Chapter Forty-Seven #2
Silas sucks in a deep breath. “Sometimes I look at you and see my wild, five-year-old girl. But it’s not who you are, not anymore. I never should have forced that bracelet on you and your siblings, and I especially should have removed it sooner. I made the decision out of fear, and I’m sorry. I—”
“Why didn’t you?” Cassia interrupts. “Why didn’t you remove it sooner?”
Silas takes a minute to answer. “I don’t know anything when it comes to you. I can’t see your fate, and I hate that. Your safety means everything to me, but you weren’t talking to us. The bracelet became my only connection to you, and I didn’t want to lose that. It was selfish.”
Gray slinks backward, shifting his attention to Aziel. He and Charlie switch places.
“I’m sorry, Cassia,” Charlie says, approaching. “I love your independence. I love that you have it, that you use it, and even that you abuse it. You and your sister are everything I ever dreamed women could be.”
Cassia looks at me, her gaze flickering in my direction. Warmth flares between our bond, nearly identical to what she felt when Gray hugged her, but now the emotion is directed at me. My knees grow weak. Cassia feels love for me, too.
I blink in disbelief. I’ve been oblivious.
I offer a soft smile, hoping to look encouraging. She asked me to join her for support, but she made it clear she doesn’t want me to get involved. It’s hard. I want to knock heads together, apologies be damned.
Cassia straightens her spine, turning back to her mother. “If you can forgive me for fucking and marking your best friend, I can forgive you for the bracelet.”
Charlie halts. She sucks her lips into her mouth and shuts her eyes, visibly trying hard to digest the words that were just spoken to her. Cassia’s straightforward, that’s for sure. A long second passes before Charlie blows out a breath and reopens her eyes.
“I’ll take it,” she says.
Cassia then turns toward Gray. “I want you to secure Lust’s endorsement for my future coronation. Do that and I’ll forgive you.”
I place a hand over my mouth, hiding my budding laughter. Cassia has put a price on her forgiveness. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Her eyes flicker toward me again, a smile toying at the corners of her lips.
Nobody else in the room appears shocked.
“I’m pretty hands-off with the day-to-day dealings of Lust,” Gray admits. “David’s the one who will—”
“Get me the endorsement, Gray.”
The incubus snaps his mouth shut, then nods. “Fine.”
Cassia turns toward Silas. “Tell me how and when the woman who fucked Wren dies.”
“No.”
Cassia raises a brow. “Then I don’t forgive you.”
Silas throws his head back, glaring at the ceiling. Then he levels his gaze with Cassia. He looks far from pleased. “Name something else.”
“No.”
“I can’t just…”
Silas scrunches his nose, then his eyes glaze over. It takes several minutes, which I suspect means the fates don’t want to tell him. A small bead of blood travels out of the corner of his eye, and he winces as he finally comes to.
He wipes the blood away. “It’s painful. Fast, but painful. That’s all I can tell you.”
Cassia’s smile is unnervingly predatory. “Do you promise?”
“Yes.”
“That’ll do, then.”
Cassia strolls toward Aziel. My pulse picks up as she nears him. He’s not holding back his power, letting its full extent permeate the room. Most people take that as a sign to skedaddle, but Cassia enters his personal space without the slightest bit of worry.
Charlie is staring at me again. I ignore her.
Cassia pats the top of Aziel’s head. His nostrils flare as he smells her, and after a second, he lifts his arm and places his hand on hers.
“And I want you to announce a date for my coronation,” she says, her voice surprisingly tender. “Preferably within the next five years.” She pats his head again. “I’ll give you some time to digest that. We can talk through the details later.”
Charlie is in front of me. I didn’t notice her approach, and I clear my throat as I finally peer down at her. I’m not sure what to say. I’m mad at her, but I also owe her an apology.
“I know you’ll be good to Cassia,” she says, the first to break the silence. “And I hope you don’t take offense to this, but I don’t want to be best friends with my daughter’s mate. We can still be friends, but casual ones. I don’t care to hear about your love life.”
“I have never been interested in telling you about my love life.”
Charlie shrugs. “Well, don’t start now.” She turns toward Cassia. “Have you told Valeria? She’s been asking about you.”
Cassia shakes her head. “We haven’t spoken in a while.”
“Well, you two can catch up tomorrow evening,” Charlie says. She turns to me again. “Has Cassia told you about our family dinners? I assume you’ll be attending now.”
Cassia practically beams. “Yes. We’ll be there.”
She looks so fucking light. I love to see it, and I smile like a fool as she flickers around her parents.
She tells them everything they’ve missed these past few months, then shares a highly embellished retelling of our relationship.
She conveniently leaves out the several times she tried to murder me, and she makes it sound as if I’ve been chasing her around for weeks.
She makes me sound desperate. I don’t correct her.
If this is the story she wants, so be it. We both know the truth. She put her teeth on me first. She couldn’t restrain herself around me. She was the one chasing me.
By the time we return to our apartment, I’ve lost count of her lies.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to remember all that,” I admit once we’re alone. “You might have to write it down.”
Cassia nods. “I can do that.”
My lips curl, and that warmth from earlier travels through our bond again. I should probably stop being a coward. She’s not going to reject me, and the bond isn’t lying.
I clear my throat. “I love you.”
“I know. I’ve been feeling it.” Cassia’s budding smile falls. “Have you not meant to be sharing the emotion with me?”
“No.” I take a second to find the words. “I haven’t intentionally been keeping anything from you. I just didn’t know how to label the emotion.”
“Well, you do now, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Wonderful.”
Cassia smiles up at me, then meanders toward the cabinet that contains my most personal belongings. She found it late last night, and it’s as if she discovered a rare treasure. I take a seat on the couch, excited for her to demand that I explain almost every item to her in excruciating detail.
She’s obsessed with me.