Chapter 3 #2
She withdraws slowly, and I feel her absence like a physical pain.
“We should rest,” she says. “Conserve our strength.”
“You’re right.” I sit back, leaning against the wall closest to her cell. Even if we can’t touch, I need to be close to her. I run my thumb over the pad of my finger, touching where she touched. “They’ll come for one of us tomorrow.” It was the way of things in here.
“I can handle it.”
“I know you can.” I lift my hand to my nose and inhale deeply, imagining I can smell her scent against my skin. “I’m sorry I thought you were a hallucination.”
“Apology accepted. I’m sorry you’ve been alone long enough to have hallucinations.”
“Could be worse.”
“How?”
“The voices could have been boring.”
I hear what might have been a laugh, quickly stifled. “Were they good conversationalists?”
“Terrible. Until you.”
She snorts. “Now we’re bosom buddies, are you going to tell me what you know that could be important enough to land you in a place like this?”
I lean back against the stone. “Let’s just say I have a habit of sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“And someone didn’t appreciate it?”
“Several someones, actually. I’m very talented at making enemies.”
“What kind of enemies?”
“The kind that run places like this.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “You were investigating them?”
“Something like that.” I hesitate, then decide to give her a little more. “I was looking for someone. Someone who didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
“Her?”
“A kid. Well, not exactly a kid, but young. Innocent.” The familiar weight of guilt settles on my chest. “I found her. Just not in time to help.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Is that why you’re here? Because you found her?”
“Because I found this place. And because I was too stupid to call for backup before trying to get her out.” I close my eyes, remembering the moment everything had gone wrong. “Should have known it was a trap.”
“You tried to save someone. That’s not stupid.”
“It is when you fail.”
“At least you tried. Most people wouldn’t have bothered.”
I open my eyes, staring at the dark ceiling. “How do you know?”
“Know what?”
“That most people wouldn’t have bothered. Maybe you just have shitty taste in people.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I’ve learned not to expect much from people.”
There’s a carefully controlled pain simmering under her words that makes me want to ask more questions. But I’ve already pushed enough for one conversation.
“Well,” I say instead, “for what it’s worth, you’re better company than the guards.”
“That’s a low bar.”
“True. But you cleared it easily.”
Another small sound that might have been laughter. “Thanks, I think.”
“You’re welcome, Lithia.”
We fall into a comfortable silence after that. Not the crushing, suffocating quiet I’ve been living with, but a shared stillness that feels almost peaceful.
“Are you still there?” I ask after a while.
“Yes.”
“Good. I was starting to wonder if I’d imagined the whole thing.” I run my thumb over my finger once again, determined to hold on to the feel of her skin against mine.
“You didn’t imagine me.”
“You sure? Because this wouldn’t be the weirdest conversation I’ve had with a hallucination.”
“I’m sure.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because I’m cold, hungry, and my wrists are rubbing raw from these restraints. I’d be pretty pissed if I’m a hallucination in this much discomfort.”
“Good point.” I move positions, trying to ease the ache in my back. “Was I lucid the entire time you’ve been here?”
She hesitates. “No. You seemed to be babbling to yourself for a while before finally speaking to me. But time’s hard to track in here.”
I hear her picking at the rocks around our hole, and I desperately wish she’d slip her hand through once again.
I curl my hands into fists, holding tight. No. Don’t become dependent on someone who’s likely to be ripped away.
“If you found this place and they still have the person you were looking for, why are they keeping you alive?”
I snort. “Good question. As far as I can tell, they keep me here because I know the location of someone they want.”
“Ah.”
I nod, knowing she can’t see me. “I shared mine, is it time for you to share yours?”
“Share what exactly?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Anything. I’ve been alone for months. Any talk that doesn’t involve torture is welcome.”
She chuckles. “Fine. I’m useless at fishing.”
I perk up. “Are you terrible at hunting too?”
“No, just fishing. I don’t have the patience for waiting.”
“Ah, so you’re a live wire. You are a redhead, aren’t you?”
“None of your business.”
“Fair enough. But for the record, whatever color your hair is, I’m glad you’re here.”
“Glad I’m imprisoned and probably going to die?”
“Glad I’m not alone.”
She’s quiet for a long moment. Then, so softly I almost miss it. “Yeah. Me too.”
I close my eyes, suddenly exhausted but more alive than I’ve felt in months. “Goodnight, Lithia of Shadowmist.”
“Goodnight, Kier of this prison.”
I smile, listening to her breathing gradually slow and deepen as she drifts into sleep. The sound is comforting in a way I can’t fully articulate.
I press my palm against the wall that separates us, imagining I can feel her warmth through the stone.
Lithia.
You feel that? I ask my wolf, barely breathing.
Mate, is his answer.
His confirmation hits me like a physical blow. I lean my head back against the stone, my chest tight with an emotion so powerful it threatens to crush me.
Mate.
Three fucking years. Three years of talking to ghosts, of begging for death, of existing in a hell where hope is another form of torture. Three years of believing I was destined to die alone and forgotten in this concrete tomb. And now…
I lean my head back, exhaling slowly. “You’re sure?”
Yes. My wolf presses against me from within, his intention clear. She is ours. We will not die in this place.
His affirmation changes everything. The walls of this cell are no longer my tomb—they’re just an obstacle between me and my future.
Our future.
“No. We won’t.”
Not now. Not while she breathes. Not while she’s close enough to touch.
My palm spreads wider against the stone, as if I could somehow reach through it to touch her. Everything has changed.
We’ve found her. Our mate.
Gods help anyone who tries to take her from me.