Page 79

“You promised me one more night, Elara,” he growled, struggling in greater earnest now. As long as he remained in the circle, his truth would be revealed after I paid with mine. It’s why I’d had to bind him first.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my heart breaking a little that he still didn’t confess, even though I was giving him the time to do it. “I lied. You’re not a stranger to that concept.”

“This is not how I wanted you to learn the truth,” he said, growling a little more desperately as he tried to free himself beneath me.

“You've had plenty of time to tell me,” I snapped, patience gone as my heart gave a mighty crack. “You knew I was falling in love with you, and you lied anyway.” He stilled, my truth already working to pay the price of the magic I had cast.

He changed, sharply curved black horns appearing from his temples and the emerald glint of his eyes brightening as his pupils stretched to resemble the slits of a snake. His ears pointed, and his canines sharpened a little like Cerridwen’s and Herne’s, but no wings or tail made an appearance. His skin began to give off an ethereal, golden glow, turning more tan and shining strangely bright in the dark of the room. Intricate tattoos appeared, snaking across his chest and down his arms and torso. They looked like some sort of script, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. A separate tattoo appeared over his heart; a circle with a crescent moon on top pointing upwards like a pair of horns.

He was beautiful and terrifying at the same time, and I scrambled back, scooting to the end of the bed as I stared at the naked, bound form of the Demon King.

Chapter 29

“How long have you known?” he asked, face betraying nothing about his emotions. I had expected fury or embarrassment from him, not this cool amusement. It annoyed me and broke my heart a little more. Clearly, he didn’t care.

“I suspected in Asterra,” I said, crossing my arms and shivering slightly, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill from me in a flood. “I was sure after the fight with Herne. Why did you lie to me?”

Carnon, the Demon King, sighed, closing his eyes for a moment.

“I’m at a real disadvantage here, Red,” he said, opening his eyes to glance at his naked body. “If you would please unbind me, we can have a civil conversation about this.”

“No,” I snapped, my voice breaking a little. “No more chances for you to lie or hide or equivocate. I want the full truth, and you’ll be bare for it, like I was.”

He winced, looking at me with something like longing and remorse. I hardened my heart.

“Let’s talk about your truth, Red,” he said softly. “I know I’ve hurt you.”

“Yes,” I said. “You had a thousand chances to be honest, and you continued to lie.”

“Technically, I never lied to you,” he said, raising a brow as if hoping to amuse me. I narrowed my eyes into the fiercest glare I could muster, and he sighed. “Fine, I certainly skirted the truth. And I’m sorry. Will you please unbind me so we can talk about this properly?”

“No,” I repeated. “Not until you tell me why you lied.”

He sighed again, and the soft, warm part of me that had truly been falling for him threatened to overpower my anger. I pushed it down, letting fury take its place.

“I didn’t know who you were, not fully, until we left the Bloodwood,” he said, sounding tired and a little pained. “By the time you told me that you were going to the Demon King, it seemed imprudent to tell you that you’d already found him.”

“That’s a load of shit, and you know it,” I replied angrily, rising from the bed to pace around the room. “You could have told me and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.”

“It would have changed everything, Red,” he replied, his snake-like eyes glinting in the dark.

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped, feeling the sting of the nickname he had used so familiarly for so long.

“Very well,my Lady,” he said, somehow sounding both angry and amused. “You know it would have changed things between us.”

“What things?” I shouted. “The fact that you wanted to bed me? The fact that I wanted you to?”

“Yes,” he said, sounding sincere. “And much more. I needed you to trust me, Elara.”

“Oh, well that worked out great for you, didn’t it?” I spat, letting my sarcasm run wild. “How easy it must have been to convince the naive, sheltered little witch that you were actually helping her. Tell me, how far down on your checklist was bedding me to get me to trust you?”

“Elara, please,” he said, sounding increasingly frantic. “I will explain everything if you will just let me up.”

“No,” I repeated again. “Not unless you’re willing to swear a blood vow to it.” He pursed his lips and my heart gave another wrenching crack. He was still planning on lying to me, even now. He threw back his head, clenching his teeth in frustration.

“It’s not that simple, Elara,” he growled, as I turned away from him to surreptitiously wipe away a tear. “Gods, how do I even begin to explain this?” he asked, more to himself than to me now.

“Try,” I said, crossing my arms and waiting for his explanation. “Just do the opposite of what you’ve been doing this last week and tell me the truth.”