Page 22 of Courting the King of Cliffs

“Except pain,” I shot back.

“I was faithful to you, and would’ve always been, even if you’d mated with some other bastard,” he snarled. “Nothing could change that.”

My willpower slowly faded, and I finally stepped back.

When my magic stopped, so did his.

Someone pounded on the door, and Eeva called out, “What the hell is going on?”

Granite—Tremaine—held my gaze.

I whispered, “I need time to process. Go deal with your kingdom.”

He didn’t want to.

I could see it clear as day in his eyes that he didn’t want to.

But he finally crossed the room, walking so much more easily than he had an hour earlier.

“I’ll be back,” he said, his voice softer. “We’ll talk, then.”

He slipped out the door.

Tears welled in my eyes as it shut behind him, and I gave myself ten more minutes to fall apart.

My body shook as my emotions bled from my eyes, soaking my cheeks with tears.

The more I thought about the whole situation, the more I hurt.

I needed a distraction.

So when my ten minutes were over, I slipped into the shower and washed up, formulating my plan. It took a fierce amount of effort not to let myself focus on the city or look for Tremaine, too.

Honestly, I failed at that.

He was at his castle, but no one was standing too close to him, so my possessiveness didn’t rage.

The man was just dealing with his kingdom.

Eventually, we’d have to talk.

Hopefully, my plan would keep me busy until then.

After a few stops in the city, I was wearing the skimpiest dress I’d ever put on, sitting at a booth in the city’s most exclusive nightclub, and sipping at a delicious non-alcoholic drink. The music playing had been selected to buy me more time before my mind got overwhelmed and checked itself out, so it was slow and relaxed.

I’d give it a few weeks before I let myself get drunk again, for the sake of my mental security.

When I found their room, the three brothers I’d met in the restaurant had been more than happy to tell me where to find a dress and which nightclub to check out.

I was fairly confident they just wanted to be able to gossip about me, and I didn’t give a damn if they did. People had talked as long as I’d been alive. They’d talked about my mother choosing a man over me, about my uncle raising me like a daughter. About my power level, me being unworthy of it, and about my uncle and his friends being dangerous for all of Bluhm as a whole.

They would always talk, whether I gave them information or not.

At least if I gave the information, I knew it was accurate.

I’d planned to just sit and people-watch until Tremaine showed up, so I could see whether my tiny dress would set off his possessiveness.

My head jerked to the side when a man sat down across from me.

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