Page 56 of All the Devils are Here

I never used to be shy, but there was also never anything at stake. I never let anyone in. Just partied. But the last three years were different. I started changing, and with everything at the ballet—

Everything about the way Ariel was sitting was casual, but his eyes weren’t. His gaze dragged up my bare legs and finally landed on mine.

“Can I sit with you?”

All at once, he turned to smoke, the cloud wrapping around me and when it cleared, I was on my back on the couch with his body over mine. “Did you think I was going to say no?”

“No? I don’t know.” His hips were settled between my legs, arms curled underneath me so far he cradled my head. I was entirelyheldby him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” The word was a low growl. “I helped him torture you. I’ll never be able to take that back, no matter how many times I apologize for it. You begged me to stop.” His eyes closed, and my heart ached for both of us. It wasn’t the way I’d wanted to meet a mate.

But I didn’t think this was the ideal way any of us would have wanted.

“My best friend, Christine,” I whispered. “She has mates too. The gargoyle kings.”

Ariel opened his eyes again, his pain receding into curiosity.

“And I’ve always wanted it. Something so deep and something that was mine. That’s why it hurt so much more when I thought it was just because of the island. I wanted it tomeansomething. I didn’t want it to be just because you were here and the magic felt like you were convenient. It wasn’t because of you, or what you did.”

Now that it was coming out, I felt like I couldn’t stop. “It felt so cruel. Like the thing I wanted most had been turned against me. And I didn’t know if I could take it.”

He still held me, the fingers behind my head twisting and untwisting my hair. “The first time I saw you was in a vision. Prospero scrying to look at you and… Laurent. And I couldn’t stop looking at you. The way you moved, the way your feelings seem to bubble up beneath your skin. You were so fucking beautiful, and I was jealous, even from so far away.

“Even not knowing I was your mate, I wanted to touch you when I was sent to get you on the boat. I wanted to make sure you never came here because of that bastard, even though I was ordered to make sure you did. It’s clear part of me knew. And youaremine.”

Covering my mouth with his, he drowned me in silver and light. He tasted impossibly like the wind andfreedom. I wasn’t cold anymore, and the magic coursing through my body made tingles course under my skin. Like the good kind of being electrified.

“All right,” Trin said. “Let her breathe, Air.”

I laughed into the kiss and broke away. “Is your nickname really Air?”

“Sometimes. Mostly when they want to annoy me.”

His smile was beautiful. So much better than pain and sadness. He did pull back, sitting up and taking me with him so I could see the others. For a moment it felt like we were in our own private world.

But Trin was standing nearby with a cup and a plate. “Hungry?”

It hadn’t been that long since the pasta, but a lot had happened in between. “More thirsty.”

He held out the cup, which was filled with water. As soon as the water hit my lips, it was like I’d been walking in a desert for days. I downed the whole thing in one go. “Wow.”

Trin chuckled. “Near-death experiences will do that to you.”

Despite his laughter, his comment took the air out of the room. That was what we needed to talk about. “Yeah.”

Trin took the cup back to the kitchen, and a second later, a mug appeared in my hands, warm and filled with tea. I inhaled the familiar scent. Irish breakfast with a little sugar and a little cream. I drank it gratefully before I looked at Ariel.

“It’s a neat trick, but I still like people to know my favorites.”

He smiled gently. “So it means something.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll remember.” A hand curled around my waist, pulling me closer so I was nearly sitting on his legs. “Don’t worry, mate. I want to memorize every inch of your mind and body. Once I know your true favorites—flavors, sensations, positions,orgasms—it will be even better.”

My breath went short, and I curled myself around the mug before I could toss it aside and ask for more.

“So,” Laurent asked. “Any ideas that don’t involve Meg or me dying?”

---