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She'd just closed her eyes when he opened the door and strode in

"Why are you resting?" He wore a black T-shirt and beat-up jeans, and he had a se of dust on his cheek that ed "I'm tired I think I overexertedher face "This will no' take long Then I'll leave you to rest" He sat beside her on the bed "Listen, Chloe I know I should have told you about the bracelet"

Exhaling with irritation, she said, "No, you should have asked me about the bracelet before I ever put it on my wrist!"

"Aye, that's what Iyou"

She sat up, al when her headache intensified "I need more, MacRieve I need you to confide in me I need to knohy you hatekids withto take h myissues Can you no' be patient with me?"

"Tell me why you beheaded the last five succubae you encountered"

His nostrils flared, along with his claws From the mere mention? "Over ht arose "Were you killing one a little over two decades ago? Her name was Fiore, and she would've looked a lot like me"

"I dinna rant you that, but no' that particular one I vow to the Lore I had nothing to do with her death" He sat beside her oncea polished wooden box fro"

"What is this?" She opened the box to find jade-green hair corandht like the"

"You want me to have them?"

He ran his hand over the back of his neck "Doona sound so shocked, Chloe They belong to theher heirloorazed her fingers over the engravings "They're lovely" She set the the her jawline "I', and all this is a verra new trick for ive h of it, he could fall for her Maybe if he loved her more deeply than he hated other succubae, he could see his way to having kids

By that ti for him She just needed to think about all this "I'o to bed"

His brows rose She could tell he'd expected her to react differently

When he shucked off his shirt and joined her, she didn't have the energy to rebuff hiainst his war will look better tomorrow"

The heat from his skin increased her drowsiness Before she drifted off, she ht've zeroed out, MacRieve"

His entire body tensed against her She didn't care because sweet sleep was enveloping her

In the ht, Chloe woke from an ache in her sto restlessly beside her, his chest slick with sweat Was this the first time he'd slept since they'd arrived? Since she'd turned in the first place?

His eyes darted behind his lids, and he ht, his face growing , even in MacRieve's slumber

When he chuffed and whiht Rape by a succubus? Battles in the dark Woods of Murk?

The shock of Chloe's transformation?

Then he splayed his hand over his chest, his claws embedded in his skin-around the spot she'd once kissed with all the tenderness she'd felt for thisabout the torture her father had ordered done

This is doorieved her so deeply Chloe would be punished by MacRieve if she stayed, and punished by her heart if she left

Because she one and fallen in love with him

Chapter Forty-Three

Will paced anxiously It ell into the afternoon, yet Chloe still hadn't awakened

The rooed outside, the sun obscured, the lands dark Winds battered Conall's bricks, pelting debris against the s

He sat beside her on the bed to stroke her hair "Chloe, love?" Why this fatigue again? He must've hurt her yesterday in his throes She would need rest to heal

Chloe e; she was still so incredibly young

Mayhap he should have thought of that before he'd rutted her with all his ether With a huff of irritation, she turned froer The nized how cutting he'd been to her

Aye, Chloe, I'll be withholding ed to think that he'd used a bloody witch spell to bind her fertility-without her knowing

She'd told him they were doomed, and as he reflected on his behavior over the past week, he feared she was right Some part of her must hate him In her place, Will certainly would

He shook Chloe's shoulder "Wake, lass, I need to speak with you"

She groaned, pulling the pillow over her face "Jesus, MacRieve, can it not wait?" she snapped

He drew his head back "Aye, then"

Soon her breaths grew even with sleep once more

Nix had predicted that his past would bury hie

He hadn't buried his past, hadn't changed, and yet he'd still expected Chloe to accept him He'd expected an infallible soothsayer to have made a mistake

Will was delusional

On Chloe's side table were the hair coiven her When he'd found them in a chest in the attic, he'd known they were for her Last night she'd run her fingers over theifted her with a priceless treasure They were so little coiven him Without her, he would've burned to death in a fiery pit So why had he not claimed her fully?