Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,86

sun.

I continued to stare out the window in my plush prison, silence stretching out within the room. I hadn’t said a damn word to Ashor on our way back, regardless that I wanted to fly off the handle. Or burst out crying. I couldn’t make up my mind which emotion would come out, so it was best I just kept my trap shut and ignored the son of a bitch.

Pink and gold stained the horizon, the sun setting behind the woods, painting the River Styx as if it were on fire. It mimicked my own fury.

I felt Ashor’s gaze as he studied me like I was a riddle he was trying to unravel. “Don’t be angry,” he said softly, in a tone that put a tiny crack in my shield of anger.

Ribbons of calm radiated from his voice and inflamed the burning inside me. It was like ice and fire clashing. I whirled my head in his direction, a desire to hurt him swelling inside me. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I spat, releasing my temper. “You’re going to spend a night with another woman, a demon, and you don’t want me to be mad. Besides, I’m way past mad. I’m fucking furious. We’re about to have our first fight, princeling. Buckle up.”

He leaned against the wall, keeping his distance. “I only finished what you started.”

“Don’t pin this on me,” I hissed, feeling my temples throb. “I will not take the blame. No one asked you to volunteer yourself. I was more than willing to make a deal with the queen. It should have been me!”

His voice was rough as he said, “You want to spend a night in her bed? I’m sure it can be arranged.”

I blinked, stiffening, finding no humor in the situation. “And you would be fine with it?” I hurled at him.

Ashor sighed through his nose, his jaw locking. “I never said that.” Finally, a display of emotion.

A quick bolt of violence sliced through our bond. “So you are capable of feeling.”

Shoving off the wall, he crossed the room to me. “No one should know what I am feeling better than you. You are the only one who has access to the deepest parts of myself.”

It was too difficult to weed through the labyrinthine levels of fury, betrayal, pain, and the thousand other things I was feeling to find his emotions. “What does it matter? When you are with her, I will be able to feel what you feel. Do you have a way to protect me from that?” My chest heaved as I took a breath. “All this time you’ve claimed every decision you’ve made has been to protect me, but you failed to see the one person who had the power to hurt me the most. You.”

“Lexi.” My name was a guttural ache from his lips. His agony joined mine, making it nearly intolerable to bear.

“I can’t believe I came back for you,” I spat, leaping off my seat to pace the common room like a caged tiger. I could no longer sit still lest I be utterly consumed by the swirling storm inside of us both. It threatened to sweep me away.

“He would have died,” Ashor murmured.

I didn’t want him to engage my sympathy, so I continued clinging to the anger. “You don’t think I know that? I’m not pissed because you saved your friend’s life. I’m fuming because you didn’t even bother to negotiate a different deal. One that didn’t involve you, the queen, and a bed!” I finished with a shriek.

He shook his dark head, the shadows in the corner staining the wall behind him. “Another option wouldn’t have worked. She took advantage of the situation so she could cut where it would hurt the most.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, and I brushed it away with an angry swipe of my hand. “Explain to me how spending the night with her is going to hurt you?” I was being unreasonable and a part of me knew it, but in the heat of the moment, I was only consumed with my own pain, not thinking about Ashor’s, or what he sacrificed in agreeing to her deal. His own choice had been taken from him.

Ashor shoved off the wall and was standing in front of me within a blink. I stood still, staring up at him, and as another tear fell from the corner of my eye, he caught it with a kiss. “Anything that hurts you hurts me,” he whispered, cooling