“Just look at him,” she says dryly. “Peter wasn’t exactly a pleasant person. I’m sure he irritated someone along the road.”
“So that’s it, then. You just guessed that I was the king.”
Rose looks up at me and she seems to realize what I’m getting at. She shakes her head, as though the connotation disgusts her. Great. What a wonderful way to spend our first night together. Fighting isn’t something I’m particularly good at. It’s not something I enjoy, but it’s something I rarely get to engage in because no one wants to go head-to-head with the king. Rose doesn’t seem to have that same fear, for some reason, and I’m not sure why. This isn’t part of the mating bond. Cheryl and I were mated and she never dared to raise her voice to me. She never fought with me.
Ever.
Not like this.
Rose doesn’t seem to have that fear because she bristles as she looks at me. Then her eyes narrow and she fucking glares at me. She glares!
“You think I got caught on purpose,” she says. “You think I did it to be close to you, to trick you somehow.”
“Did you?” I ask, and my voice is cold when I do.
This is it.
This is the moment it all ends.
This is the moment I scare her away, and I should, because love isn’t something I’m ever going to feel again. I opened up to Rose in a way I’ve never opened up to anyone. Not even Cheryl. It feels wrong to admit it. It feels dark and morbid and sad, but it’s the truth, and now I know it was all a lie. Now I know that everything I felt, everything I thought I felt, was all because Rose wants something.
I just don’t know what it is.
Power?
I don’t have any of that anymore.
Money?
I suppose that’s gone, too.
So why is she here?
What is it that she wants?
Does she want to valiantly rescue me and lead me back to the castle? Does she want to showcase what a hero she is? Does she want everyone to see that she is an incredible warrior? What does she want?
“My King,” she whispers, and she cups my face, pulling me back to reality the way that only Rose can.
“What?” I snap at her, but she’s patient. She doesn’t yell. She doesn’t recoil. She doesn’t do anything.
She just...waits.
“You make assumptions of me, King,” she says. “They’re false.”
“I make no false assumptions.”
“You can’t trust anyone,” she whispers. “So you think you can’t trust me.”
“I can’t.”
“I’m not telling you whether you should or shouldn’t, but I am telling you that I have no intention of betraying you. I meant what I said. I came to Dark Falls to save my sister. I came for the potion. Then I came to bring Luther his book and you...I came to warn you, Edward.”
“How can I know what you’re telling me is the truth?”
“Did it feel like a lie?”
“No.”