Chapter 40
CAL
Iam losing my mind.
That’s the only explanation I can come up with. No sane man would be staring so intently at a woman’s left pinky finger. But I swear to the gods, Ivy’s twitched twenty-seven minutes ago.
Twenty-seven minutes and ten seconds, to be exact.
No part of her has moved in the past eighteen days. Not an eyelid flutter, not a toe wiggle, and definitely not a pinky twitch. But it happened today. I know it did.
“Captain…”
A kind voice floats in from the bedroom doorway, but I don’t break my stare. If I take my eyes off her finger for even a fraction of a second, I won’t know if it moves again.
“Are you okay?” Quinn lays her hand on my shoulder to get my attention.
“Her finger moved.”
“I think it’s time for you to get outside again. Theo is waiting at the—”
“No,” I interrupt aggressively, my eyes honed on the delicate fingers that lay in my palm. “She moved. I know she did.”
“Captain, I know how desperate you are, how desperate we all are but …”
“There!” I shout as Ivy’s ring finger and pinky twitch in tandem this time. “Did you see that? It’s real, Quinn! It’s fucking real this time!”
This time. Unlike the other five times I’ve claimed to see it. Self-deprivation of sleep, food, and sunlight will do that to a person. I don’t blame Quinn for not believing me.
Fifteen minutes later, her middle finger joins the others. Three fingers moving in the span of a quarter of an hour.
I lay my hands on her chest and push my magic into her as best as I can.
More than two weeks practicing and I still don’t fully know how Ivy was able to tap into the core of her magic, the locked away power that we shouldn’t have in this realm.
She did it though. My incredible, brave woman did the fucking impossible.
Tension hovers thickly in the air as we wait on bated breath for her next movement. Each minute takes twice as long as the one before it. Each second feels like a thousand years.
Ten excruciating minutes later, Ivy’s entire left hand spasms in mine. I can’t hold back the tears anymore. This is it. Everything I’ve been praying for. Ivy is coming back to me.
I push again with my magic, harder and faster than I ever dared to before. Her right hand twitches in answer, her left foot following less than five minutes later. I collapse onto the floor at the sight of it, burying my head into her side as I try to muffle my cries with the mattress.
So close. She’s so fucking close and still so far away.
“Cal.” A weak, barely audible voice squeaks out my name. Nothing has ever sounded sweeter to me than the way my name sounds as it crosses Ivy’s lips at this moment. My arms are around her in an instant, my face moving to the crook of her neck.
“Ivy. Ivy. Ivy.” Her name comes out broken in sobs, my entire body trembling in shock and relief.
This is real, I repeat to myself. She is real. She is awake.
“Water,” she whispers.
Quinn holds out a cup, offering it to me instead of her best friend.
There’s a knowing smile on her face as she nods for me to take it.
It’s a testament to how much of her trust and respect I’ve earned over the past eighteen days.
There’s no doubt in her mind about the unending nature of my love for Ivy.
She wants me to have this moment as much as I do.
Ivy drinks the cool, clear liquid in deep gulps. I have to pull the cup away from her face before she drinks too fast and aspirates. “Easy, easy.”
Her emerald eyes stare into mine. They’re even more fucking beautiful than I remember. She squeezes my hand, looking me over as if she’s trying to discern reality from a dream.
Where has she been? Did the nightmares that plague her follow her there? Have the past weeks been torture for her? I tread slowly, praying that I’m wrong.
“This is real, Ivy. I’m here. You’re safe.”
“Marks is …” she starts.
“Dead,” I finish. “You did it. You killed him. You saved us.”
“How long?” She doesn’t have to finish the question. I know exactly what she’s asking.
“Eighteen days.” My voice breaks again at the sight of tears filling her eyes as realization sinks in. “But they haven’t voted yet. I wouldn’t let them.”
“Cal …” Ivy starts again with an unsteady voice. “I’ve been in the Under Realm.”
“I don’t know how much longer I can hold—” Theo’s voice carries as he enters the room, his sentence halting abruptly at the sight of a conscious Ivy sitting up in bed. “Holy gods.”
My youngest brother moves around the edge of the bed, laying his hand on her shoulder to affirm that she isn’t a mirage. “You’re awake. You’re really fucking awake.”
“Yes she is,” Quinn says in a level voice that I’m not sure how she manages. “Go back in there and demand another hour. The Governor of the Emerald Region will be attending the Ascension Vote.”
“She just woke up.” My voice comes out in a near growl. Those godsdamned animals have been chomping at the bit to vote for days. They owe their lives to Ivy and they can’t even wait for her. “Give her time to—”
“I want to be there.” Ivy’s voice is feeble, but there’s a fierce determination in her eyes. “I need to finish this.”
“An hour, Theo. Go.”
My brother jumps like a dog at Quinn’s command. I haven’t left Ivy’s side long enough to investigate what’s going on between them, but it’s evident that something has taken root. She’s gotten comfortable ordering everyone around, always making sure that Ivy and I had anything we could need.
Never once doubting that her best friend would be attending the vote, she even ordered a dressmaker to custom create gowns for Ivy to wear.
Four gowns in various styles and colors to allow her to choose what statement to make.
Quinn understands Ivy deeply, in a way that I will spend eternity trying to replicate.
“Captain.” It’s my turn to be on the receiving end of Quinn’s orders now. “Give Ivy a kiss, go take a bath, and, for the gods’ sake, please shave what’s growing on your face.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Yes. You. Are.” Quinn tugs my arm, forcing me to face her. “Look at me. You’ve barely left this room for weeks. You have done your part and now it’s my turn.”
She easily reads the torn expression on my face and adds, “I’ve got her.”
“Hey.” Ivy caresses my forearm, her cadence perfectly matching her gentle strokes. “I’ll see you in there, okay?”
Reluctantly, I do as Quinn commands. I kiss Ivy’s forehead delicately, reverently, as if she might split into a thousand tiny pieces if I grab ahold of her face and kiss her the way I desperately want to.
“One hour and not a second more,” I promise.
It feels unnatural to leave her when I’ve just gotten her back. The walk to my brothers’ rooms to clean up is a blur. My body goes through the motions, muscle memory guiding me through bathing and shaving. The only thought that echoes through my mind is her name on repeat: Ivy. Ivy. Ivy.
There’s a gray and gold uniform in my size laid out on the bed, one final offering from Henry. One last chance to take the position that is mine by right. But I’m even more resolved in my decision today than I was the day I made it.
The position of Lord General is better suited for an ambitious man, not one who has already found everything he’s been searching for. My place is at Ivy’s side, not at some war room table or on a battlefield without her. I serve no ruler but her.
I dress in a suit of solid black, feeling more like a jester than a soldier without the comforting embrace of my leather armor.
Marks’ men cut it from my body, and while there’s an armory full of pieces I could seek out, I don’t.
The menacing presence of the Captain of Corinth is not needed.
Today, I take a page from my beloved’s book and choose to make a different sort of statement.
Theo, the secret romantic that he is, managed to gather Ivy’s magically-grown godsbane blooms from the throne room and has been keeping them alive.
I pluck the largest bloom from the vase on the dressing table and secure it to my lapel with a gold pin—a tiny emerald encrusted sword.
If there is any question as to where my loyalty lies, these touches will make it abundantly clear.
I can feel the tension before I step foot into the council room.
It radiates from the empty chair at the head of the rectangular table, the large amethyst embedded in the carved back sparkling in the light from the obnoxiously large chandelier.
Each chair has a similar, smaller, jewel indicating the region its occupant represents.
The governors don’t try to hide their disappointment when they see me enter the room. Sapphire, Ruby, and Topaz are present, but Emerald is not. She hasn’t arrived yet, and her hour is up.
But any chance of them starting without her just evaporated. They’ll have to kill me first, and they wouldn’t dare try.
The Diamond Region’s chair, the one reserved for the Lord General, is also notably empty. Henry, decked in full military regalia, hovers beside it with Marianne’s hand gripped in his own. She’s a vision in blue, and it’s written all over his normally stoic face.
It dawns on me that I never asked if he wanted it, the promotion that he is overqualified for.
I never stopped to consider if he would be willing or able to leave her.
His eyes meet mine, his head bobbing in a solemn nod, and I know for sure then.
My brother is a man of duty and honor. This is his chosen path and Corinth will be better for it.
I hope the same can be said for the rest of them.
The governors who sit around this table, clothed head-to-toe in the colors of their region, certainly look the part.
And no one can deny what they’ve done to earn their seats.
They overthrew their own fathers and risked their lives for a chance to change Corinth.
But their sacrifices pale in comparison to Ivy’s.
“Captain,” Silas begins, “We are pleased to have you join us today. There is a matter we need to—”