Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“You’re talking about Wynter?”
“Who else would I be talking about? You have no interest in other female mortals, as far as I know.” Ishtar sniffed. “I hope she was not cruel in her rejection of you. To be fair to her, finding out that the man you are sleeping with is not only a leviathan but the son of Satan would be a hard pill for anyone to swallow. Well, in my opinion, you should treat all of this as a learning experience.”
“A learning experience?”
“Surely this has taught you that it is best to stick to your own kind when it comes to committing to a woman. Using people outside of our species for sex is one thing. Expecting more will always be a mistake.” Ishtar leaned forward and planted a hand on his desk. “As I said, I am here for you. The other Ancients will be also.”
And then he got it. She truly believed that by breaking the news to Wynter, he’d driven his witch away. It hadn’t even occurred to Ishtar that things might have worked out differently. And, despite her claim to the contrary, she was gloating. Not visibly. But he could detect a smug satisfaction beneath the sympathy in her tone.
“No such support will be necessary,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes and sat back. “I had a feeling you would say that. Uh, men. It is not weak to confide in others, Cain.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Then don’t be so proud and stubborn as to refuse support.”
“This isn’t about pride or stubbornness.”
Ishtar waved a dismissive hand. “Of course it is.” She exhaled heavily. “Look, it is understandable that you would prefer to simply put it all out of your mind. No one likes being rejected, even if only by a simple toy.”
“I genuinely don’t need support from anyone, because there was no rejection.”
Her brow knitted. “Excuse me?”
“Wynter didn’t turn away from me.”
Silence met his revelation. A silence that dragged on as several emotions flickered across Ishtar’s face—surprise, confusion, disbelief, suspicion. “How much did you tell her?”
“Everything.”
“Including the truth of what you are?”
“Yes. I hid nothing from her.”
Ishtar arched a dubious brow. “And she’s fine with all of that?”
He lifted his shoulders. “Is it really so hard to believe?”
“Given what we can do, yes,” she clipped, irritation simmering in her eyes. “Does she know that we send souls to hell? That you are the son of Satan himself?”
“Yes. As I told you, I held nothing back. She was clear that none of it changes anything for her.”
Ishtar shot to her feet, her trembling lips pressed together. She looked as though she would speak again, but then she began pacing in front of his desk, her breathing not quite steady.
This had completely thrown her, he realized. She simply couldn’t contemplate that Wynter might actually still want to be with him, regardless of all she’d learned.
But of course Ishtar couldn’t.
What he had with his witch wasn’t something that Ishtar had ever had with anyone. She’d never thrown herself into a relationship. She had no understanding of what it meant to truly care for someone in a way that wasn’t familial.
“Perhaps the witch was too scared to admit how she truly felt while she was alone with you,” suggested Ishtar, a slight jerk to her voice.
“That wasn’t the case at all,” Cain firmly stated.
“You cannot be sure of that.”
“I can, because I know her. I understand why you struggle to believe that I can have such faith in another person. You’re not comfortable with people truly seeing you for who you are. You hold yourself back from others. Not everyone is the same. Wynter might have her secrets, but she doesn’t hide who she is from me.”
“And you like that,” Ishtar sensed, coming to a halt.
“I do. It’s refreshing to have someone be so open with me. It’s refreshing to always know where I stand with them. If my consort truly had a problem accepting me, she would have told me straight. That’s the sort of person Wynter is.”
“I was open with you.”
He inwardly snorted. “No, Ishtar, you weren’t. Far from it. You behave like a wounded animal that’s wary of trusting others. If anyone gets too close, you metaphorically snap your teeth at them to push them away.”
“I never pushed you away. You are the one who held back. You are the one who gave up on us.”
“What we had wasn’t serious. Nor was it healthy or anything that had the potential to last.” They’d separated so many times he’d lost count. “So yes, I held back. And yes, I later ended it for good.”
Ishtar curled her fingers into her palms. “Perhaps your memory is selective, but it was serious.”
“How can you possibly have been serious about someone you wanted to change?” he challenged. “You wanted me to be someone I’m not. Biddable. Subservient. Easy to control.”