Chapter Ten
MERRICK - NOW
“Another key,” she whispered, her eyes fixated on the wing engraved into the brass. “We’ve searched this house for hours, days…”
I paused. “Well, there’s one similarity between both.”
Era turned her head, giving me a questioning look.
“Both appeared after you talked about your past.”
Her brows raised, her focus going back to the key. “The Valley shall show you the realities you refuse to accept…” She swallowed, her worried gaze flitting upward. “Then, and only then, shall you be freed.”
“Come here,” I murmured, bringing her back to my chest. “Get some rest. We can think more in the morning about what tales we need to tell next.”
She tensed but then nestled in close, still holding the key. Afraid of losing it, undoubtedly. “I am thoroughly spent,” she admitted.
I grinned, then kissed the top of her head. “Good.”
DAY ELEVEN
“So, who pierced your cock?”
I choked on my sandwich, then quickly guzzled a glass of water. It was the following morning, and Era and I had hurried into our normal routine, ready to figure out how we might encourage the other keys to appear.
Not that I was minding our solitude. Not at all, in fact.
I swallowed my food, wiping my mouth. “I did.”
Her mouth popped open, her gaze flicking to my groin. “You did that to yourself?!”
I chuckled, leaning back in my seat and crossing my arms behind my head. “Hell yeah, I did. No one in my village did piercings, aside from the occasional lobes. I wasn’t about to whip my dick out and ask someone to do it for me.”
She shook her head slowly, taking a bite of her meal. After swallowing, she said, “Gods…I can only imagine how painful that must have been. And to do it over and over…” Her voice drifted off, her gaze becoming heated as it dropped to my lap.
I shrugged. “The ladder wasn’t so bad. Going through my tip hurt like a bitch, though. Thought I would faint there for a moment.”
“Why’d you do it? Weren't you afraid?”
I raised a brow. “You complaining, Princess?”
“Hell no,” she replied, and we both bit back grins.
I shrugged my shoulders again. “My piercings pissed off my father, plus I liked the look of them—not that he knew my dick was pierced,” I quickly added with a wince, and Era stifled a laugh.
Her smile was so damn pretty. “I don’t know.
I somewhat enjoyed the pain,” I admitted, and Era’s head tilted.
“Piercing pain is temporary. And, for me, I could heal the wound right away.”
“I didn’t even think of that,” she mumbled, taking a sip of her drink.
I wet my lips. “And then there’s the sensation I get anytime they’re pulled on, tugged…”
Era shifted in her seat, her hand drifting along her neck as she set her cup down. “Makes it better?” she asked quietly.
I nodded slowly. “So much fucking better,” I answered, my length thickening from the conversation, from ogling at her across the table, recalling the sight of her beneath me yesterday.
Era must’ve felt the same way, that subtle shift in her seating revealing her desire for friction. But she mastered her emotions, scarfing down the rest of her sandwich. Following a swallow, she asked, “How did you learn you could do that? Project your emotions?”
“I didn’t mean to at first. I had only just begun noticing how miserable people would get around me.
And then one day, I felt so awful, and Elowen was giggling, chasing a butterfly while her mother tended to her garden.
And I glared at her with such a rage that the emotion overcame her.
Elowen was eight at the time, and you know my sister.
Seeing her angry is a rare occurrence. I tried it on her one other time after that, and I knew I had the ability. ”
She stood, rounding the table to rest her ass against the wood, her arms crossing. “Did you do it to anyone else?”
I shook my head. “No. Nor does anyone else know about it. I debated trying it out on my father…making him feel as awful as I felt most days… but the energy it took wasn’t worth it to me. Not only that, but the eye color shift makes it obvious if I do it around more than one person.”
Her brows raised. “My eyes changed?”
“They did. Just like mine do.” I sighed. “Anyway, reading people was exhausting enough, and I never really felt like I had anything good to project onto others.”
A smirk tugged at Era’s lips, and she tilted her chin down. “Well, you certainly had something good to project onto me.”
Fuck yeah, I did. “Oh?” I mirrored her expression. “Care to explain?”
She tried to hide her smile, her head shaking as if that would ward off her impure thoughts. “We need to find the other keys,” she redirected, patting her hands together to shake off any crumbs. “I doubt the test here is to see how many times we can sleep together.”
The first thing we did immediately upon waking was test the Angel key, a wave of relief washing over us when we heard a click. “Now that would be a delightful test. Although I fear we’d be here forever, then.”
I snickered as she pinched my side, and then I finished my meal a moment later. Gods, I was getting sick of jam. “Where do you suggest we look?”
She shrugged, padding over to the library. “Whatever is controlling this environment,” she began, disappearing around the wall, “has given us signs. It encouraged me to share those stories with you.”
I scowled at the eleven red etches on the DAYS LOST parchment. “So, what, we wait around until another event occurs?” I called out. “Because I can think of something very entertaining to do while the time passes.”
“You’re depraved,” she chuckled, and then there was a pause. “Whoa…these are beautiful! Merrick, come see!”
Her words propelled me forward as I hurried to the library. But my face fell the moment I saw the flowers she was gazing at, kept in a familiar glass vase. Her tanned fingers brushed the delicate pink petals.
Zinnias.
“These weren’t here a moment ago when we passed through.” When Era’s eyes tore from the bursts of pink to meet my wide, watery ones, her expression filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“I think I know what it wants me to tell you about…” I whispered, my movements heavy as I sat on the velvet loveseat. My heart thundered, my palms sweating as I clutched my knees.
“What, Merrick?” Era asked gently, sitting close beside me.
My eyes drifted shut. “The worst day of my life.”