Page 119 of For the Love of the Gods

No. Losing her wasn’t an option. Not before I could apologize for being a royal ass, beg her on my knees to forgive me.

To plead for the chance to show her that she should love me like I—

Like I loved her.

There was no doubt about that now. No mistaking the sheer panic I felt at the risk of losing her. The burgeoning rage towards whoever hurt her, the absolute need to be the person who comforted her.

Just needing to see her smile at me and know I caused it. The easy conversation and how many laughs she was able to pull from my throat. Seeing her in my bed and in my office and at our kitchen table. The sound of her teasing chuckle. The growing list in my head of all her nicknames for me.

But I’d get none of that if she was…

My chest went tight immediately. My throat felt like someone was choking the life out of it. I dared to ask Max, “Is she…”

“In the back,” they said, then hung their head, like looking at me hurt.

I took off running, needing to see Rose in whatever form she was in. Praying not a hair on her perfect head was touched. Knowing deep in my soul that prayer wouldn’t be granted.

Chapter 31

Rose

I had just managed to stop crying. Barely.

My whole body hurt and I felt raw and exposed. Flayed out. I could feel the bruises forming on my back and shoulders from the force of the initial blast.

The ugly cut down my arm had already stopped bleeding, the wound more superficial, the only other evidence being the blood that marred my dress.

I rubbed it absently with my free hand, trying to distract from the tightness in my chest, so forceful it threatened to constrict my entire body.

I killed. In self-defense. And my brain felt split, comparing it to Pine, getting mad at myself all over again and knowing that I would be lying here dead if I didn’t defend myself. It was necessary.

Tears threatened again at the fact that itwasnecessary in the first place. The anger in the faces of my attackers as they channeled all the feelings about their lost identity into harming me.

I just…hated that we were here.

What was left of the door to Io's office slammed open a second later, revealing Dominic standing there like the harbinger of death, sucking all the light out of the room and into his presence. At the sight of his strong form, his face drained of color and muscles tight, I broke, burying my face in my hands and letting the sobs wrack my body.

“Sweetheart,” Dominic gritted out, voice breaking on the last syllable. He was in front of me so fast I could feel a breeze in his wake.

His hands weren’t touching me, but they were traveling over my body an inch above, scanning me for injuries, lingering on the bloodied fabric. At every place my skin was flushed, his hands paused for a second, the static heat of his skin burning. My heart felt scorched, ruined to a charred mess.

His skin touched mine for the first time slowly, pulling my hands away from my face. Dominic’s eyes looked frantic, his jaw clenched, but his movements were soft, easy.

That sent another burst of tears streaming down my face. I was hysterical, and Dominic’s tenderness wasn’t helping.

This was such a fucking mess. Right as I was finally reworking my grief and trying to find a way to move forward, I was knocked off kilter again. Brutally and in the form of a mob of people in a place dedicated to me.

“Rose, sweetheart,” Dominic said, placing his strong hands on my shoulders. “What happened?”

I couldn’t speak through the tears and the explanation came out in hiccupped words. “Mob…Attack…Fine.”

“You are not fine,” Dominic said and it sounded like a curse. He turned to Max, who I just now realized was standing there, with Raiden and Marcus too, and ordered, “Handle this,now. I want everyone still alive thrown in the dungeons. Take the bodies too to be searched. Pick up anything that was left behind.Anything.”

He pulled me close, gingerly, and spoke into my ear. “I’m taking you home, now, sweetheart.”

“Okay.” God, I sounded so weak.

I barely registered the rush of wind as we moved through the portal. We just popped right into the foyer of our house. I immediately registered two more bodies in the room. I lifted my head slightly, out of the shadow of Dominic’s chest, to see Lukas and Adrian standing there, looking deeply concerned.

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