,” Harper begs, reaching out to try to grab me. I ignore her though, and stalk over to the opposite side of the room. I can’t be near her right now. I can’t even look at her. How am I supposed to trust anything she says when she’s lying to me?

Her child is all the proof I need. I hate the thought of her lying with another man, wrapped up in his arms, writhing in passion underneath him. She wasmine! She was supposed to bemine!

The thought is sickening. I want to hurl. How could she betray me like that? Betray our love? I thought she cared. I opened my home to her and I gave her my heart.

I asked to court her so she could see I was serious. I didn’t want her to think that I saw her as an easy lay, a cheap slut who I could bed and then discard.

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