Page 108 of The Broken Prince

“Since I never age, and you do…our time together would be very brief.”

“What if I were immortal too…?” She wasn’t the fiery woman she’d been just a few moments ago. Now she was submissive…and scared.

I shook my head, anticipating those very words. “No.”

“No, what?”

“That’s not an option.”

“Why? We could be together—”

“Immortality comes at an immense cost—the ability to have children and to keep your soul. I’ve forsaken both to live forever. I know your heart and your mind, and I know that those are things you can’t live without. Without your soul, you’ll never join your family in the afterlife. You’ll never see your parents again after they pass on. And you’ll never have children of your own.”

She was stunned into silence. Her eyes dropped, and then she rubbed her arm like she was suddenly cold despite the blazing fire beside us. She took a moment to process that information, a darkness in her chest from her despair.

“I’m sorry…” It pained me to say this to her, to crush her spirit. I’d felt her love for me grow every single day, felt mine do the same, as much as I tried to pretend it wasn’t real, so this was agony.

Her darkness increased, the blackness stretching from her chest to her limbs, invading her flesh and bone. Her chest rose and fell at a quicker rate, the despair grasping her throat tighter. Then it came…the tears.

I closed my eyes because I couldn’t bear it.

Two tears streaked down her cheeks before she clenched her eyes as tightly as she could, as if sheer force would stop more from coming. Her eyes stayed closed as her breathing remained hard. She sniffled and swallowed, doing her best to subdue the reaction that was a hurricane inside her chest.

My eyes remained closed, but I could visualize all of this just from her emotions. I opened my eyes because there was no respite from the horror, no way to shield myself from this unbearable pain.

“You’re the man I want…and I can’t have you.”

I should wipe her tears away with the pads of my thumbs, cradle her face in my hands, kiss her temple to soothe her despair with my affection. But it hurt too much to do that.

“It’s not fair…” She sniffled then inhaled a deep breath, her eyes focused on the fire, doing everything she could to stop the tears. She was quiet for a while, bringing her breaths back to normal, restoring a sense of calm. “It’s not fucking fair.”

“I know…”

As if I wasn’t there beside her, she stared at the fire, her cheeks still wet from the tears she’d shed. Now her face looked like stone—and her entire body felt like stone. She was defeated, dead inside.

That was somehow worse.

But then I saw a single flame, a candle that was rekindled after the storm. “My aunt used to be Necrosis…” She turned to look at me. “So was my uncle Bastian. The Bone Witch was able to reverse the magic and make them mortal.”

Now I was the one to avert my gaze.

“We can find her and ask her—”

“Baby.”

Her words died in her throat, and she seemed to fully understand what I would say next.

“That’s a sacrifice I’m not willing to make—and I would never let you make a sacrifice if I’m not willing to do the same.” I couldn’t look at her as I said it, to tell her that I would rather live forever than have one mortal life with her. “I knew how this would end before it began…and I did my best to protect us both… I failed.”

She was quiet.

I didn’t want to face her look. I didn’t want to see her disappointment. Her hatred.

“It’s okay…” Her voice was soft, like flower petals in spring.

My eyes lifted to meet hers.

“I understand.”

That somehow hurt more.

The silence was so heavy, it was hard to breathe. Like smoke had filled the room and polluted our lungs. Every breath was more difficult than the last. Her despair was so distinct, so deep it had no bottom.

“Baby.” My hand cupped her soft cheek and directed her stare to me, my thumb in the corner of her mouth. “We still have this time together—so let’s enjoy it like it’s never going to end. Let’s pretend…this is going to last forever.” I’d never expected to love another woman again, and I certainly hadn’t expected it to happen here, in this forsaken land, with the woman I was supposed to betray. But now my heart was in my throat and my body was numb whenever she was in my presence. Now I cared for someone so deeply that I had something to lose.

Her hand moved over mine, and she turned her cheek to kiss the inside of my palm. “Okay…let’s pretend.”

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