Light (A Choice of Light and Dark, #2)

by Lacey Lehotzky

“How am I? Are you fucking serious? You just kidnapped me, ripped me from my mate, killed my friends, and disrupted my whole life! How the fuck do you think I am?” My voice rose with each venomous statement flung in his direction. “Sounds like you are hungry and thirsty.

Lol me

“By the way, that male isn’t your mate. I am.”

Whattttt, confused

I was going to get her back – even if I had to fall into darkness to do so.

No not the darkness :( but also…cute

I had so much more to say, and I was ready to unleash another torrent when he fell to his knees before me, grasped my hands, and brought them to his face.

On his knees for her, yes please… that’s right

“Izidora, I will spend my whole life making this up to you, helping you heal these wounds you carry. I should have checked on you, rather than leaving you in the hands of others.

Please, Izidora, see that I mean this,” he begged, his hands fisting in the fabric of my jacket as he clutched me to him. He used my name for the first time.

Genuine

“King Zalan isn’t your real father.”

Shut up, what

So together, we are part of every race on this planet.”

😳

Kriztof, Zekari, and Kirigin’s bloodied and lifeless bodies lay side by side on the cold marble floor.

Sobbing mess

Kriztof’s last act was to stand up for Izidora and me with an attempted assassination of King Zalan. He deserved my tears and more.

A shiver wracked my body as the uncontrollable clacking of my teeth grew louder. Ruslan abruptly pulled his massive mount to a stop, the procession behind us nearly smashing together to avoid hitting us. With a lethal grace, he dismounted, holding his hand to me. “Let’s get you in the wagon where it’s warmer.

Swwoonnn

“On second thought, I’d rather ride.” His smoky gray eyes searched my aquamarine ones, and I schooled my expression to one of cold aloofness. He would not see my fear of being chained, stripped of control, and victimized once more. A hopeful grin spread across his face. “I can ride in the wagon with you, keep you warm? Then we won’t have to be apart,” he offered.

SWOON

I was not a victim, and I would never be again.

Amen

“When have I lied to you?” I shook my head as if the motion would clear the insane words coming from this madman’s mouth. But he had been nothing but honest, brutally honest, with me from the second I woke up in this wagon.

That’s something… did Kaz lie??

One still trickled down my cheek, and a warm, rough hand caught it before it dripped over my nose. “You can’t read?” Blinking through wet lashes, I found Ruslan’s hand cupping my cheek, wearing an agonized expression, as if my pain hurt him just as much as it hurt me. “No.” My confession was a hoarse whisper, the saltiness that dropped from my eye holding all my shame. “I can’t stand to see you sad,” he whispered as another tear slipped free, taking a little of my broken heart with it. “I may want to conquer the continent, but I am telling you that now, not scheming to make it seem like it was your idea all along. I will always be honest with you, Izidora,” he promised, using my real name to emphasize his sincerity.

Swoon again

My head and heart were too confused to speak any more.

I feel that often

guarding myself against this new disorienting world where Ruslan was good and Kazimir was bad. But Kazimir had saved me, and Ruslan had kidnapped me. And maybe Kazimir lied and manipulated me, but I had no way of knowing if Ruslan was doing the same. I had placed implicit trust in the words of Kazimir and the Nighthounds, and I would not make the mistake of doing the same with Ruslan.

Trust is hard!!!!!!! What if it’s all a lie!?

“Come, let’s get you some food.” Ruslan offered me his hand. I regarded it like it was a snake, then I clutched the fur tighter around me and hopped to the ground without his assistance.

Not taking his hand (1)

“This is one of my favorite books. I want you to have it, and I’ll teach you to read with it. I know I’m not the best company, so hopefully this makes up for it.”

“No,” I snapped, returning to that fiery place that had kept me safe before.

Relatable, anger keeps us safe yes?

“You are my mate, and you and I will love each other unconditionally because that’s what mates do. That book is nothing compared to the lengths I would go to for you, Izidora. I will burn the whole fucking world down for you to show my undying devotion.”

The tent flap closed with a whisper, and he crept toward me, crouching down so we were more level. “Let me try again. I have something you might like better.”

Crouching down. I love that he does that 🤭 gets on her level/ on his knees to yield to her. Love

A finger under my chin lifted my gaze to meet his smoky one, and I nearly startled at his sudden proximity. “We’ll get through them together,” he promised, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“Which letters do you recognize?” I chewed my lip and turned to my stomach so I could see the book better. “None of them.” Without a hint of judgment he said, “Okay, we’ll start with the basics. This is the letter T,”

lol giggling like an idiot

“I waited for you for so long… but I will wait longer if that means you are mine willingly. All I wanted my whole life was to be loved, and real love is worth waiting for.” My breath hitched as his words tapped the same wound that scarred my heart.

Despite my earlier trepidation, I was warming to Ruslan. Maybe his soul was just as tortured as my own.

yet one step away from my favorite place in Északi. The lonely mountains called to my kindred spirit, and it was the one place in the whole continent I could truly be myself. There was no pretending to be the ruthless, uncaring prince, the weapon molded from birth to bring glory to the Iron Realm. There was only me,

I held my hands up in mock surrender. She may think she won this battle, but I was winning the war.

I couldn’t tear my eyes from her, not when I was beginning to understand the depths of depravity she’d endured.

As I walked past her, she chewed her lip, and I stopped, grasped her chin, and with my thumb, pulled her lip from between her teeth. “That is for me to do to you,” I growled,

I stuck my hand out to her, hoping she would willingly take it. “Come to dinner, my sprite.” She rose from the couch but did not take my hand, and I let it drop casually, hiding the sting of her small rejection.

Not taking his hand (2)

What I had with Kazimir was uncomplicated, passionate, and most of all, safe. Ruslan was dangerous, possessive, and irrational, and yet our banter made me feel fucking alive.

“Of course, now that you are here, why wait? It will be the grandest royal wedding in centuries. I have it planned for the final eve of the year, during Béke.

Who knew such small gestures would be the ones that would ruin me?

True

Strong hands grasped my arm before I could tumble to the ground. “I’ve got you. Always,” Ruslan murmured, tucking me under his arm. This time I did not protest,

He’s got her always 😭😭

“I… You scared me,” I managed to say. Strong arms circled me, squeezing me tight and burying me in his body, which radiated heat. “Take all the time you need to calm down. I’m here.” His tenderness melted me, and I collapsed against him, riding the wave of panic until it subsided and my breath flowed without force from my lungs.

Safe place?

He held a hand out to me, and self-preservation had me accept it.

SHE TOOK HIS HAND

She’d ruined me long before I’d ever laid eyes on her. And when I did? I couldn’t help my desire, couldn’t hold back despite knowing that she might be ripped away from me. So I pushed her in the direction I wanted her to go, and she gladly accepted my plan because she felt it too. Until Ruslan ripped her away from me.

… manipulation?? No not kaz 😭 tell me it’s not true

She could have everything she wanted – so long as I wanted her to have it.

Gross! Bad Rus, no!

wispy smoke

The same as kas??

It was time to see what happened when I surrendered.

Ooo jump off that ledge girl

If I touched him here, I would be giving him a part of myself. I would be opening myself to the possibility of us – the possibility that we were mates. The thread I’d been denying for so long vibrated with anticipation, and with a serrated breath, I clasped my hand around him.

He planted a featherlight kiss on my lips before removing himself, but he immediately pulled me into his lap, holding me as if I had given him the greatest gift of his life. His arms were strong and sure – almost safe. His desire morphed into something deeper, something stronger, and for the first time, I truly considered that he might be right about us being mates.

Damnn

Thoughts of her suffering at the hands of Ruslan – or worse, fucking him – nearly drove me mad.

Hmmm priorities being reveled… dislike

What if he was her mate, and not me?

sooo, think we're starting to believe Rus

“You’ve been such a good girl, training so hard these last weeks, that I’ll let you sleep for another half hour before we head to the barracks.”

Good girl 🫶🏼

you don’t have to remind me.” Ruslan’s eyes flashed with black fire, and he snatched my arm and yanked me to him, the wood beam separating us digging into my stomach. “You know you are so much more than that to me, sprite.

Do we know that? ... I am still skeptical at this point. Maybe it’s my own trust issues

And that was yet another difference between Ruslan and Kazimir. Ruslan never made me feel like a victim or someone in need of saving. Instead, he showed me how to be my own hero.

YES

Once we’d reached the roof and the wind ceased howling in my ears, Ruslan murmured, “You know I’ll be there to catch you if you fall. Always.”

😭🫶🏼

There was no one else for me, and from the moment our bodies joined for the first time, I knew, deep down, that I was forever hers.