“Does she?” Because it really didn’t feel that way. “I had no idea until today.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“And I couldn’t not tell her,” I added. “It felt wrong to keep that to myself.”
“No, it was the right thing to do,” he agreed. “She’ll see that. Trust me.”
I sighed, my hand falling from my nose to the bed while I stared up at my ceiling. “She said you bit her again.”
“Yeah,” he replied, clearing his throat. “A few times.”
I wanted to hate him, to yell at the unfairness of him taking her before I had the chance to, but my surroundings reminded me why I couldn’t take that next step. Not yet. Not until I figured out how to finish the mating without jeopardizing us both. “Good thing the bands work,” I said after a beat.
“You’re jealous.”
“Fuck yeah, I’m jealous.”
He chuckled. “It wasn’t exactly planned.”
“But you’re not sorry,” I pointed out.
“No, I’m not,” he admitted without hesitation. “She’s mine.”
“Ours,” I corrected.
“True.”
A comfortable silence fell between us while I considered what a future with her would be like. “Maybe we should run,” I suggested. “Take her far away from this bullshit and never look back.”
He remained quiet for a long moment before murmuring, “You’d never forgive yourself. And neither would she. The reason you’re both so compatible is that you share a sense of responsibility for others, and you won’t turn your back on the Midnight Fae. Not even for her.”
I despised him for being right. Just for a moment. Then allowed the annoyance to leave me because he was correct. “I can’t stop the ascension.” The black writhing marks painting my torso and arms were proof of that.
“And she wouldn’t want you to.”
“I know.” I heaved another sigh. “Fuck, I know, but it would be so much easier if I could.”
“Want to know what I think about easy solutions?”
“They never last,” I said, aware of his thoughts on the topic. “Yeah, yeah.”
I could hear him smirking. “You want me to coddle your ass and pity you?”
“Fuck you,” I muttered.
“Then stop whining.”
“I’m not, dick. I’m just telling you my hopes and dreams so you can squash them like you always do.”
He snorted. “Whatever, Midnight Prince.”
“Don’t even start that bullshit with me,” I muttered. “We’re not going back to the title fuckery again.”
“You really hated that, didn’t you?”
“You know I did.” His whole formality kick had served as a punishment to us both. “The entire situation wasn’t our fault. She played us and our cocks, end of discussion.”
He fell silent again, making me wonder if he was going to revert into his previous depression and tell me to fuck off. But instead, he quietly said, “I should have seen it coming.”