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“You’ve yet to do anything villainous.”

She’s got that treacherous look on her face, the one that makes me feel like I’m no longer dead inside.

That look is fucking dangerous. It does more damage than an army of dreamcatchers or the most gruesome nightmare ever could, because it’s filled with false hope. But I can’t let her—or myself—believe there’s a chance to become whole again, because there isn’t.

So I stretch the truth as far as it can be stretched. “I’d kill you if I had to, but that’s not what the king wants.”

She glowers at the threat. “You’re lying.”

“I can’t lie.”

A hiccup quakes her ribcage, and she looks down at her feet for a fleeting moment. “Unless you’re not really Fae.”

Not really Fae?

I loosen my hold on my powers and allow for a hint of the old me to pierce through. Shadows wisp over my skin, and the room darkens. Tendrils of darkness lick Nell’s shoulders, reaching for her and hugging her curves in every way that I can’t. By the spindle…the girl looks good in black.

“Look at me.” I cup her face to angle her chin up. “I swear to you, kitten. I’m Fae through and through.”

She shivers at the dark, uneven pulse of magic. “I believe you.”

I have to remind myself of why she’s here, where she comes from, and what she believes in. I have to remind myself every minute of every day not to give in.

I spin around, putting at least four feet of empty space between us. “I’m no good for you. Letting this attraction grow will only make us miserable.”

“Attraction, eh?” She observes me from behind her long lashes. “Did she die? Your fiancée?”

The words worm their way inside my foggy brain, and my blood stops cold. “What?”

She scurries over to me and plays with the zipper of my jacket, sliding it up and down. “Did the king kill her? Is that why you’re scared to feel something?”

“What did Two tell you?” I say, the words barely audible. The mask isn’t enough to protect myself from her gaze anymore, and my fingers tremble.

“I know you were engaged to her. Morrigan.”

I cover her mouth with my palm out of pure instinct. “Don’t say her name.”

No mortal should say her name out loud, or she might hear it… After New York, I wouldn’t put it past her to try and kill my seeds. I can’t bear the thought of her and Nell in the same realm, let alone the same room.

Nell thinks that Morrigan was my long lost love, and that I’m still grieving her, and that’s just so…wrong. I can’t let her think that, no matter how convenient it’d be to use it as an excuse.

“I didn’t love her,” I say as I remove my hand.

Her brows arch in question, her cheeks warm. “You got engaged to a woman you didn’t love?”

“It’s complicated.”

She leans into me, her open gaze flicking up to mine like she can see through my mask. “Tell me.”

The pull between us has grown beyond anything I can control. I can’t explain it. It’s annoying as fuck.

I grip her upper arms and hold her back, feeling like I’m standing on the edge of a dark, bottomless hole. “If you don’t stop now, I’ll do something we’ll both regret.”

“Like kiss me again?”

I clench my jaw, summoning the most wicked parts of me to the surface. “I could do a lot worse. I would gladly tie you to my bed and make you forget all about your home, your family, and your beliefs.”

She blinks a few too many times, a deep red flush branding her chest and cheeks.