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Wren stepped up beside me and looked me dead in the eye. “If you had asked me a third time, we agreed that he’d have to tell you the truth. To test it, he let his glamour drop the day Morgoya told you about the Gift War.”

The day I’d walked down to the water and saw the lochgrub.

My magic had roiled, trying to tell me that something was wrong. I’d confused them when Wren had arrived in Lucais’s place—

“I don’t know how differently it would have gone if the asshole hadn’t gotten himself stung by a locust and blown his stupid plan to pieces,” he confessed. “I hoped it would be much better. You deserve so much better than this.” He sighed. “But please believe me when I tell you that I would not have taken it any further without your informed consent. As badly as I want to give you what you wanted from me—to do anything you ask of me—I actually think he would have killed me for it, and I wouldn’t have let Morgoya stop him this time.”

I glowered at him. “I’m so glad I know where your loyalty lies.” The hurt that flashed in his eyes made me feel sick, butI refused to feel sorry for it. “Kiss me,” I said, taking a step towards him. “I want to see the difference now that I know.”

Lucais’s—no, it was Wren’s dark, chestnut brown eyes that were wary as he closed the distance between us. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. If you have no objections, then I’d like to do this to clear my head.”

“No objections,” he breathed. His hand shook slightly as he lifted it to cup my cheek, bending his head to mine.

Real Wren’s mouth slanted over mine, soft, warm, and as intoxicating as it had been yesterday afternoon. I felt my heart flutter, chest expanding with desire. My blood heated, my stomach clenched, and my toes curled as I reached up to wrap my arms around the back of his neck. I hated what he had done, all the lies and tricks, but I loved what he was doing with his hands on my waist and my hips, travelling over my backside as he walked me back against the wall. And I loved what he was doing with histongue—

A door creaked open.

I broke away from Wren’s mouth with a small whimper of annoyance and whipped my head towards the sound.

The High King of Faerie stood in the hallway, an unreadable expression on his face.

Mymate.

He looked between my wide eyes and the strong arms that were around me, and then he vanished back into my bedroom. The door slammed closed.

Wren sighed, resting his forehead against my temple. He inhaled deeply like his lungs could consume me and form a permanent attachment stronger than any star-told bond. “Aura?”

My heart clenched.His voice. The way he said my name…

The real Lucais, the golden fiend who brought me into Faerie, said that hearing me call his name from the cottage that night broke his heart. Because we were fated mates.

So how was it possible that another man’s voice would break mine?

“I’ve fallen in love with the wrong man,” I whispered, staring down the empty hall. Slowly, I turned to face him and found the most gut-wrenching smile on his face. The contents of my stomach turned to ice, and I pushed him away, turning my head so that I didn’t have to watch that smile breaking when I said, “But it doesn’t change what you did… Wren, I don’t want this.”

Chapter forty-nine

The Body Downstairs

Lucais Starfire spent histhree days of recovery in my bedroom.

I didn’t ask him to go back to his own room, and he didn’t suggest it.

At night, I placed a two-pillow barrier between us, and we stuck to our respective sides of the bed. During the day, he dozed on and off while I readThe Sins of Starsby the window.

The House brought meals to us, and I excused myself for an hour or two each day while Delia came in to help him bathe.

He promised not to look if I wanted to use the bath myself, but I simply rolled my eyes at him and used the empty guest room down the hall when I needed to.

On the third day, I finished the book.

I slammed it shut loud enough to wake him, and when he didn’t stir, I threw it at him instead. The hardcover landed on hisoutstretched hand, which was resting on my half of the mattress as he lay on his side.

“What was that for?” Lucais asked with forced politeness, cracking open a golden eye.

“Why do you keep pretending to be asleep when you’re not?”