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I was only able to hide it because I needed to be strong for Sapphire.

“They sent you through a deadly forest,” he continues, frost crawling up to his elbows as anger courses through him. “Where you were attacked and left with fatal wounds. They made you jump over ravines. Theylet you fall down a waterfall.”His voice grows harder with each example, and he places his hands on my shoulders, his fingers pressing against my skin. “I’m keeping you safe, Zoey. I’m the only person who cares about you and prioritizes you in this realm.”

I swallow down a lump in my throat, suddenly seeing it all with perfect clarity. “To them, I was a burden,” I say slowly, and his eyes flare with triumph.

“And to me?” he asks, confirming what deep down, I likely already knew.

“To you,” I say, taking a deep breath, grounding myself in the moment, “I’m everything.”

“Yes,” he breathes, and there’s so much emotion in that single syllable that it makes me dizzy. “You areeverything.”

I should stop there.

But I don’t. I can’t.

“I love you.”

The words tumble from my lips before I can stop them—before I even realize I’m saying them.

His hands freeze on my skin, his wings lock in place, and his eyes—those midnight eyes that have haunted my dreams since the moment he took me—widen with something that looks like shock.

My heart stops, and I curse internally.

That was too fast. Too soon. Too much.

But then, his jaw tremors. His breathing shifts. He holds himself still—too still—like if he moves, he’ll shatter.

“What did you say?” he asks, and it’s barely a whisper, like he’s choking on the effort it takes not to lose control.

I swallow hard, but I don’t look away. He might be dangerous, and I might be unraveling, but I’ve never felt more certain.

“I love you,” I repeat, bracing myself for anything. Harsh words, fangs pricking my skin, a command that I leave his quarters immediately and never come back.

Instead, his hands rise and cup my face, his thumbs brushing my cheekbones, like I might vanish if he blinks.

“Say it again,” he demands.

Not asks.Demands.

His eyes search mine, like he’s trying to memorize the way I say it. Like he’s trying to believe it’s real.

“I love you,” I repeat, reaching up to trace the sharp line of his jaw, admiring his otherworldly, perfect features.

He stills, and his wings shudder. That same shudder I felt the first time I touched the base of them—the place where even he can’t hide his vulnerability.

“Again,” he breathes, and it sounds like a prayer.

“I love you, Aerix Nightborne,” I say, dizzy with the truth of it.

His forehead presses against mine, and then his lips are claiming mine with devastating intensity, like he’s falling apart and I’m the only thing keeping him whole.

“I have loved you,” he says, low and strained, “since the night in the bunker.”

My heart stutters, and I remember that first night—how terrified I was, desperate to maintain some illusion of control.

“When you made that ridiculous pillow barrier,” he continues, a ghost of a smile touching his lips, “and demanded I stay on my side.”

His wings curl forward again, shutting out the rest of the world until there’s only him and me and this confession hanging in the air between us.