Kingdom's Vice Series: A Voyage of Vengeance ( #2 2015)

Chapter Ten

We enter the bedroom in silence. I fall onto the bed and imprison myself in it, not wanting him to come close to me.

"Can we talk about it?" he reasons with me. Fool.

I shake my head and reply, "No, Alec. There is nothing to say. Everything that should have been said has been said."

"Is this about what I said earlier?" he asks me with a defeated sigh.
I keep myself locked in tight, pushing him away with my mind. I can feel our connection straining again, like he's trying to push his way through to me, but I'm blocking him out.

"It's not like I can die, Skaya." He chuckles, but his laughter brings me no comfort. "The worst that can happen is that I end up on the shoreline with a blade to my throat with a few slashes. Nothing more. I'm not mortal anymore,"

My heart breaks a little at his words. When he says he's not mortal anymore, he makes it sound like he misses it, the bitterness of mortality, the gift of being able to appreciate living, knowing that one day everything will fade away. Sometimes I miss it, especially in the middle of the night, when I find my thoughts and memories swimming around my mind like a loop.

"There's nothing I can say, Alec." I reply. "There is nothing I can do to change it, so what does it matter now?"

His hand falls on my shoulder. "I want you to be happy. As your husband," he kisses my cheek, "it's my job to make sure that you're happy. I want you to be happy, Skaya. Can you not give me that?"
I sigh and kiss him back lightly, trying to keep my fear from boiling over. "Goodnight...husband." Light be praised, that words tastes so good. When I roll it along my tongue over and over again, the more I fall in love with it.

He chuckles and settles down beside me, finding his perfect spot in the plush of the sheets. "Goodnight," he whispers, "wife."