CHAPTER FORTY-TWO #3
The walk through the passageway was silent. There was nothing to say, and Daphne didn’t have the energy to speak anyway. The moment they were back in his chambers, Daphne climbed onto his bed and Kronos did the same.
They stared at each other in the firelight.
“Daphne.” He touched her cheek gently. “I am so sorry.”
His voice was thick with guilt. He blamed himself for this, since he was the one who had crested her. But she had allowed him to do it—practically begged him to. And she didn’t regret it. She was done letting her past cloud her judgment; she would not think the worst of him.
“I failed you,” he whispered. “I did not take the proper steps to protect you.”
Daphne said the one thing she knew now to be true. “You couldn’t have known.”
He shook his head. “I should have anticipated it anyway.”
“You should have anticipated that Caspenon would bite you?”
Kronos shook his head again. “I should have anticipated that there would be consequences. I should have known power would not come without a price. The crest was the only way I could think to gain it without…”
“Having sex with me,” Daphne finished for him. Then she almost laughed. “Look how that worked out.”
Kronos hung his head. “If it is a question of my life or yours, then it is not a question at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I am dead, you will no longer be bound by the crest.”
“You’d rather kill yourself than have sex with me?”
“Daphne.” He took her face in his hands. “I have wanted to have sex with you since the moment I met you. But if you are not ready to have sex with me, then death is preferable to forcing myself upon you.”
Her world closed in. This had gone too far. She shook her head. “Your life shouldn’t be on the line.”
“My life is nothing without you in it, Daphne. I was alone before I met you. I had no reason to live. My quiver was the only thing that mattered to me. Now I see a future—a future with you.”
“You can’t possibly think that we could—”
“I think that we could do anything.”
Her breath caught in her chest. She closed her eyes.
“We could do anything we want, Daphne. Name it, and I will make it happen for you. Dream it, and it is yours.”
Her eyes were still closed; she was too scared to open them. She shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
“What do I not understand? Tell me.”
“You don’t understand how hard it would be for us to be together.”
“Of course I understand. Do you truly think I do not understand? You are a human. I am a basilisk. There is nothing more difficult.”
“Then how can you think we could be together?”
“Because we want to be.”
“That’s not enough, and you know it.”
“That is all I need.”
“But that’s not all I need.”
“What do you need, Daphne?” he asked as she finally opened her eyes.
Daphne stared down at him, her brain utterly blank. What did she need? Devotion. Trust. Commitment. She had all of those things from Kronos already. So why was she so afraid?
“I need to know that everything is going to work out,” she whispered desperately. “And you can’t give me that. You can’t know that.”
He sighed and ran his thumb gently over her bottom lip. “I cannot predict the future. No one can. But I can promise you with everything I have that I will love you until my dying day. Please.” His lips were an inch from hers. “Do not deprive me of this. Of…you.”
The tears that had filled her eyes earlier threatened to return.
“I love you, Daphne. That should be enough.”
It was enough.
“I would rather die,” he finished quietly, “than force you to sleep with me.”
What more proof did Daphne need that Kronos loved her?
He had said it with his words; he had showed it with his actions.
What else could she possibly need? For him to kill himself for her?
It was a sacrifice he should not have to make.
Daphne had waited her entire life for someone like Kronos: someone loyal and faithful and kind.
Never in her wildest dreams would she have expected to find such qualities in a basilisk.
Memories sprinted through Daphne’s mind: the way he’d accommodated her during the Ranking, the way he’d reacted to her boundaries with respect and patience, the way he’d carried her just now when she could not walk.
His actions stood in stark contrast to Maximus, who could do nothing but stare at her breasts when she happened to wear a corset.
Maximus treated her like a piece of meat, meant to be consumed.
Kronos did the opposite. He protected her.
He advocated for her. He was willing to sacrifice his position in basilisk society for her.
It was more than enough, and it was more than what anyone else had ever offered her in her entire life.
It was everything. Kronos had decided that her life was worth more to him than his own.
It was time for her to decide the same. The truth was that she loved him. The truth was that she always had.
“No one,” Daphne whispered, “is dying tonight.”
His eyes met hers. Kronos raised his hand slowly, pressing his palm over the hickey on her neck.
Daphne felt a bloom of coolness, and she knew he had healed it.
“No one,” he whispered, “will mark you but me.”
Then his lips were on hers.