Page 72 of Dark Flame

“You really were telling the truth when you said you wouldn’t kill me?”

“I can’t hurt you without hurting myself. You’re safe. You’re the safest woman in the world.”

Except that’s not how I feel. “You can’t keep me here forever.”

He gives me his back. “We’ve had this conversation before. Yes, I can. Whether it’s for the cure or for your protection, Harlow, your life became mine the moment I took you from your house.”

Harlow.Oh my fucking Goddess… Yes, it all makes sense now. His voice in my head. It’s always been there. Something was pulling me towards him long before he came for me.

“Your voice,” I blurt, my revelation refusing to be kept from him. “Do you think that’s why I’ve been hearing you?”

“Perhaps.”

Silence stretches between us. My hands knot in the blanket, torn between getting out of bed and following or staying here. It’s in the space between us, I understand. Everything he’s said, it’s not a lie, even if I wish it was.

“I hate you,” I whisper.

“I hate you too.”

And then he’s gone.

Twenty-Seven

ALEC

FeelingsI never once imagined to exist now own me. Instincts I’d rather tear from my motherfucking throat than return to my bedroom and see her there. Making her my Bride doesn’t mean we have tolikeone another; eternity living together while being apart sounds fine to me.

Except for the fact she’s my new source of life. My reasoning. Everything preventing me from dropping her in the dungeon where she’ll be safest from anything that can harm her—and thus me—and throwing away the key, forgetting about her presence. That would be the most ideal situation.

No, ideal would be not being mated to her.

Fuck. Me.

I slam my palm into my office door, the wood cracking beneath the force. It snaps open, crashing against the adjacent wall. A physical manifestation of my anger but nothing near enough what I need.

“Nice night?”

Of course she’s fucking here. She’salwayshere.

“You.”I’m across the room instantly, lifting Freya up from where she’s perched on the edge of my desk, pinning her to the windows behind it by her throat. “This whole time, you knew what she’d be to me.”

“Yep.” In a quick flash, the witch is gone and my palm lands, now empty, against the glass. I whirl, finding Freya behind me before my feet are lifted off the floor and I’m pressed to the spot I had her seconds ago, held by the invisible force of magick. She ticks a brow up and lowers her hand, keeping me in place. “I’ll let you go as long as you don’t try to kill me.”

“Ishouldkill you, you conniving bitch.”

“I think you mean witch.” She shrugs, uncaring about the threat I’ll more than happily deliver. “I had orders to not interfere.”

“Except that’s entirely what you’ve done.”

Another wave of her hand, and my feet thump to the ground. “No less than what I was instructed to. Besides, if I told you she was your Bride, would you have bitten her?”

“Fuck no.” I would have stayed far away. Maybe even sent her back home. Without tasting her, the monster inside would never have discovered its mate, and I’d return to going through my entire life never knowing wiser.

She clasps her hands in front of her. “Exactly why I couldn’t. So ask your questions, because I’m sure you have some.”

“Can it be broken?” The question immediately makes my insides churn, threatening to puke up her blood. The instinctual part of me would prefer to cut off its own head before losing its mate, but the rest of me…Ineedher gone.

Freya smirks and retakes her seat on top of my desk, propping her feet on my chair. She’s in some ridiculous pair of ripped jeans and flat-bottom shoes I believe are called Converse, if memory serves correctly from the numerous ads I’ve passed about them over the years. Her hair’s a bright green this time, and she fiddles with the ends as she responds.