“You shouldn’t say that,” Jules said, frowning.
Devlin stroked between Jules’s brows, smoothing the wrinkle there. “I’ve lied to everyone since I was a child, Julian,” he said quietly. “I’ve learned to lock my emotions away behind the mask of a well-mannered socialite who sometimes amuses himself with politics. I’ve worn that mask for so long that it started feeling more natural than my real self.” Devlin chuckled harshly. “Sometimes I’m not even sure what my real self is—if it even exists. I’ve never really allowed myself to act like a Xeus. I always had to be better than that. More in control. More than the beast everyone expects me to be. I’ve pretended for so long it feels like it’s all I am: a fraud.”
Jules’s heart clenched. Unable to suppress the instinct to comfort, he caught Devlin’s hand and squeezed it. “I think you’re being too hard on yourself. I don’t think you’re a fraud.”
Devlin laughed a little before suddenly pulling him close. “That’s because I’ve never had to act around you,” he said, his arms tightening around Jules so hard it was almost painful—and toe-curlingly perfect. Jules’s eyelids grew heavier as Devlin buried his face into his neck. “I love being around you. You make me feel…” Devlin trailed off before sighing and holding him even tighter. “Fuck, I don’t want to go. But I have to.”
“I know,” Jules managed.
Devlin swore under his breath, so quietly Jules barely heard him. “Why is everything so damn complicated…” he muttered. “I’ll have to talk to Liam, because the announcement will likely be made at tonight’s ball while Haydn is here, and it’d be better if we’re all on the same page.”
Jules’s eyes were stinging. He stared at the opposite wall unseeingly. “Okay,” he said, tightening his arms around Devlin and hoping he wasn’t actually clinging. He probably was. The knowledge that it was the last time, the last time they could be like this, before Devlin was bound to Liam for life and became off-limits—it made him clingy and needy. It was a stolen moment, something that had never really been his, and yet it still hurt to give it up.
Devlin’s phone started ringing again.
“For fuck’s sake,” he ground out, not lifting his face from Jules’s neck.
“It could be important,” Jules said reluctantly, still clinging to him. He couldn’t let go. He never wanted to let go.
“It probably is,” Devlin said, exhaling. Kissing the top of Jules’s head, he pulled away and answered his phone, his expression already closing off as he got out of the bed. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he said, his eyes hardening. “I’ll be there shortly.”
Jules tugged his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “Goodbye,” he said when Devlin hung up.
Devlin looked back at him, his jaw working. There was frustration in his body language, his shoulders tense and his eyes troubled. “Julian…” he started before cutting himself off with a sigh. “We’ll have to talk later,” he said, taking a step toward Jules before stopping and striding out of the room.
He didn’t even glance back.
Chapter 23
“Sit.”
Devlin and Haydn looked at each other before taking seats across from the king.
Stefan looked at them in displeasure.
“You are here only because of your cousin,” he said, looking at Haydn. “You’re still not forgiven, boy.”
Haydn huffed. “I have no need for your forgiveness. And you’ve got some nerve to play the victim after what you did to me. Devlin is the only reason I’m here.”
“And what did I do to you?” Stefan said snidely. “Gave you a superior designation? What a crime.”
Haydn flushed, his scent thickening with his anger.
Devlin pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t believe he’d had to leave Julian for this.
“Enough,” he said coldly, making the king turn his gaze to him. “We don’t have time for this. Haydn is here as a favor to me, Your Majesty. Treat him respectfully or we’re both leaving.”
Now Stefan’s face reddened, too. “You insolent—I should kick you out of the country too, instead of making you my heir.”
Looking him in the eye, Devlin leaned back in his chair and said, “You could. But you won’t. That would make my mother upset, wouldn’t it?”
Stefan’s face went blank.
“You’re forgetting yourself, boy,” he hissed.
“What are you talking about?” Haydn cut in, his voice full of confusion.
Devlin smiled, still looking at the king. Fuck it. He was sick of lying. “Ask our father, Haydn.”
Haydn made a strangled sound. “Wha—”
“Shut up,” Stefan growled, glaring at Devlin. “You know nothing.”
Devlin’s smile widened. “I actually know a lot, Father. And now I understand what I didn’t before.” Julian’s lovely eyes flashed to the forefront of his mind as Devlin thought back to his own desire—need—to do everything and anything his omega wanted. Julian had wanted him to stay yesterday, and Devlin wouldn’t have left for all the power and money in the world. He now understood that it wasn’t an exaggeration when people said that alphas could kill to make their omegas happy. No matter how much Stefan might resent his attraction to Ilona, she was still his mate, and that was something an alpha couldn’t fight. One couldn’t fight one’s own nature. It was a lost battle if one tried. Devlin wouldn’t repeat his father’s mistakes.