Eclipse of the Crown (Villains & Virtues, #3)

by A.K. Caggiano

She had become his weakness, and he would do almost anything to hold onto her.

If only she could just stop being so wonderful for a moment, he could figure out exactly what to do with all of his feelings for her.

That appealing thing was hope, of course, but feelings were to Damien as object permanence was to an infant—confusing, slightly frightening, and likely to inspire tantrums.

It wasn’t a whim, her desire to help the stupid, defenseless creatures, it was simply what was inside her, what made up the very best parts of her, the parts that drew him to her. And that was worth protecting.

But the worst of it was that dying meant leaving her.

It may have not been in the way that humans were meant to, but he loved her.

He did not want E’nloc on this plane, that he knew for certain. But he did want Amma. Even in this moment, feverish and ill and mind on the verge of being addled, he thought to whisper to her that, if he could love someone, it would be her. It was completely selfish, but the part of him that wanted her to know was growing in the wake of his weakness.

Amma didn’t want protection from whatever would come of loving Damien. It was simply true, and that was enough.

She growled at that, at the touch she would have nestled into only a moment earlier from the man she would have loved if destiny had deigned to be a little kinder to them both.

Perhaps it was a little cruel to take away the true things she felt—the things they both felt—but Damien was no stranger to cruelty, both given and received. And at least he would die knowing he had finally learned to love and given it to the woman who deserved so much more than what little he had to offer.

Though his insides burned, at least half eaten away by now with the luxerna, there was that voice of hers, so warm and pleasant, saying his name and nestling into his chest, finding the place it belonged. That—that was worth suffering for.