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“Nothing can take that away from you, Diem. No Crown, no man. Not even the Kindred themselves.”
heart already building its walls. “I would never ask you to choose between me and your family. If you cannot stand with me on this, I underst—” “We’re with you,” Taran interrupted. Eleanor nodded. “There’s no Crown I’d rather serve.”
“You make so many promises, but the only thing I ever really wanted was honesty. And it’s the one thing you still refuse to give.”
“And I was your son,” Luther thundered. “That did not stop you from drawing blood then. And it will not stop me from doing so now.”
“When are you and Luther going to put all of us out of our misery and fuck each other already?” “Taran,” I choked.
“He’s the best man I know—the best man I’ve ever known. And for all those years, he’s never put himself first, not even once. Every single thing he does is to help someone else. I could give you enough stories to last a lifetime. People he’s helped out of bad situations, children whose lives he sav—”
“Luther will stand by your side, and he will love you for every single day of it. And he won’t say a word. He’ll spend his entire miserable life protecting your happiness, hoping that someday you finally see him. Not Luther the Prince or the High General or the advisor, but him
“If I try to help you, are you going to fight me?” His grip tightened as he leaned down to my ear, his gravelly voice dropping low. “Or will you be a good girl for me again and obey?”
“I seem to recall you enjoying yourself the last time I had a knife to your throat.” My eyes drifted to his. “So which do you really prefer?” A rumbling tempest of want brewed in his gaze,
“It’s why I was able to come to your side after your father died. Even when you’d lost control, at your power’s most destructive, I dropped my shield, and it did me no harm.”
“Your life is not a small price,” I hissed. “Not to me.”
would have walked into the flaming heart of the sun itself,” he shot back. “If you are suffering, nothing will keep me from coming to your aid. Least of all something as trivial as death.” I clenched my teeth. “Don’t you ever r—”
“Because you may claim House Corbois,” Luther said gruffly, “but you’ll always be Diem Bellator to me.”
“Forgive me. They all need to see it.” “See what?” I rasped, barely able to speak. “Who will come for them if they dare to come for you.” Then his lips were on mine.
“Burn, my Queen. Glow so bright, the darkness trembles.”
My blood went hot. I wondered if I would ever, in the centuries that I prayed lay ahead of us, get used to the way it felt to be looked at by him.
“No—I came to swear fealty to you. I had my sword out to offer it in your service. Then I saw you standing there half-naked and spitting fire, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I became...” He smiled guiltily. “...distracted.”
