Chapter 21 Elodie
ELODIE
Bleary-eyed, I rouse awake, warm and protected in Rion’s arms. He sleeps softly beside me, and I nuzzle into his embrace, feeling even more content after my time in the Shadow Realm with Thorne.
It’s insane to think this is my life. Yes, it’s filled with chaos, pain, and destruction, but there’s also an abundance of love, joy, and hope. I never thought I would be associated with those three words, but now here I am, basking in it.
The door creaks open, snatching my gaze to reveal Thorne leaning against the frame. The curl to his lips is exactly the same as the one I saw in my dream, only now it’s with me in the real world, and it’s even more intoxicating.
“Do you always have wet dreams when in the arms of another man, Elodie?” he muses, and I blush, but I’m not ashamed.
He eliminates the distance between us in a few long strides before reaching for me. Effortlessly, he lifts me into the air, and I squeal.
“What the fuck?” Rion grunts, either the movement or sound waking him, but it’s the cackle that comes from Thorne that makes my eyes widen. “Where are you taking her?” Rion asks, and Thorne spins us on the spot so we can both see him.
I offer him a soft smile, my arms firmly around Thorne’s neck once again, and my wolf winks, making me swoon.
“Wherever I want,” Thorne mutters in response, and Rion raises his eyebrows.
“That’s not fair,” he says with a pout, and Thorne scoffs.
“You’re hogging her like a damn bird and not the wolf that you are. Get yourself together, man.” Thorne turns for the door and I peer over his shoulder, but Rion doesn’t move; if anything, he settles in the bed, comfortable despite the fact that I’m being carted away.
“You’re one to talk,” he says with a grin, but he’s quickly gone from sight as Thorne storms from Rion’s room and heads to his own.
He kicks the door shut behind us, sending a shiver down my spine. As I glance around his room my nose tingles at the sweet floral scent, and my eyes crinkle with curiosity.
“What's that smell?” I ask before smushing my lips together as I try to place it, but my mind is quickly distracted when Thorne nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.
“It's just some essential oils,” he breathes, inhaling me like there's not a sweet scent in the air already.
“For what?” I push, and he leans back just enough to offer me another glance at that rare and wicked smile.
“For you,” he states, carrying me over to his bed, where he slowly lowers me to the mattress. “Get comfortable, Echo, and lose the t-shirt,” he commands, his voice soft and sultry as I rake my teeth over my bottom lip, trying to contain the arousal he spurs inside of me by simply existing.
My eyes widen as I blink at him. Is that what he meant earlier when he used that word on me?
Existing.
At the time, I couldn't wrap my head around it. It was such an odd word without context, but now, seeing it from this perspective, it is so balanced, so real, so paramount to what this is between us.
The sound of him clearing his throat pulls me from my thoughts.
My gaze snatches to where he stands with his head tilted, giving me a pointed look.
As quickly as I can, I tug Rion's oversized t-shirt over my head before pushing myself farther back on the bed.
With me in just a pair of panties, Thorne allows his gaze to travel down to my chest for a fleeting moment before his eyes return to mine.
“Lay on your front,” he orders, and I nod, pressing my lips together in a firm line as I try to keep my breathing under control. But it seems it's futile when I’m in the proximity of any of these men.
A pang in my chest gnaws at me as I lie down, relaxing my arms at my sides as I keep my gaze fixed on him, but it doesn’t stop my mind from wandering to where my vampire might be.
My shadow fae must take a hot stabbing guess at where my brain goes as he offers me a reassuring smile. “He'll be back to us soon enough, Echo. Besides, you deserve these moments, even in the midst of chaos,” he insists, and I blink at him in disbelief.
“How can you know exactly what I'm thinking without me saying a word?” I ask as he prowls toward the bed, a bottle of oil in his hands, but he doesn't answer until he's hovering over me with his knees pressed into the mattress on either side of my thighs.
“I’ve always known your feelings, Echo,” he states, and I frown, but I’m momentarily distracted by the sound of his hands warming up the oil.
I groan as his palms meet my skin, rubbing into my limbs with precision, my body melting into the mattress beneath me.
“What does that mean?” I ask in a daze-like state.
“It means, whenever I've been in your vicinity, I've always had a way of sensing your feelings as if they are my own.
I didn't understand it at first, until a fleeting memory reminded me of what it means to be a destined mate of a shadow fae,” he explains, offering little explanation and leaving me with even more questions.
But again, before I can open my mouth and express them, he carries on kneading his fingers into my skin as his voice caresses my ears.
“One of the signs of being the true mate of a shadow fae is how in sync your souls become, how you can understand each other without ever questioning it. As if you know what they are feeling, what their emotions are, simply by existing.”
There's that word again.
Existing.
I feel like it's going to be the death of me at this rate. If not, then the disappointment that lurks inside of me will be.
“Why can't I feel it too?” I mumble, my words quickly followed by a groan as he unravels a knot wound tight in my shoulder.
“You just don't know where to look yet, Echo. But don't worry, I'm here to guide you.”
I hum my agreement and silence blankets us.
With my eyes closed and the sweet scent in the air, I feel like I’m basking in the sun.
Near the trailer park, there was a meadow, one filled with pretty wild flowers where people used to gather for picnics and parties.
I was never jealous of being left out, I was jealous of the freedom.
Not of them, of the flowers. Being here, relaxing under his touch, it’s exactly what I imagine it to feel like to be a wild flower.
The tension evaporates from my limbs with every second that passes.
As he moves on to my legs, he clears his throat. “Before you arrived at the Shadow Realm, I had a vision,” he explains, and I gnaw at my bottom lip.
“Is that what the despair was from?” I ask, only to be greeted with silence for a few moments before he replies.
“And I thought you couldn't read my emotions,” he states, making my breath catch in my throat, and I shake my head.
“I couldn't sense that. It's just what I could see in your eyes.”
His hands still. “I promise you, Elodie, nobody else would be able to see that,” he explains. “But yes, you're right. That's what I was struggling with before you arrived.”
“What was the vision?” I dare to ask as his hands continue to work my limbs.
“It was Odie,” he answers, and my heart lurches in my chest. “It was the moment he saw my father dead on the floor.
My mind was warped with the sound of his sobs.
I'm unsure if I would’ve cried quite as hard myself, but he did, and then he never gave up fighting.
But I need you to know, Elodie, that he's in there—in Jude’s realm—as a sacrifice, but his sacrifice isn't for you,” he states, and I frown, but I don't need to question him. He just needs a moment to gather his words. “He is in there for me. Whatever he has experienced in those walls is for me, to protect me, because somebody told him that was of greater importance than seeking vengeance in my father’s name.” He clears his throat, his voice croaky.
“I don't doubt that your mother is there for you, though.
I don't want you to think that there's no love there—”
I shake my head. “Thorne, that was never my assumption,” I explain, my gaze meeting his, and I don't relax until I'm sure he understands it.
As his shoulders relax, I get comfortable again.
“Somebody told him to make the vow. Somebody told him to sacrifice something else to keep them away from me. They knew where I was, and they never came because of him.” His words grow thicker, weighted and devastating.
“Dare I ask who that was?” I gulp. When he doesn't answer immediately, I'm drawn to him, making sure my eyes are latched on to his again. Only then do his lips part.
“It was Rikard,” he admits, and my jaw falls slack.
“Rikard, as in The Sanctum, Rikard?” I clarify, and he nods. “So why is he with The Sanctum now?” I blurt, and he shrugs, clearly in the dark as much as I am.
“I don't know, but I'm certain we're going to find out. It seems when we put our minds to anything as a team, we figure it out one way or another,” he explains, and I hum my agreement again, unable to find the right words.
“I’m sorry, Echo. I was supposed to help you relax and now I'm just laying more trouble on you,” he mumbles, doubling his efforts on my calves.
“Thorne, I'm good, I promise. Besides, you can break me whenever you like if this is what I get in return,” I muse, and a moment later, I feel the delicate press of his lips against my spine.
“Breaking you will never be my intention, Echo,” he whispers, his lips dragging across my skin.
“That was hot as fuck, Thorne,” I admit, not entirely sure which part I’m actually referring to, and he huffs a laugh.
“Don't forget it,” he murmurs, and I bask in the air of contentment that swarms around me, a feeling I never truly thought I would get the opportunity to embrace. Yet here I am, sinking in it right along with him.