Deity Boyfriend: Peregrine Part Two (special preview)

“How dare you?” I stand up from my seat. “You’re just trying at every turn to hurt me, aren't you?” I stand before him with my fists balled up. “Yes, I left all those years ago! It should have been obvious to you how strongly I felt for those people. They were my family, my friends. Of course I wanted to help them and make their lives better.”

“But you could have stayed too!” Peregrine spits. “What was so horrible about staying and helping them?”

I feel struck and I back down.

Peregrine chuckles in his small victory. “It wasn’t just the fact you wanted to play hero, was it?” he asks. “You wanted me to come after you and chase you. You always had the flair for the dramatic, you still do.”

I glare up at him.

“Don’t give me that pretty little look.” He wags his finger in my face. “You always had to be dramatic, always had to have that extra punch and flare. You dress in all those black clothes and that stupid turkey looking mask because you like the drama and mystery of it.” He taps his fingers to his neck. “Bet that’s why you kept that kid too.”

“I did not!” I roar at him. “Theo is precious to me!”

“But it’s more dramatic, isn’t it?” Peregrine sneers. “I won’t poke too much at the open wound that is your son. But let me poke at my own wound just so you can see how much it hurt me.” He jabs his finger into his chest. “You left, yes you did, for your own reasons. I also knew you had other reasons, ones you probably still won’t admit, even to yourself.” Peregrine then chuckles to himself as he wraps his fingers around his throat.

“You’re selfish and spoiled,” he sighs. “But I suppose that was my fault in part, I gave you everything, no questions asked. “You wanted to play hero for your village, because it wasn’t enough the first time.”

“First time?” I balk.

“You were an offering to me, remember?” Peregrine sweeps his fingers under my chin and lifts it up. “You caught my attention and the villagers realized it. Little did they know, that’s exactly what you wanted. You thought that when they gave you to me, I would bless their poor little hearts.” He fakes a sob and his hands flutter over his chest. “It was a high for you. Still is.”

I take a rattling breath as I try to temper my anger. My knuckles pop as I flex my fingers and the heat rises from under my collar. “You’re twisting everything just to hurt me.”

“Maybe things have changed for you,” he breathes. “I don’t know, because I don’t know you anymore, Amsden.”

I swallow back the lump in my throat. “You only saw me as a beauty,” I seethe. “You just saw me for my appearance, you never truly got to know me or understand me. Yes, I was spoiled, but only because you had to placate me.”

“I loved you.” Peregrine keeps his anger at bay but I can tell he is like a volcano ready to erupt. His neck is smoking and his veins press closer to his skin. “That is how I knew all of this. And of course I placated! I was a headless abomination and you were a vision from heaven!” Both his hands extend towards me. “Even still, you are!”