“There wasn’t a need.”
“Grayson . . .”
He lowered his voice. “You know how my father is.”
Mia’s mouth set and she looked away, eyeing the locked door. Her voice was so quiet, he nearly missed her words. “Sometimes I wish I could hurt him as much as he’s hurt you.”
The muscles in the back of Grayson’s neck jerked. “I never want you near him.” He’d only seen them together once, in this very room, the day Tally had burned.
“I don’t want to be near him, either,” Mia said. “But I hate how he treats you. How they all treat you.” Her throat constricted in a hard swallow, her eyes drifting back to his newest wound. “I hate that.”
The loathing in her voice stung him. He ducked his head but she reached across the table and cupped his strained face with both hands. A rich brown curl had escaped the knot at her nape and brushed against her perfect, rounded cheek.
They were opposite in every way. The realization wasn’t new, but it still hit him like a punch in the gut.
Mia thumbed his high cheekbones until their gazes locked—cold stone and warm earth. “You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just hate to see you hurt.”
His jaw flexed beneath her hands. “I know how I look.”
“You’re the most beautiful part of my world.”
The words shouldn’t mean anything, but Grayson’s heart tripped. He tensed when her knees bumped his beneath the small table. He shifted in his chair, drawing his legs back, but he couldn’t make himself pull free of her touch.
“Do you remember the stories I used to tell you about fate-sent guardians?”she asked. “Immortals destinedtoprotect achosenmortal?Iusedto think that’swhoyouwere—myguardian. I wasn’t even sure you were real at first, you were that perfect to me.”
His pulse sped, thudding heavily in his ears.
Mia hesitated, then her eyes softened. “You’re still perfect, Grayson. You’ll always be perfect to me.” She leaned over the table, the ucea berries forgotten as she used her hands to ease him closer.
Grayson didn’t breathe. He didn’t think. He did nothing as her lips touched his. Her mouth was soft and hot, gentle but real. She tasted like ucea berries and everything he’d ever wanted. Her satin lips pressed against his mouth and heat shot through his veins.
Mia was kissing him.
Shock froze him for a moment, but then reality hit. This was the line he’d sworn to never cross. The one temptation he’d always resisted, because giving in was wrong. Horribly wrong.
He yanked back, losing her kiss and touch. Thrusting his head aside, he could feel his face burning. His fists clenched uselessly in his lap.
Mia fell back in her chair, her hands dropping to her lap. “I . . . I’m sorry.” The words rang hoarse.
Pain swelled his throat. “Don’t.” He couldn’t hear that she regretted the kiss.
Silence smothered the air between them. A muscle in his temple ticked, exacerbating the ache that throbbed there.
“It’s all right,” Mia finally whispered.
It wasn’t. He grit his teeth, having no idea how to apologize to her.
She swallowed, head ducking as her shoulders rolled in. “I should have realized by now that you don’t . . . care for me that way.”
Grayson’s eyes cut to her, his stomach clenching. “You—” His tight throat trapped his voice.
She cringed, her chin still tucked. “I promise I won’t do it again.”
The words tugged at his core when they came out, too rough and low. “Mia, I love you.”
She stilled. Her eyes tracked up and he tensed when he saw the moisture veiling her stare. “What?” The single word cracked out of her.
“I love you,” he repeated.
Mia’s chest rose sharply and her wavering lips pushed together. “Then why . . .?”
“Because I can’t love you.”
She flinched, and it broke him.
Grayson pushed out of his chair and rounded the table. She followed his every movement, turning in her chair so she faced him when he crouched before her. Her fingers were knotted in her pale blue skirt, her knuckles bleached of their brown tone. He folded his gloved hands over hers and raised his head, meeting her gaze. “My father is the one who locked you in here.”
Her small nose scrunched. “That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“Why?”
His lungs caught. “You were only a child when he stole your life. How can I take advantage of that?”
Her chin jutted stubbornly. “You better have a stronger excuse than that, Grayson Kaelin, or I might hit you.”
His mouth twitched, but the weak smile died almost at once. “I’m not good, Mia.”
Her hands twisted beneath his, suddenly gripping his fingers. “You’re worthy of love.”
“I’m not worthy of you.”
“Is that what you think?” She shook her head, glancing away. “I’m not perfect.” She swallowed hard and her next words came out scratchy—torn. “There are things I’ve done I can never be forgiven for.”
His hands tightened on hers. His mind flashed back to the confessions she’d cried while under the influence of fever. I’m a killer.He still didn’t believe it, but clearly she did. “You were a child,” he arguedquietly. “There’s nothing you couldhavedone—”
“Stop.” She blinked through her growing emotion, shaking her head. “That doesn’t matter. You’re what matters. Every time you chose to follow your father’s orders, you chose life. I can never think less of you for that, no matter what you had to do. You’ve survived, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Her voice caught. “I can’t live in a world without you.”
Her words shot a thrill through him, but doubts still shadowed his thoughts. “If you weren’t stuck in this cell . . . Fates, I’m the last person you’d ever choose.”
Mia’s eyes flashed with steel. “You don’t know who I’d choose. After everything that’s been taken from me, how I feel still belongs to me. I won’t let anyone take that away—not even you. I love you, Grayson. I always have.”
He watched her, not breathing. Slowly, he slid one hand free from her
