“What do you care, Romulis?” Haughty now, she flicked her hair over one shoulder. “Even without Tristan I would not come to you.”
All emotion drained from Romulis, his features going blank. He dropped his arms to his sides and stepped away from her.
Tristan tried one last time to save the life of the woman he cherished. “Heal her and let me stay here with her, Zirra. Please. Then I’ll do this and whatever you desire for the rest of your life.”
Mouth tightening, glaring, Zirra strode to him. “Get off your knees, curse you. Stand before your master.”
He remained where he was, sweating, trembling. Zirra wasn’t going to grant his request. Stubborn pride all but seeped from her pores. There was only one thing he could do, then. His stomach twisted painfully. How great would his suffering be because of his next action?
Immeasurable.
But he would do anything to save Julia’s life. Anything.
“Do you vow to heal Julia,” he said, “to leave her and all of her family alone, if I give you the box and leave with you now?”
Zirra’s nostrils flared but she nodded. “Aye.”
“Swear it by the Kyi-en-Tra Crystal,” Tristan added. Such a vow could not be broken without death.
To his surprise, she didn’t hesitate. “I swear by the Kyi-en-Tra Crystal not to harm Julia or her family if you give me the box.”
So let it be done.
Defeated, he bowed his head. “Let me first say goodbye.” Dying inside, he pushed to his feet and leaned over Julia, whispering in her ear, “Remember me fondly, sweet draga, for I will never forget you. Live your dream. Love another. Have your children and be happy.”
Then. That moment. He understood why and how Julia had fought to get his confession of love. Love was giving willingly, not taking, putting the needs of another first.
She moaned when he placed a soft kiss on her lips. As he lifted his head, he tried to memorize her features.
“You’ve said goodbye,” Zirra snapped.
Everything inside him crumbled, but he motioned with a tilt of his chin. “It is there.”
Zirra rushed over, dropped to her knees and waved her hand over the plant, unleashing a stream of magic. The stand shattered, and a gasp parted her lips. Slowly, reverently, she lifted the box.
“I have fulfilled my part of the bargain, Zirra.” He nuzzled his cheek against Julia’s. “Now fulfill yours.”
She clutched the box to her chest with one hand and waved the other. Julia moaned again, stirring this time. Color flooded her cheeks, and he pushed out a relieved breath. Her eyelids fluttered open.
“Tristan?” Julia reached for him.
Though it was the hardest thing he had ever done, he walked to Zirra.
“You will be in my bed this night,” the black-haired witch purred as she ran a fingertip over his chest.
He shuddered, sickened by her touch.
“Tristan,” Julia repeated, shouting now.
Without uttering a word, he returned to his box, and Julia’s world disappeared from view.
* * *
TRISTAN FELT THE box’s walls close around him. Darkness enveloped him as he became a vaporous entity. Before, it would have killed him to willingly enter his prison, but now…now he was happy for it. Julia was safe. Nothing else mattered.
* * *
“COME.”
He heard Zirra’s summons and obeyed without hesitation, exiting the box and appearing in her bedchamber. The walls, the bed, the floor, were all as white as he remembered. The perfect contrast to her black heart.
“Zirra,” he said with a nod of acknowledgment.
“I am here, my pet.” She stood at the hearth, naked and ready. Flames kindled behind her, illuminating her body with a glowing amber halo. “I’ve missed you.”
“I have been waiting for this summons,” he said, and she must have caught the truth in his tone, because her smile widened.
“Did I not tell you the other girl meant nothing?”
He kept his tone mild, soothing. “You did say that.”
Now her eyes softened. “You are mine once again.”
“That is the way it appears.”
“Come here and welcome me with a kiss.”
He closed the distance, hating every step that brought them closer together. The moment he reached her, she cupped his cheeks to force his head down. Their mouths pressed together, and she thrust her tongue deep. He hated her taste, her smell, the way her teeth scraped his, so he did not respond in any way. He stood as still as a statue, not even moving his tongue.
When his response did not meet with her approval, she rocked back and huffed. “I will make you forget that woman if it kills you.”
Tristan crossed his arms over his chest. “Before you start, there’s something you must know.”
She ripped off his shirt and licked his nipples, mumbling, “And what is that, slave?”
“You were right. Love matters, and I was wrong to spurn yours.” Love was precious. True love, anyway. What Zirra felt for him was not love. It couldn’t be. She took, and took, and took, and never gave.
Her head jerked up, and she met his gaze. “What are you doing? I kept my end of the bargain. I healed the girl. You cannot do—”
“I kept my end of the bargain, too. I gave you the box. I severed ties with the woman I craved more than air. I willingly became your slave to serve your every whim. But now…now the time has come to break your curse.”
“Tristan—”
“I—love—Julia—Anderson.”
Four words that he’d once considered impossible to utter. Four simple words that were suddenly more real and emotion-filled than any he had ever spoken before. He loved Julia. Everything about her appealed to him. Her softness and beauty. Her wit and intelligence. Her drive to succeed. Her honesty and loyalty. Unlike his other guan rens, she did not make him weak. Nay, she made him strong. Not once had she sought to master him. She’d only ever sought to return his affection.
“I love Julia,” he said again.
Just like that, the spell that Zirra had cast, sentencing him to centuries of agony, finally broke at long last.
Zirra threw
