die. For what? To spare some mortals the seity we consume?” He scoffed. “Please. We are better off as we are. Think of what kind of miserable life you would lead if the Faire had not taken you.”
She looked down into her pasta. Word for word, she knew exactly what kind of life she had been taken from. One that wouldn’t last very long.
“What?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“No, you look as though I just stepped on your cat. What did I say?”
“The Faire told me what my life would have been like if I stayed away.” She quickly chose not to tell Simon about his alternate future. He was already in a bad enough mood as it was. “If it wasn’t lying to me. It probably was. This could all be an elaborate lie to convince me to help it survive.”
“What did it tell you, Cora?”
She didn’t dare look at him. “I would have—” Her voice broke for a second as she tried to force the words out of herself. Tears pricked her eyes again, and she hated it. She hated everything about it. “I would have killed myself in ten years. Shot myself in the head. I would have died alone, unloved, and consumed by pain.” She set her bowl down on the counter beside her.
As he approached, she shut her eyes. She didn’t want to look at his angry, smug face. There was a lecture coming how “everyone suffers” or about how weak she was, and she didn’t want to watch him sneer his way through it.
Hands cradled her cheeks and tilted her head up. She tried to turn away, but he insisted. Lips met hers in a deep, passionate kiss. It was such a surprise that her eyes flew wide, her hands clinging to his black silk shirt.
One of his arms wrapped around her. One of his hands cradled the back of her neck, pulling her forward until he was standing between her thighs. He kissed her with such an overwhelming need that it made her dizzy.
When he finally broke off, her chest was heaving, and she was breathless. She sought his black-red-white gaze and found him glaring at her. Why was he mad at her now?
“Did it tell you this last night?” His voice was a quiet whisper.
“No…two nights ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He kept her head cradled in his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me about such a terrible burden?”
“I don’t…I…you have other things to worry about.”
“I have you to worry about, Cora Glass. As of late, I find I worry about literally nothing else.” His jaw ticked. “That is entirely the problem, in case you haven’t noticed.” He tilted his head back slightly, scrutinizing her. “What else are you hiding from me?”
She looked away. “Noth—”
“Don’t lie.” He sneered. “I am the master, don’t forget.” He paused. “You’re protecting me, aren’t you?” He crooked his fingers under her chin. “You are. How adorable. It told you my future as well, didn’t it?”
When she stayed silent, it was all the confirmation he needed. A slow grin spread over his face—the cruel mania she had come to know so well. “What a delight! Do tell. What kind of horrors was I meant to commit?”
She glared at him. “You want to know? Fine, jackass. You murdered Suzanna and your two children, painted a masterpiece from their blood, and started a cult that went on to murder others after you were hanged for your crimes.”
For a moment he looked surprised, then he tilted his head back and howled in a peal of laughter. “Oh! That is glorious! I would have achieved my goal of being a world-famous painter after all. How wonderful.”
“You aren’t…upset?”
“Me? Hardly. It’s hysterical.” He leaned over her, pressing his hands into the counter, forcing her to lean back against the cabinets. “I have no difficulty picturing myself draining their bodies of blood to fulfill my true purpose. But that life is gone to me now. I am not that madman. I am this one instead. The one who stands before you in all my terrible glory.” He ghosted his lips over hers. “Just as you are no longer that pained, grief-stricken girl who would have taken her own life. Those lives are dead. We never existed. It is a story, nothing more. And you, my dear…sweet, darling Cora…shall not die unloved.”
Her head reeled as he kissed her again, pulling her flush against his chest. Dragging her from the countertop, he slammed her down onto