Page 74 of The Forsaken

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“You don’t even like me.”

“Most times, no.”

At the absence of his laugh, she said; “I’m joking.”

“I’ve been an arse to you. You said so yourself.”

“A lot of times, yes.” She lifted a shoulder. “Alas, even a battered heart doesn’t seem to care. I truly believed that day during the winter storm you had come for me, then you took my first kiss and that sealed it.”

“Well, it bloody shouldn’t have!”

Poor Edgar. He couldn’t realize she wasn’t begging for his love; she was pushing him away.

“The night you told Oleander I was going to not only find a suitor, but marry a man who was bigger and stronger and more powerful than all the sapskulls in London, who’d surely make him pay for such blasphemy, I fell a little bit in love with you.”

“Did I say that?”

His voice croaked the same way all her male kin had when their voices were changing.

Her heart dropped, he didn’t even remember it. More charming words.

Andromena pressed her palms along his lapels and his heart raced under her hand. “And then you sang a duet with me, when none of my brothers or cousins would.”

The knob in his throat moved.

“I’m not the marrying sort, Andromena”

“Most sailors are not, but—”

“I need to say this, darling.”

Andromena stayed silent.

He raked his hands through his tousled hair. “Andromena, I cannot marry you.”

Oh, God. That’s what he thought she was asking.

Yes, he was taking this exactly as she’d expected he would, with utter horror written all over his face. Telling him her truth had been all it took to push him away. He might chase, flirt, and charm, but her love was what made him cower.

“Goodbye, Ed—”

“No!” He blocked her from leaving. “I need you to understand something. There is…you are…a remarkable woman.”

She bit her quivering lip. Please, do not do this.

“I am not certain whether you know, everyone knows,” He grimaced. “That is, what I’m trying to tell you is—”

She pressed her fingertips to his lips. “You don’t owe me any explanation.”

“This isn’t what that is. Perhaps in part.” His words came rapidly. “My father was mad, Andromena. My grandfather. Many of my ancestors were. There is a long, long line of madness.”

She closed her eyes.

He was confiding things he wouldn’t otherwise.

Edgar incorrectly interpreted her silence and fell quiet.