Chapter 84 If You Love Me, Let Me Go #3
Now that she knew it was real and they’d come for her, she felt strength well up, replacing her weary resignation.
Luella turned to face the Tenebrae. "You’re losing." When his features hardened, she added, "And you know it, you see it all around you. The evidence of your failure. You never thought they’d win, but here we are."
His grip tightened around her arm as he pulled her to him, her chest brushing his. Without her cape, the bare skin of her arms quickly grew sweaty and hot as ash rained down around her.
"I’ve not lost because of them. My sister—" His words broke off as Stella twirled overhead, chasing after fleeting shadows.
They both watched the hunt in the air, as the Stella wrapped around the shadows and tightened like a noose, until nothing was left of the darkness but little droplets that fell from its clutches, appearing like black rain.
"My sister had decided to play in our game. Otherwise, your Vincire never would’ve stood a chance against me." His words were hurried, lit with concern as more and more of the shadows fell from the sky in a wash of dark rain, while his Umbra army fell to the mountain’s path.
She saw a flash of white in the distance, familiar braids and twin swords, cutting a path through the Umbra. When Tharen met her eyes, her breath halted in her lungs. His features were severe, more haggard than she remembered.
And she knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that this reality was true. Because she’d never had a vision of Tharen—only the others—so if Tharen was here, looking at her with a savage promise etched into the cold lines of his face, then this was real.
Luella knew nothing but the desire to go to him, to feel his flesh beneath her fingertips and let him chase away the monsters in her mind. She needed him.
Please, Tharen—
Her soul called to his.
In the Tenebrae’s grasp, Luella stared at Tharen, uncaring of the shouts that carried to her as the temple doors banged open and Az, Graves, and Bastian ran down the tower of steps.
Tharen broke his gaze first, looking up to the others, then back at her.
She followed his stare, and her heart leaped to her throat as she stared at them.
She quickly looked away, fear curling inside her.
She had no such reservations about Tharen as she silently begged him to come to her.
And he did. The Prima cut through the Umbra that stood between them, expertly slashing through suits of armor, a line of bodies left in his wake.
"Tharen," Luella whispered.
The Tenebrae turned her, holding her in a moment of silence among battle. It was a cosmic fight between the gods of old. Beings that predated her—predated them all.
But standing there, in the arms of a dark god, Luella felt like, for the first time, she had a say in this war. That she was more than what she’d been forced to be.
"I am only leaving because I want to, not because they are a threat. Next time." The Tenebrae’s cold lips touched her cheek, and she wanted to reach up and claw her skin off, but couldn’t quite get her fingers to move.
The Tenebrae vanished through a teeming portal of shadows—leaving his Umbra behind to fight this battle for him.
No longer held up by him, Luella staggered, only to be caught in the arms of Tharen.
Her mind spun as the Prima wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tight to his chest, pressing his nose into her hair. He crushed her to him, and she wondered if she’d turn to dust like the stardust had, crushed in the grip of shadows.
It didn’t matter if she turned to dust; she wrapped her arms around his chest, closed her eyes, and held him tightly, ignoring the spasms of pain tearing through her body.
She clung to him, because it was the only thing left that felt real.
"I’ve got you. You’re safe now," Tharen said gruffly into the top of her hair. She winced when he brushed against her back, and he tensed against her, pulling away just as the others met them.
Bastian shot out a hand, an Umbra falling to his knees with blood pouring from his eyes and mouth and nose.
She looked at Bastian, and she shrank into Tharen’s chest, touching him to ensure herself that he was here.
Tharen’s icy eyes raked over her form, taking in the collar around her throat and the blood dripping from the poorly healed stump of her left wing.
He made a pained sound at the mere sight.
The fingers of her right hand twitched, and he touched her wrist as if it were crafted of glass, lifting it up to stare at the spasms.
Softly, he traced a calloused fingertip down the line of her palm, staring at the red lines of scarring near the bone of her wrist. "What the fuck did he do to you?"
She looked up from the entrancing sight of his fingers against her flesh, meeting his eyes. Flames roared in the sky, killing the remaining Umbra, until nothing was left but ash. The air was hushed, save for the crackle of flames.
"Whatever he wanted to."
The fire burning in an almost perfect circle around them was so thick and hot that it felt like all the air had been snuffed out beneath the flames.
A touch grazed her elbow, and she jerked away, finding Tharen with his hand outstretched, hovering in the air between them. He let her go, looking at her like she was one breath away from shattering. And she was.
Her vision grew blurry with tears the longer they all remained silent. "Stop staring at me like that—don’t come n-near me," she warned when Az tried to take a step toward her.
The thundering booms of the dragon disappeared in the span of a breath. The silence was so loud.
Through the barrier of flames, a form stepped, tan flesh entirely nude and glistening with sweat, yet untouched by the heat.
The flames flickered as Vale passed through them, chest heaving. There were a few patches of onyx scales still on the side of his neck—it reminded her of the collar around her throat.
The dragon King’s green eyes were slitted as he approached her. He was silent, like he knew she did not want to hear words right now. No words could mend the broken ache in her forever-changed soul.
Real. This was real.
Blood continued to drip from the wound at Luella’s back, and the loss was growing too much for her to bear. She took a step toward Vale, feeling her knees buckle. He caught her, and she fell against his overheated chest, taking her to the ground, where he knelt with her cradled in his arms.
She stared into his green eyes and felt her stomach flip. With a trembling hand, she reached up to cover his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief when the green shade was hidden.
Fire roared around them, the crackle like a lullaby.
Luella stared up at Vale, her hand curling against him. She pressed her lips against his chest. His flesh was hot and smelled like ash. Her lashes brushed his chest as she let her eyes drift shut.
"Take me home."
To be continued…