Chapter 11 #2
That valley between her perfect eyebrows deepened even further. “What does that mean?”
I shrugged, trying to maintain some sort of composure even though I felt like my sanity was slipping further and further from my grasp.
“We got separated by everyone coming through the Bridge. I believe it thought we were still in danger and didn’t like us separated.
” I shocked myself with the fire in my voice, listening to it take on a new, darker character.
Esme shuddered. A visible, full body shake that made me want to scream.
She took another step away that almost sent her tumbling over a bench, but caught herself at the last minute.
“Don’t hurt your—” The raw, primal command ripped from my throat so fast, the damage was done by the time I caught it.
Esme stopped, going stone still as if her body had no other choice but to listen to me.
For a horrible, drawn out moment, staring straight into her soft brown eyes, I thought she was about to cry.
“Esme, I—” I was cut off for the second time by the announcement that we’d all made it across the Bridge.
“WELCOME HOME!” a commanding voice boomed through the speakers in the room, not far off from what I’d imagine the voice of God to sound like, though the welcome back to this planet was anything but an appreciated gift from a deity.
Esme snapped to attention like her life fucking depended on it, sprinting to the front of the room as everyone gathered themselves to exit back to Vir.
Though much of my focus was now directed at the imagine of Esme running away from me—again—that familiar grumble of annoyance was still there, brought on by Vir’s dramatics surrounding the Bridge.
Seeing as Muli hadn’t been sucked into a black hole over the years and their version of the Bridge was nothing more than a cave in the middle of the wilderness, there was no reason for this heightened level of security on the base besides theatrics.
If you asked me, it was a waste of resources to have erected towering metal doors to sector off the Bridge, closing us off in a sort of pressure chamber until the Bridge was covered. Only then would they open up the doors to the Base and the rest of Vir.
Not to mention, they’d done it all by desecrating a temple nearly as old as the Empire itself.
I ignored the poignant look Soren shot me as I ran after Esme, catching up to her right as we filed into line—at the very front, the most senior position.
We were nothing better than schoolchildren to the Empire.
Esme turned away from me like a petulant one, saying something under her breath to Bellamy behind her.
I don’t like when she turns away. Or runs away, the Bond grumbled, thrumming with displeasure, while my own thoughts narrowed it down to annoyance that Esme wasn’t acknowledging us.
As mysterious as the Bond had always seemed, I was taking to it quite well. The Bond fed of your own thoughts, desires, multiplying the most primitive version of the emotion. You stayed in control of where that feeling was directed, where it came from.
Not quite the rabid animal Esme had described. Though as that thought passed, it emitted a particularly dangerous snarl when it realized she was still turned away.
I knew she could feel me looking, her posture a touch stiffer than normal. It only seemed to get worse as the doors to the base began to open, heavy metal scraping against the floor, and Esme looked forward.
I’d never seen her stand at attention so rigidly, especially in front of Corporal Dulik, who I saw approaching out of the corner of my eye.
Soren released an annoyed groan behind me at his approach, a sentiment I shared. Dulik was the worst sort, mean to everyone, but getting particular enjoyment from being cruel to those who were reserved or scared.
My dislike for him only deepened when his grating laugh moved through the room. “Well, it looks like you lot had an interesting few days.”
Only a small group had made the trip back to Vir, needing to keep up appearances on the other side of the Bridge, but the tension made it feel like a packed room.
“Dulik,” I said, letting that be the only word of warning I’d extend. Even though he felt important, he was now outranked several times over.
His eyes narrowed as they slid to me, already puffing his chest out at my subtle show of authority. “I would watch your tone with me, Langley. There’s a surprise for you.”
The urge to see what his face looked like with my hand print on it was strong, but I held it together.
That was, until he looked to Esme and his gaze turned leering. “Not so much of a surprise for you, but I can keep you company if you’d like.”
“What I’d really like is for you to stumble into the desert and die from thirst, but we can’t always get what we want, can we?
” Esme shot back, lightning fast. I had lodged no less than ten complaints to our superiors against Dulik for his behavior against the entire base over the years, and made it a habit to tell him so to his face every chance I got, but I knew Esme wouldn’t appreciate me stepping in.
I still want his eyes as a trophy. Well, the Bond had a point with that one.
Dulik simply snorted in response, and turned his back on the group, giving way for us to follow him onto the base.
“Whatever it said to you, ignore it,” Esme said under her breath to me, right before she took off after Dulik.
It took me a single stride to catch up with her. Though I hadn’t quite intended to shove my face in her hair, that was what happened as I moved to speak close—not an unwelcome development in the slightest. “No thought I didn’t already share where he’s concerned.”
Esme rounded on me, taking a healthy step away. My stomach pulled tight, physically rejecting the space between us, but I made myself stay put.
She opened her mouth to say something, a move I barely noticed while I was distracted by the charming little line of frustration growing between her brows.
She never got the chance to speak, cut off by Soren and Bellamy’s combined, “Oh, shit.”
A swarm of people descended on us in that very moment, trying to move right through me and Esme like we weren’t there. I pulled her to the side of the corridor, releasing her again the second her hands came down to my forearm to wrench me off her.
No matter that the feeling of her hands on my skin felt like a hot brand of fire, warming my entire body.
What was more distracting was the amount of Royal guards funneling towards Bellamy and Soren.
“What the…” Esme said, trailing off.
Apparently, Dulik was listening because he chuckled in response.
“Oh, did I not mention our visitors? The Emperor himself has decided to make a trip out to us. Morale and all that. Brought quite a few family members along with him. We were going to send notice across the Bridge today, but you all just had to steal our thunder.”
“And since when does the Empire care about our morale?” Esme asked Dulik, simply assuming he would follow her, taking off down the hallway after a verbally annoyed Bellamy and Soren, who were both individually bickering with the guards at either side.
Soren’s string of colorful threats when one of the guards tried to lead Bellamy with a hand on her arm nearly made me smile. Nearly.
I didn’t think my face was capable of anything other than a deep scowl as I walked behind Esme, the second best option to inserting myself right in the middle of her and Dulik’s ugly mug.
“Since our two lovely Royals were such a hit on their little visit home,” Dulik answered, an obvious sneer in his voice.
Esme’s head moved to the side, then quickly snapped back to face forward.
For some awful reason, I thought that she was about to turn back to me to share a look or some small quip before forcefully stopping herself.
The Bond caught wind of my trickle of disappointment and started mopping like a kicked dog, pushing waves of anguish through my limbs.
“You can’t really hide how annoying they are,” Dulik continued, his chin jutting up towards Bellamy and Soren.
Even now, Soren had an arm wrapped protectively over Bellamy’s shoulders, and I watched him casually flick away a guard who got too close to her.
“Apparently they’ve been all over the news for the past two weeks since they visited Florus.
The Emperor decided to pay them a visit—filmed for his own benefit, of course.
Also brought any family members that wanted to make the trip out.
Don’t think people were very happy with the idea that their new favorite couple was in danger. ”
“Oh, God forbid the Emperor loses a little bit of support,” Esme said. War in any form wasn’t the most popular, and the only way the Empire had gotten away with one of this length was by constantly drumming up fear.
We stop defending the Bridge, Muli will kill you. Simple as that.
But even with fear, you needed something to hope for. That was one of the most critical roles the paranimas, and Matched in general, played. The idea of Soul Mates was enticing, finding someone who’s you were divinely chosen for, someone who was yours as much as you were theirs.
Mine, the Bond hummed in response, fixated on the way Esme’s hair swished against the gentle curve of her lower spine. My fingers itched with the urge to stroke through those strands, to discover if they felt as silky as they looked.
That well-trained muscle to shove way that thought flexed again. No use doing so now. Especially when I was pretty sure the Bond would internally berate me for attempting to do so.
The little dot of light from the large dome of the temple—the space we’d taken over for our meals and meetings—was growing with each step. The corridor we were moving in was getting smaller, crowded with people and carts shoved off to the side.
And when Dulik stepped close enough to Esme to brush his arm against hers, I decided her wrath was worth it.
“Move it,” I snapped at him, shoving my way in between them.
Her quiet “Thank you” shocked me, but I kept my expression neutral. Reveal my all out glee and I might scare her away.