“Sinful?” He slouched forward, gazing into the fire for a moment before looking back at me. “Since when is desiring someone a sin?”

“Desiring—” My jaw snapped shut. He couldn’t be saying what I thought he was saying … “Since when? Since forever. It’s called lust.”

“Lust might be part of it, but it’s too crude a word for my feelings for you.”

“Lust should be nowhere near your feelings for me.” Anger and hurt swelled up in my gut, and I stood as he opened his mouth to speak, cutting him off. “I was right, after all. You do intend to only use me for pleasure.”

“What?” Magnus looked up at me, still leaning forward in his chair, that deep and wild look still in his eyes paired with something like nervous concern. “Sit down, Andromeda—”

“No.” I took a step back to prove my point.

“Does it shock you? To be desired?”

“I’m not beautiful like Kelela.”

He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “I don’t care about that. And since when do you?”

“I suppose I just…” I swallowed. Cleared my throat. “I wasn’t raised to acknowledge … attraction … of that sort.”

“But do you feel attraction of that sort, even if you choose not to acknowledge it?”

“You shouldn’t ask me such things,” I said, my face burning.

“As I said, that’s only part of my feelings, and the least important at that.” Magnus grinned the slightest bit. “Will you sit down, Andromeda?” He gestured to the chair. “Please?”

I sat without thinking, without questioning it. This conversation wasn’t going to lead to a noble place, and yet I wasn’t doing anything to stop it.

God, save me. What am I doing?

“How can you desire me, Magnus?” I blurted into the silence. Humiliation made me bite my tongue, a stuck sob not allowing me to speak for a moment and, God bless him, Magnus waited for me to get myself together. “How can you feel anything for me after the way I’ve treated you? I don’t deserve it.”

Magnus sighed heavily, shoving his hair back as he sat up. I watched him stare at the fire for a moment, and then he looked at me again. “You’re a rare thing, Andromeda. A masterpiece. You deserve the world.”

“But I’m not,” I said, shaking my head, feeling my throat burning with rising tears. “I’ve shown such unforgiveness toward you over one tiny mistake.”

“Your reaction was just.” Magnus reached over and took my hand, and I shifted so I could take his in both of mine. “Kelela helped me see what it must’ve looked like to you. I’m an absolute blackguard.”