He’d been in love with her ever since.

But never in all the talks about childhood they’d had since their first meeting as adults had she ever mentioned those long ago afternoons he’d spent with her as a boy. He’d assumed that they had meant nothing to her. That her hatred for his family had destroyed all remnants of what, to him, had been some of the happiest moments of his life.

He cupped her cheek in his hand. “You remember us as children?”

Her smile widened. “I remember you.”

“Why did you never mention it?”

She grimaced. “Like yours, my childhood memories are too painful to visit, so I try to never go there. Not because they were awful, but because we were so happy before your father died, that it hurt too much to remember them. Until I met you as an adult, I never thought I’d ever be happy like that again.”

Darling inhaled her scent as he savored the sensation of her arms around him.

Right now, his entire world was in chaos. His people were revolting… in more ways than one. Life was changing faster than he could handle.

The only constant he had was Zarya.

Nothing good ever lasts. If he’d learned nothing else in his life, it was that one fact. Every time he’d found solace or comfort of any kind, it had been ripped from him. It was why he should have never proposed to her. Had he refrained, he could have saved them both a year of utter hell.

Yet he wanted this relationship to be real. Most of all, he needed it to last.

But in his heart, he knew the truth. This was temporary and soon the gods would divide them again as they always did.

He wasn’t meant to have Zarya. He wasn’t meant to be happy. Whenever he tried to make his life better, the gods made it worse.

Just don’t let her die. He could handle anything except that.

Closing his eyes, he held her tight against him, knowing that all too soon he’d have to let her go for good.

Senna listened as the remnants of the Resistance met in a dive hole not far from where the Workers Coalition had been rallying. No more than a few moments ago, Gerst had returned from the palace and disbanded them.

She narrowed her eyes at Hector. “I told you Cruel has mind control. Now you have proof of it.”

Hector nodded angrily. “He is far more cunning and dangerous than his uncle ever was.” He slid his drive toward her. “Those are his medical records from when he was committed. He’s extremely unstable. Anything can set him off and as far as I can find out, he still has bombs planted all over the city that could explode at any moment.”

“Then how do we bring him down?”

Hector shook his head. “He should never have survived our attack. We have to get him out of the way so that our ally can seize the throne.”