Page 147 of Blackheart

“I promise, Riven.”

He was silent for a while, rubbing a hand over his mouth, before he exhaled in surrender.

“She got sick, but not a plague or cold. It was her mind,” he said, tapping the side of his head. “She started saying the most unusual things, sometimes screaming for no apparent reason.She needed to be watched, because she couldn’t be trusted by herself anymore. My father, he?—”

His jaw flexed, eyes darkening.

I sat patiently. There was no need to push him. I was there to listen, nothing more.

He rolled his shoulders back and cleared his throat. “My father waited until I was out processing goat meat, because he knew I’d be busy for hours. My mother loved goat stew, and I wanted to do what I could for her. When I came home, she… she wasn’t there. I found my father burying her out back.”

My face fell. “Did she hurt herself?”

Riven’s knuckles went white, the words erupting from him. “No. My father slit her throat. Said he couldn’t handle being married to a mad woman.”

What a disgusting piece of shit. I’d heard similar stories in the Waywards, of families turning on each other. If one got the winter sickness, they’d go ahead and kill them, hoping to contain it and not waste food on someone bound to die. Riven though, he grew uphere.It just went to show there were terrible people all over the world.

“I hope you never spoke to him again.”

Riven frowned. “I killed him, Elora.”

My blood turned cold, not because I judged Riven, but because of the weight his decision clearly had on him.

“One might say that would have been the noble thing to do, for your mother.”

He looked so defeated and ashamed—his dimple entirely absent and brows knitting together. “There was nothing noble about it. I murdered him with my bare hands, like an animal.”

While unfortunate, it was nothing I hadn’t already been hardened to. Far worse happened in the Waywards all the time. Hell, I’d killed a man with my crotch, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Pulling myself up, I scooted closer to him, snuggling my head onto his shoulder and wrapping my arms around his bicep.

“He deserved it,” I said, smiling. I was proud of Riven for sending him to an early grave.

Riven tilted my chin up with a finger. When he met my eyes, all I felt was warmth and security.

“I stand by you, no matter what,” I assured him.

He brought his lips to mine. Chills erupted the moment we made contact, and he held the back of my neck, kissing me deeper.

I pulled him closer, throwing our weight off balance. He pushed against me, lowering my back to the ground. His mouth trailed to my neck as he hovered above me, in between my legs—his hand traveled up my thigh. With my head against the flat stone, I gazed upward.

There was only him, the crystal cove, and soft light.

“I can take you back,” he murmured in my ear.

“Not yet,” I said quietly.

A warm kiss met my collarbone as his hand braced on my rib cage. “Tell me what you want.”

Wasn’t it obvious?

“Everything.”

I’d be a married woman soon enough, but at this moment, I was just a girl falling for Riven without a way to stop it. I’d tried to stop it. For Luna’s sake, I’d avoided looking his way for years, even when tempted. Even lately, I’d tried convincing myself I was better off sticking to duty and nothing more.

But it was impossible to push him away. There wasnothingI could tell myself to stop the torrent of feelings.

My body begged for him somehow even louder than my heart did, my pulse racing as his hand navigated through the flowing slits of my dress, finding my center.