Page 76 of His Eternal Claim

And what I see there almost knocks the breath out of me. Guilt.

Raw and devastating. I want him to suffer.

I want him to feel even a fraction of the pain tearing me apart.

“I hope you suffer the same way, Zagreus. I hope your parents are taken from you the same way you took mine away.” I don’t mean that, but I am hurting so much that I don’t even realize what I am saying. All I can focus on is the pain my words cause him.

Zagreus closes his eyes as if he’s trying to calm himself, and not hurt me. But I want him to hurt me more, so that I can hate him more.

For a moment, neither of us speaks before he sighs.

“I am saying this again, I never meant for your Father to die.”

“Do you hear yourself?” I whisper. “Do you think that matters now?”

His hands curl into fists.

“I am telling you the truth.”

“The truth?”

I take a shaky step back. “The truth left this relationship a long time ago.”

His face darkens. “You don’t know everything.”

“Then tell me!” I scream.

“Tell me why we are standing on opposite sides when we were supposed to be always and forever!”

His jaw tightens. “I was never going to marry Crystella.”

“Another lie.”

“It isn’t.”

“Then why?” I demand. His gaze goes flat.

“Because Ronan and Vane needed to believe I would.”

My stomach twists. “What does that even mean?”

“I can’t tell you.”

I chuckle bitterly. “Of course you can’t.”

“Dolcezza—”

“Don’t.”

My voice cuts through the distance between us. “Every single time I ask you for the truth, you hide behind secrets.”

His expression flickers.

“If I tell you certain things, I put you in danger.”

“That’s convenient.”

“It isn’t.”