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“Why didn’t you?”

“I missed home. And I didn’t see it being more than it was.”

“Some men are just for a night—and one man will be forever.”

“Did you have your vampire phase, Mom?”

She quickly shook her head and focused on the casserole again. “Your father is my one and only.”

“Really? You seem more adventurous than that.”

“Well, I was young when I met him.” She kept her eyes on the casserole and scooped another bite. She’d been so excited for information a second ago, but now she seemed withdrawn. “Every love story is different.”

“How did you know he was the one?”

She finished her bite but still took another moment to answer the question. “When I realized he was the first man I could truly rely on. When I knew he would burn down the world and everyone in it just for me.”

It was romantic and violent…and suited my father perfectly. “That’s sweet.”

“I hope you find a man who does the same for you.”

A man in a dark-blue uniform and a black cape appeared in my mind, his stare ruthless, his command unquestionable. Then it disappeared as quickly as it came, like the flicker of a candle. Did I picture that myself…or did I actually see it?

5

LILY

Now that my adventure had ended in tragedy, I wasn’t sure what to do next with my life. The idea of setting sail ever again didn’t interest me. And I knew my father would forbid me from taking another voyage, at least this soon.

I spent my time in my villa or sitting in the shadow of the oak, looking out at the sea. Sometimes I would go to the royal library and grab a book to read. I read one now, seated by the fire long after the sunset.

I hadn’t eaten dinner, but I wasn’t in the mood to cook. Sometimes I would help myself to the kitchen in the castle, usually finding something lying around. I would normally eat dinner with my family, but I wasn’t in the mood for conversation or cards.

My eyes were on the page of my book, the blanket over me, and then I felt it.

The presence of another.

My eyes hesitated before they lifted from the parchment, spotting the enormous man standing in my dining room,scanning the details of my accommodations before his dark eyes found mine. He was kingly in his uniform and cape, his sword across his back like he was prepared for a battle that he was already guaranteed to win.

He stared at me for several hard seconds before he stepped into the sitting room, two couches and one armchair around a coffee table on a plush rug. The ceiling was high, twenty feet in the air, far above his tall stature.

My fingers absent-mindedly shut the book. My eyes didn’t leave his.

“You didn’t tell him.”

A shiver ran down my spine when I heard his voice. It came from a stranger, but it was pleasant on my ears like it came from a friend…or someone more intimate. Bumps appeared on my skin even though I was perfectly warm with my blanket. My breaths had been so calm, and now they were erratic from the unease.

He took a seat in the armchair, his spine perfectly straight with his rounded shoulders, his cape draped over one of the armrests. Knees apart with his hands resting together between his thighs. As with every other time we’d come face-to-face, he barely blinked when he regarded me—as if he might miss something. “Why?”

He really did know everything.

He read my mind. “Just because you don’t see me doesn’t mean I’m not there.”

I wondered if I had ever been alone since I’d arrived at his shores. If he followed me everywhere, stood beside me in silentrooms, watched my father hug me and my mother kiss me. He haunted me—whether I knew it or not.

“Why?” he repeated.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “My father is grateful I’m alive. I don’t want to tell him I brought the God of the Underworld home with me.”