Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) - Katee Robert Page 0,81

went to visit her once before she was moved from the hospital, and the spark that made her Amelia had been extinguished. Only the shell remained.

But Aurora came to me grieving someone close to her.

“No. Not anymore. I made the call before I agreed to this assignation.”

Fuck.

She kept her mother alive for twenty years, sold herself to Hades to do it, and all for nothing. The woman never woke up. She was never going to. Gods, this situation is so fucked. “I’m sorry my actions hurt you.”

At that, she flares to life. “That is the shittiest of apologies. You’re not sorry you hurt her.”

I won’t lie to her, not even in this. “No, I’m not. She was a weak leader, petty and cruel, and if I didn’t take control, someone else would have staged a coup. Everyone looked at her and saw an opportunity.”

“Stop it.”

I lean forward, knowing that she’ll hate me after this but unable to stop. “Why do you think she sent you away, Aurora? Because she knew she wasn’t strong enough to keep you safe. I was in this territory for a month to observe her, and during that time, there wasn’t a vice she met that she didn’t embrace fully. Even her generals were sharpening their knives and eyeing her back. She wouldn’t have lasted the year.”

“Stop it!” She swipes a hand across her face. “It doesn’t excuse what you did, what you took from me.”

“No, I suppose it doesn’t.” I clench my hands to keep from reaching for her. With this new information, it’s easy enough to understand why Aurora said yes to this assignation. The one mystery I could never quite answer, not to my satisfaction. Lust isn’t enough of a driver for her, not when she can fulfill that desire filled with anyone she crooks a finger at in the Underworld. “How were you going to do it?”

She blinks. “What?”

“You came here to get revenge, correct? An eye for an eye is very biblical of you, but I can’t fault the logic. You were going to kill me. Or at least attempt it.” It feels like something is stuck in my throat, something sharp and jagged and far too large. “How were you going to do it?” She hadn’t brought in any weapons; I would have known.

“I hadn’t decided.”

I have no right to feel anger. Her desire for revenge is an honest one, even if it’s against me. In her place, I would have done the same thing, albeit on a faster timeline. Feeling hurt because she got close enough to strike me is ridiculous. Feeling betrayed when this was only ever supposed to be sex…

I am a fool.

I laugh hoarsely. “You have been sleeping next to me for over a week. I have been as helpless as I am capable of being every single night for hours at a time. Why haven’t I woken up with one of my butcher knives embedded in my chest?”

“Stop.”

“No, you answer me. You came here for revenge.” I motion at me, at the room around us. “You have had opportunity after opportunity to strike. Why haven’t you?”

She shoots to her feet, fists clenched. “I hate you!” She stares down at me, turmoil in her big dark eyes. “But I don’t only hate you. It’s more complicated than I expected.”

I don’t only hate you.

Hardly a declaration of caring, let alone something like love. Hardly anything at all. I laugh again. I can’t stop speaking, can’t stop twisting the knife. This was never going to work. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to hope. “Sounds like you lost your nerve.”

“That’s not it.” She shakes her head, still looking furious. “You aren’t what I expected, and it’s got my head all screwed up. Forgive the fuck out of me if I’m not as easily inclined to murder as you are.”

I push to my feet. I don’t crowd her, though. No matter how much I want to. “Yes, Aurora. Paint yourself as the helpless damsel instead of the ruthless hunter. Others might believe that lie, but it doesn’t work on me.”

“I am not a ruthless hunter.”

“Lies.” Gods, this hurts. I didn’t expect it to hurt so much. “You spent ten days fucking me, letting me hold you, talking with me, coaxing me to let you in. All the while, you were thinking of ways to kill me.” I shake my head. “You’ve accomplished your goal.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You might not have wielded a literal blade, but you’ve broken my fucking