Caught in the Basilisk's Gaze (Monsters of Faery, #4)

by Mallory Dunlin

Basilisks are a bit like dragons. We like to guard our precious things by sleeping atop them like a hoard."

"Not my problem if he'd rather starve than be attracted to me." Vaduin's spine went stiff. He looked over at me, taking me in: my reddened eyes, wet face, fisted hands. "Is it seriously so awful to want me?" I asked, unhappiness making my voice waver. "You're happy to fuck anyone else in the Eyrie, but not me?"

"I missed you," he said, almost whispering the words. One side of his mouth tilted up. "Isn't that strange? I didn't know I could miss people anymore, but I missed you."

"My heart can break for what you've suffered without making that your problem."

"I feel like a ghost," he said in a low voice, sounding defeated. "A thing made of battlefield ash and remembered screams. I don't know how to be anything else anymore."

"If you're a ghost, haunt me. Let me hold you when your nightmares leave you screaming. Water the ash with tears and watch the wildflowers bloom with me." I rested my face against his, and he didn't pull away. "I always loved ghost stories. I can love yours, too."

"Then I'm yours," he said in a fragile voice. He took my hand and set it on his throat, his pulse under my fingertips. "Yours to harm or to harbor, and yours to succor or to strike. Set a collar around my neck, and I will submit. Set a crown on my head, and I will stand sovereign. But I beg thee, set thy hand over my heart, and claim what longs to be claimed." Vaduin's fingers traced over my

face, seeing what his eyes could not. "Because I love you," he whispered, trembling, "and I'm already yours."