Page 38 of A Clash of Embers

He unfurled my grip from the onyx sword and I dropped the other to the ground.

He made me weak.

Eros closed the space between us, pressing his chest into mine. I felt like my heart might burst at the closeness of us. His lips were as soft as they always looked. I saw a smirk form in the corner of his mouth.

"Always staring at my lips. Haven't you learned anything?" He sighed.

"What do you want from me?" I asked him through clenched teeth.

"Well, that's a loaded question, isn't it," he spoke in a low grumble.

I rolled my eyes because I knew he meant that in more than just one way. His hand gripped my face, quickly squeezing it to ensure that I looked directly at him.

"I want a lot from you, but I don'tneedanything from you. As I have told you. I am not the man you once knew. I amthis. I am a monster. I am incapable of the love that I had in Carondelet."

I tried to pull back from his grip but his strength held firm. "Then why am I here? Evander— Eros? Whoever the fuck you are. Why am I here?"

His eyes flashed a bright glow before giving me the answer I wish I never would have gotten. "I am Eros Vander Aster. I amthe fallen angel in your precious storybook from Carondelet. I used you to ensure our escape. Nothing in the curse between us was real. Ihateeverything you stand for. You are my enemy and what I will do with you is very simple. You will become my prisoner, and I will use you as leverage for what Ineed."

His eyes trailed to my lips, my neck, my chest, before returning his eyes to mine.

I sighed looking into his traitorous face. "I won't do this again with you, Eros. If you don't want me, then you need to break our bond. I no longer want to be trapped in this unwanted relationship with you. You've made that very clear to me, and Icanlive without you." I stepped into him and his eyes flickered with uneasiness, a part of him was withholding something just as he was in Carondelet.

"You weren't honest with me in the curse. I know that now. I fell for you, and that was the worst decision I could have ever made. I am not the light to your darkness, and I amnotthe good to your evil. In the curse, I was a young girl who was unsure of who she was, and you made me feel somethingdifferent, you made me see me for who I truly was. I was a pawn in that part of my life because I allowed others to let me be one. No one has that power over me anymore and if I need to be the one to break the bond between you and me, then so be it."

The sky above us started to darken and the clouds swirled with blackness. For once in my life, I knew I was right. With certainty, my friends encouraged me to find ownership of myself. To realize that I was the one in control of my life. No one else. I had to break that tie with him to ensure my future. That I would not allow another person to have that authority.

I felt the swirls of the night around me as my hair began to float outward. I knew how to break the bond. Bethany showed me and told me how I could do it if I chose to do so. I wouldn't do this anymore with Eros.I couldn't.

I felt the surge of my essence through my body into Eros and that's when my body became entranced. Memories and future moments swirled in my mind as they did in the tunnels when we kissed for the first time and at our wedding when we sealed our fate. Memories that were to come flashed quickly throughout my mind and I felt the tears streaming down my cheeks.

I was in so much pain. My chest was tight and my nerves were on fire. The thunder rumbled around me and I thought I heard someone screaming at me.

When I snapped my head forward, I realized I was hovering above the ground and I was eye to eye with Eros.

He was screaming, his eyes turning black. I noticed the marking on his neck glowing bright gold and he just keptscreaming. I finally allowed his voice in, so I could hear his final request.

"Please don't do this, Clara. Don't rip this bond from us. Please, I am begging you." Eros was screaming as he hit the ground in front of me on his knees. He reached out gripping my legs and pulling me down towards the ground with him, but I was unmoving. I stared down at him and I noticed the tears pouring from his eyes. "Gods, Clara. Please don't. I am so lost without you. I need you. Youarethe light to my dark. Youaregood to my evil. You are the love of my life. Don't take this from us. Please."

I shook my head with brows furrowed. "If you truly feel this way then why did you say what you just said about hating me? I can't keep doing this. Mad— Leo wants a chance with me and I want to give that to him."

He pressed his lips in a straight line and swiped away the tears as he held the grip on me. He took a breath before speaking a sentence I never thought he would say.

"I'm scared. I amsoscared that now that you see me for what I am that you could never possibly love me the way that you usedto. Gods, I don't hate you, Clara. I am only trying to keep you safe."

His sobs were so loud I thought that what I was doing was killing him. Physically it must have been horrendous for him. I was in pain, but I was numb to the sensation. Just as I was numb to everything else I was experiencing. A clear focus on ending whatever this turmoil of Darthium was. It needed to end once and for all.

"Clara. Don't break this bond between us. It is the only thing that keeps me alive. The only purpose for me to survive is you." I saw the tears in his eyes, but I also knew that he was extremely powerful and he could kill me within seconds if he wanted to. If he needed me, he would find a way to get me. He was the fallen angel after all. He was persuasive, he was a tyrant, yet he was my mate.

I heard a yell coming from behind me. The pulse in my body started to quicken as I realized who it was. I closed my eyes because I knew deep down what would happen, and I would be the reason.

"Whatever you're doing to Clara, you need to stop, or you'll have to deal with me," Riley said with a slight quiver in his voice. And I hoped to gods that he wouldn't do something stupid. Sweet Riley, what have you done?

I watched Eros’ reaction to Riley being there and almost immediately the tears that once were streaming down his face were gone and the desperation in his voice dissipated as if it was all an illusion. Adistraction. His power of pure persuasion.

A bellowing yell came out of me trying to warn Riley not to engage with him.

"No, Riley! Go! Get out of here!"

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