“How manipulative you are,” I whisper. My lower lip trembles. I bite the inside of my jaw to hide my response.
“Have I spoken an untruth?” He laces our fingers and guides me through the house.
“There are ways to warp and twist the facts to get what you want. You’re a master at it. Perhaps you’ve been doing it for so long, you don’t even realize. Sad.” I spit the last word out like something gone sour.
“What are you hoping to accomplish, Louella?” He brings my hand up to his lips as we pause in front of the exit.
“An apology to begin with.” He opens the door and leads me outside. There’s freedom here as we escape prying eyes and ears with advanced hearing. The buzz of insects and the croaking of frogs in the distance bring the night alive. I missed this Cajun choir while I was in Kentucky.
“For being what I am?” he asks skeptically. “For lying and hiding things. For toying with my emotions—”
Suddenly, I collide with his chest, cutting off my sentence and causing me to gasp.
His nostrils flare, and his eyes turn amber. “I’ve done many things, but that was never one of them. You want me to regret what I am? What I do to keep my family safe? No. I won’t do that. I did my best not to hurt you. Can’t you see that?”
I press my palms against his firm chest. “I would’ve preferred the truth.”
“You think so now, but you forget, I know you. Our spirits are bound. You like to keep the distance between us and ignore your own darkness because you fear it.” His words pierce the shield I’ve wrapped myself in.
“No.” Denial is bitter on my tongue, and difficult to swallow.
“Yes. Magic is not intrinsically dark or light. It’s what you do. You’re neutral, like every witch before you. You are like me.”
“How can you say this when you are steeped in darkness?” I whisper.
“I am of the dark, but it does not consume me.”
“I should have listened to them when they warned me about you.”
His eyes dart back and forth as he studies my face. His lips curve up in the corner. “You don’t mean that. I know you’re angry. I deserve it for the poor way I handled things. I’m not a man used to consulting others. I act in the best interest and focus on survival. Surely you understand I play the long game. I will always do what’s necessary to keep you.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Even if it’s against my will?”
“We both know it’s not.” His lips are inches from mine. When I send a spark of power through him to warn him away, he hisses and laughs. “Only you would dare.” He brushes his lips against me. “Or live to see another day afterward.” He releases me, but not before lightly running the back of his hand across my cheek. “You trusted me implicitly once.”
“You earned it a million times over back then.” The past crowds in on me and I’m overcome with recollections of dates, whispered conversations spoken in the dark, and discovery.
“Allow me to do that again.” He steps back, giving me room to breathe. “There’s something I wanted to show you on the property.”
I clear my throat. “I noticed the changes. It looks amazing.”
“Much of that can be contributed to Gillet.”
I laugh. “Sounds about right.” We slip out to the backyard, and my gaze is immediately drawn to the circular stone entrance of a bricked off area in the distance.
I place a hand over my heart. “Is that what I think it is?”
He chuckles. “A moon garden? Yes.”
I admire the moon gate and struggle to keep myself from walking over to explore. “Why?”
“Because you’ve always dreamed of having one.” He shrugs.
I shift my weight, uncomfortable with his intense stare. “You can’t buy me.”
“My only desire is to please you.” He steps closer.
I peer up into his gaze, the moonlight glinting off the tiny amber flecks in his dark brown eyes. “How can I believe you?” A war is waged in my mind against hope and the need to protect myself.