Chantel gasped with horror.
“I grew a new one only because of my glamara.”
He couldn’t see her face, and she didn’t retract her claws, but her expression must have softened, because Jareth shouted, “You’re wavering?”
“Maybe? I don’t know, okay?” she retorted, and Kaysar’s knees nearly buckled with relief. “It didn’t happen to me, but I want to punish you for your reaction.”
Kaysar floundered, some unknown emotion ravaging him. This woman...
Jareth tried again. “He made you think your own husband was a monster out to kill you.”
“Tsk-tsk. You know there’s more to the story, Jareth.” Chiding tone. Deepening rage. Unwavering determination. Chantel deserved to know everything. “You witnessed your father and your uncle locking me in the tower after the removal of my tongue. Did you know they took me from my five-year-old sister, leaving her without a protector?” His voice hardened, and his insides roiled. “For a year, I remained chained to a wall while you enjoyed freedom. Your uncle visited me every day. Your father preferred to wait for special occasions.”
Jareth closed his eyes. Opened them. For a moment, he looked ready to vomit.
“They. Did. What?” Chantel plucked her claws free and patted the punctures. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Kaysar. I am. But.” The claws pierced him once more. “I’m so furious with you, too. I want to scream and rail at you. And I want to hug you.”
Had there ever been a more fascinating creature?
“I need a moment to deliberate which reaction to embrace.” Claws out. “I mean, what you did to the royal family is justified. But what you did to Lulundria and me is terrible. I should slap you.” In. “But I get it. The royal family sliced open your heart. Now you bleed all over them.” Out. “I want to hug you harder. You know what? I’m not resisting the urge anymore. I hope you’re ready for me.” Quaking, she flung her arms around him, clutching him from behind. Her scent muddied his thoughts. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she repeated softly.
The gentle hold nearly broke him. The understanding finished the job. “You’ll stay with me? You forgive me for my crimes?”
“I forgive some of it. Most of it. Maybe. I mean, I forgive-ish. I’m fifty percent there, bordering on forty-nine or fifty-one. The number teeters depending on reasons.” She sighed. “But stay with you? I don’t know. I don’t trust you. How can I?”
“I won’t use you again,” he vowed in a rush. Oh, how he’d needed her forgiveness; he just hadn’t known it until this moment. That she’d offered to clear half his crimes against her... A weight eased from his shoulders. The foreboding and anxiety he’d carried since meeting her began to evaporate. Trust could be earned.
“You consider me a Frostline,” she reminded him. “How can you not use me again?”
Jareth listened to the conversation, but Kaysar didn’t care. To him, the outcome was vital.
“You are anything but a Frostline, Chantel. You alone are safe with me. And innocents. Hurting you or others like you will never again be my goal. That, I swear to you. Give me a chance. I only need one more. I’ll prove myself worthy this time. We’ll work together, just as we hoped. Jareth’s father, King Hador Frostline, requires punishing.” He wondered... Was it possible...
Was Chantel his woman? The one Eye spoke of?
He remembered telling the oracle, I have no mate, I want no mate, and I seek only vengeance.
Now, as he imagined Chantel in his bed, naked and spread for him and him alone, he nearly roared, needing her there as soon as possible.
“Lu—Chantel.” Jareth appeared agonized. “I love my wife. Her love for me burns bright in her heart. You’ll remember our relationship, and you’ll love me, too. Please. Remember me,” he beseeched her. “As soon as you’re away from the king, you’ll return to normal.”
Normal? “Shut your filthy mouth.” Kaysar withdrew and tossed a dagger, too fast for another to track. The blade sank into his opponent’s shoulder, silencing further requests. Chantel would not be remembering her time with the male. He forbade it. “She’s perfect, just the way she is.”
“Thank you, Kaysar,” she said, humphing at Jareth the way he adored. “I happen to like myself just the way I am, too.”
With a bellow, the prince yanked the bloody dagger free.
She thanks me for defending her honor?
His chest clenched.
“You’ll pay for this,” Jareth snarled.
“Will I?” Glamara heating his throat, he called, “Ogres. Come.”
Insects went quiet, and the soft breeze died. What started as sporadic tremors quickly became a constant quake, every ogre in the vicinity rushing toward the clearing. A tree toppled as several of the massive brutes arrived.
“You will not kill Prince Jareth,” Kaysar said, the command hot enough to sizzle. “But you may do anything else to him if he attempts to enter the waterfall.” He smiled at his glaring foe before offering his elbow to a wide-eyed Chantel. “Allow me to show you the Dusklands, sweetling. There’s a marvelous oasis I’m keen to explore with you. The golden roses are lovely this century.”
She accepted without hesitation. “Golden roses, you say?”
He led her through the water, his self-assurance mounting with every step. All would be well. He would make sure of it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
COOKIE REMAINED AT Kaysar’s side as she emerged from the spray of water. The deluge did little to douse her fiery thoughts.
In a five-minute span, she’d gotten a Kaysar 101 crash course. The abuse he’d suffered was a thousand times worse than she’d imagined, and her heart broke for him. The raw agony she’d heard in his voice had devastated her. Now he sought retribution for all he’d lost. It was his right. But he’d hurt innocents to achieve it—could he, would he truly stop? There were ways to punish people who deserved it without harming those who didn’t. Already her mind whirled with an idea...
Was she ready to offer Kaysar her full trust? No. She’d meant what she’d told him. But she understood him better, and ditching him was no longer a long-or short-term goal. No, before she returned home, she planned to aid his vengeance, exactly as promised. Hador Frostline had a thorny green reckoning coming. But Jareth himself? She wasn’t sure. Was he a monster as Kaysar believed, or a halfway decent guy?
You’ll return to normal. As if Cookie wasn’t good enough in “as is” condition.
Maybe half monster, half decent guy?