Chapter 21 #2
He snorted with laughter. “I would have given anything to see that.”
I felt an answering grin spread over my face. “He wasn’t pleased.”
Still chortling, he rose and reached for the tray. “I’m guessing that’s an understatement. Have you had enough?”
I nodded and leaned back as he cleaned up everything, packed the tray, and placed it outside the door to be picked up by the staff.
I copied his position from earlier and propped my feet up on a chair, groaning a bit as I stretched.
He paused behind me, then his hands came to my shoulders, digging into the aching muscles.
I leaned into the massage, letting my thoughts wander and become fuzzy.
He really was talented with his hands, somehow finding all the right spots, working out the knots.
He gently pressed on the back of my head, tilting it down to give him better access to my neck and shoulders.
“Better?” His breath skirted over my ear.
“Mmhmm.”
“Then go get ready and come to bed.”
He didn’t mean that how it sounded, did he?
I didn’t know if I actually believed he’d meant what he’d told Finn about us only being friends. But at the same time, I couldn’t get it out of my head. And how much it had hurt to hear him say that. I was loath to bring it up only to find out that he truly had meant it and I’d ruined everything.
So fuck me.
I hurriedly did as he’d said, finishing my nighttime routine in record time. I couldn’t meet his eyes as I came into the bedroom, where he was lounging in my bed, reading his book. I crawled in, strictly staying on my side, then waved the light out and put my back to him.
He set down his book and turned onto his side. “Night, Princess.”
“Night, Griff. And—”
“Don’t mention it,” he murmured as he came a bit closer and wrapped his arm around my waist.
I stiffened for a second, unsure what to do with him actively breaking the distance between us, before giving in and settling into his warmth.
“I’m here if you need me.”
I closed my eyes, feeling his hard chest supporting my back, and finally let myself acknowledge that these days, the only time I felt safe was in his arms.
And with that thought, and our hearts beating in time, I fell asleep.
“You think this shall protect you?”
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, sliding down my spine like ice water. I closed my eyes in resignation, but that only made it worse, for behind my lids I could see them—my people. All of them screaming as the darkness consumed them, their eyes fading to black, their souls corrupted.
“Yes,” he breathed, the voice right beside my ear, though I felt no breath, no warmth. Only a chilling wind. “You are a danger to your people. Look at what you bring upon them.”
I opened my eyes to a nightmare within the nightmare. Valdris was burning—not in flames, but with consuming darkness stripping away every stone, turning them to ash. My people were screaming, dying. Kaia’s battle cry cut short. Freya’s healing light snuffed out. Finn’s laughter silenced. And Griff…
“He shall suffer most of all,” the voice purred. “Your Champion, torn apart because of what you are. Because you will not accept what must be.”
The smoke and shadow cleared, revealing Griff pinned by creatures of the darkest night. His swords lay shattered in pieces around him. But his eyes found mine, never wavering.
“Come with me, my queen, and I will leave them.”
The burning stopped. The screaming ceased. I knew what awaited me if I went with him—the eternity of corruption. But if I didn’t… was I damning my realm to the darkness? Could I even take that chance?
He laughed, a cruel sound ripping through the night. “You cannot know, Orlaith. But can you take the chance? For should you turn down my offer, all shall burn. And I will have you regardless.”
Slowly, I turned and looked upon him. He was tall, taller than Griff. Where his face should have been was a void of the deepest night. But his hand, as he reached toward me, solidified into a pale, long-fingered hand, beautiful in its terrible perfection.
“Good, yes.” He sighed the words as a lover might.
Something stirred within me, even as the rest of me cried out in revulsion. This was what I was meant for. This was my destiny. If I just took his hand, I would end the fear, the uncertainty.
I reached my hand toward his when I heard someone shouting my name. The voice was distant, desperate, and it cut through the spell the darkness had wrought around me.
The dark one’s perfect hand clenched into a fist and he let out a scream that shattered the air around us. “You cannot escape me, Orlaith! I will have you, and your precious realm will burn!”
I came back to myself, hyperventilating. I was sitting in Griff’s arms, clinging tightly to him, as if he might disappear if I loosened my grip even a millimeter. His hand was stroking my hair, the warmth of his touch at odds with the terrible cold of the nightmare.
“You’re here with me. You’re safe.” He kept repeating those words, over and over, like maybe if he said them enough times, it would finally sink in for both of us.
I focused on my breathing, Griff’s ocean scent, and the solid warmth of his arms around me.
Between the two of us, my breathing calmed and I relaxed into him.
We slowly lowered back down, but I continued to cling to him, and he made no move to pull away.
Once my heart rate was more or less back to normal, I released my death grip on him, but kept my head on his chest, listening to that steady rhythm. His arm came up to cup the back of my head.
“Do you want to talk about it?” His voice rumbled through his chest, carefully controlled. His fingers threaded through my hair, massaging my scalp.
“Every time, it seems more and more real.” My voice came out smaller than I intended. “He calls me ‘my queen.’”
His fingers paused their massage, before picking back up again.
I fell silent and listened to his heartbeat drum out the echo of that cruel laughter, until it lulled me back to sleep.