Page 90 of Stormhold

Arkane’s eyes glinted. “You wouldn’t have let me get close to you otherwise,” he whispered.

“You’re right,” I whispered. “Maybe I wouldn’t have. Was it all an act, then?”

“Not everything.” He was quick to answer.

Our eyes didn’t stop staring at each other. Those grays so wild and confused, like he didn’t understand that he just broke my heart into a million little pieces. Those beautiful eyes I fell for despite every warning. I fell truly with every part of me.

His gorgeous face blurred, and I felt something warm trace down my cheek, something that made my chest burn and my throat sting. Crying. I was crying. For the first time in my life, I was truly crying. I broke the promise I made to my mother.

But I was human after all. My heart was broken by the hand of the only man I’ll love till I take my last breath. At least my love was a certain truth tonight.

“What did you want from me all along, Arkane?” I asked in a broken whisper. “Please don’t lie.”

He hesitated, something unfamiliar glinting in his eyes as he watched the tears roll down my cheeks. “The Codes.”

It felt like he had plunged a knife right into the center of my chest. “If you asked me to jump off a building, I would’ve asked how high,” I said softly as I took a step closer to him. I felt his eyes fixed on me till we were only an inch away. “Because that’s how much I love you, Ark.” The moment I met him, I knew he would change my life. Only I didn’t know that turbulently beautiful feeling would be love.

With a slight shake of his head, his brows furrowed. “What we had was never about love,” he said softly. “I’m not a man you love, Bella—you must know that. And you can’t blame me for playing a part in what I had to do for my family.”

Nothing about what we had was playing a part, Arkane. He didn’t know that, but I did.

Did love need a reason? Did love need romance? Did love need reciprocity? I think not.

We all fell differently, and I fell without even a kiss. And that was okay—that was my fate. It was the love I chose, and one I would gladly choose all over again.

A shaky smile curved my lips. “I could never blame you.” Even now, the fresh wound of betrayal curled around my chest. I had foolishly fallen for this man, yet I don’t regret a single moment with him. I didn’t regret loving him, and I never would. I chose to love only one man in my life, and for me that was Arkane. And it didn’t matter if he never loved me back. I will love him enough for both of us.

He nodded, but the confusion didn’t fade from his eyes. “Please, don’t cry.”

“Can’t help it,” I whispered, wiping away my pouring tears before I leaned closer to meet his eyes. I leaped to my tiptoes as my hands took his, the warmth of his touch soothing the ache in my heart. “My mother’s ring,” I said, sliding the emerald ring I always wore into his palm. “Underneath the gem is a microchip. It has what you’re looking for. I simply thought it was my mother’s work. I was never tempted to encrypt the codes, so I don’t know what they are, nor do my sisters.”

Ark’s eyes widened in disbelief as he slowly closed his fingers over it. “Thank you,” he whispered, like he didn’t know what to say.

I pressed a kiss to his lips for what was probably the first and last time, and my lips lingered for seconds. A real kiss, the one I wanted anyway. It was bittersweet yet made my heart full.

“Goodbye, Arkane,” I said softly, smiling as I took in his confused face before I turned away and walked out of his life.

Something I never imagined I would do.

PART II

THE PAST

CHAPTER 25

ARKANE

Age 8

“Mom, look what I saw today,” I said excitedly, showing my mother the tiny white bunny in my hands. “Its leg got stuck between the fence, but I rescued him and patched him up.”

Before my mother could get a word out, my father interrupted. “Put that down right this second, Arkane. It’s not how a boy like you should behave at dinner. Give that to your brother.”

“But Dad—” I protested, but my father lifted a hand, his sharp eyes on me.

“I said hand it to your brother, right this moment,” he ordered, and everyone at the table paused except for my mother, who tried to speak up to my father, but before she could, I muttered, “Fine,” and placed the bunny in Marcus’s shaky arms. I knew the only reason Mother and Father fought was because of me. And whenever that happened, my mother cried, and I didn’t like it when my mother cried.

Not even seconds had passed when a loud gasp escaped through Marcus’s lips, and his eyes widened in fear before he dropped the bunny smack on the floor. The bunny whimpered, looking so small and hurt, and I immediately rushed to its side, dropping to my knees on the floor, but froze when my father banged his fist on the table.