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“I didn’t know how to tell you,” she said, looking at the face of every Devil. Her family. “I tried to find a way around the magic, but I couldn’t—” She faced Darien just as it dawned on her. “How?”

“I went to see the Widow.”

The blood drained from her face, and her stomach dipped.

“Her cost was low.” Darien cupped her cheek, thumb stroking her skin. “No asking price is too great for your safety, Loren.”

Lace cut in. “What’s the plan? For all we know, the magic that was keeping Loren from speaking might’ve already notified the imperator of what we’ve done.”

Darien was still watching her, hand caressing her cheek. “Then we’ll deal with it when the time comes.”

“Aren’t you worried at all?” Tanner asked.

Jack added, “Yeah, really. He’s been watching the house.”

“He won’t come near the house.” Darien’s words were hard. He lowered his hand, his steel rings clanging on the quartz. “He wants Loren, not us. And we need to protect her.”

“How do you know?” Lace whispered. “That he won’t try anything with us?” There was real fear in her question.

“Because I will kill him.” Darien’s words were said with such certainty, they sent a chill up Loren’s spine. “I would win, which is why he needed to get Loren away from me. I don’t care if he’s the imperator, his power doesn’t exceed his status in society, and I will kill him if he comes near us.”

Loren reached for his hand. It took him a moment to respond, his gaze hard with determination. But after a moment he was lacing his fingers with hers and tugging her out of her seat.

“I’ll speak with you guys in a bit,” Darien said. “If you leave the house, take someone with you. Keep an eye out, and be careful.” He pulled her toward the entrance hall.

Loren wasn’t sure why, but Darien was quiet as they walked. New tension had formed between them, and when she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, she found that she couldn’t read his expression.

He didn’t say anything until they were in their suite, the door shut behind them. The mirror had been replaced, every trace of the destruction he'd wrought gone. He let go of her hand, walked several feet into the room, and turned to face her. The look on his face was conflicted, his jaw flexing as he searched for the right words.

“Darien,” she whispered. “What is it?”

“You said you were afraid you were losing me.”

“I was,” she said. “But I’m not anymore.”

Darien’s throat shifted with a swallow. “I am.”

She took one step toward him. “What do you mean?”

“I have some questions.”

She interlocked her fingers before her. “Okay.”

It took him several minutes to find his words. He stood perfectly still, staring at the floor, arms crossed.

Finally, he spoke. “When you ran out on me…when you saw me collecting…” Those eyes met hers. They were guarded again, but she knew him well enough to see the many emotions quarreling within. “I know you said you didn’t want to leave that night, but…I saw the look on your face. Your fear was real.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she whispered.

Darien didn’t buy it. And that look in his eyes—the hesitation, the defeat, the lack of hope—broke her heart. “I need for you to tell me if anything ever makes you uncomfortable or scared—”

“I am not afraid of you, Darien,” she said again. “I might’ve been afraid of what I saw, but I could never be afraid of you.” How could she ever be afraid of someone who’d sacrificed so much for her? Someone who’d saved her life more times than she could count? Someone who looked at her the way he was looking at her now, as if she was his whole world and he feared she was slipping away.

“I want to do better, Loren. I do. I’m trying, I’m just…” He sighed, pushing his hair back from his face, rings catching in the strands. “I’m fighting. Fighting with myself, with my Surges, with…with my grief.” The last word was forced out on a strangled breath. His reluctance to speak of his inability to move on from his mother’s death hung in the air between them, the pain he was feeling almost tangible. “I promise it won’t always be like this.”

Loren closed the distance between them. She took Darien’s hands into her own, threading her fingers through his. “I’m with you,” she told him. She looked up at him, forcing him to make eye contact with her. “If it’s Darkslaying forever, then it’s Darkslaying forever.” She squeezed his hands. “I choose you, Darien. I will always choose you.”

“The fact that you’d say that, after everything you’ve seen, everything you’ve learned about me… It makes me love you even more.”