Chapter 78 #3
I placed my glass down on the thick stone wall and rubbed my hands together.
Reggie’s eyes darted toward them as if searching for something.
I glanced down at my hands. No flames, no tickle or glimmer of my power or strength, yet Reggie stared at them as if they would burst into flame at any moment.
Before I could question him, the glass door slid wide open.
“Why are you out here by yourself?” Xavier asked, stepping outside.
I turned to tell him I wasn’t alone, but Reggie was already gone, not even a trail of smoke left in his wake.
Instead, I lifted a brow and said, “Are you watching me?”
“I people-watch. Also, you bailed on the game Cameron is forcing everyone to play.”
“Stalker.”
Xavier laughed as he walked to my side, carrying a plate full of cake and two forks. “Want to share?”
They were all so damned nice. I wasn’t used to it and doubted I ever would be.
Xavier gave me a small smile and simply waited, his eyes filled with hopeful kindness. I didn’t realize it had been weighing on me, and I hadn’t planned on saying it, but the words slipped out.
“I’m sorry about the dream eaters. About what they made you see.”
Shock flashed across Xavier’s face. “I’ve never had an Ig’Morruthen apologize to me before. They mostly try to kill or eat us.”
“Well, the night is young.”
Xavier laughed and picked up a fork, cutting off a small slice. “That threat toward Vincent was pretty funny, though. It’s not often he gets put in his place. He needs it sometimes.”
“I am serious, though. About my apology.” My hands gripped the rail behind me. “Samkiel loves you, all of you, so,” I paused for a second to take a deep breath, “hurting you all would hurt him, and I don’t want to hurt him.”
Xavier bowed slightly. “Well, I’m honored.”
Xavier leaned against the railing next to me, and we watched the others in the kitchen. Cameron made some weird gesture and Imogen laughed. Vincent rolled his eyes behind them, all of them gathering snacks. Samkiel, as always, looked for me. He saw who I was with and stayed with Logan and Neverra.
“It was a hard adjustment when Samkiel first got us all together. We were all so scared to say or do the wrong thing. Being under the thumbs of gods was not a pleasant experience for most of us. Vincent the least.”
I swallowed. “Yeah, I heard about that.”
“He lashed out more than usual. I think he’s just afraid of you.”
I nodded. “He is right to be. You all should be.”
Xavier stilled.
“Gabby and I had little for a very long time after my parents died. I had her, and I loved her very much. Then I lost her. I am very protective of the things I care about, and losing her didn’t help my overprotective instincts.
If I had my powers, I would have ripped Vincent’s tongue from his head for how he spoke to Samkiel and not thought twice about it.
Samkiel is kind, sweet, and very caring.
He is good and doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.
Not by me, not by family, not by anyone. ”
Xavier didn’t even flinch, his eyes tracking Cameron. He held the plate out toward me. “I understand.”
I picked up the fork and cut the rich cake, taking a bite.
“Sunshine,” he said.
I nodded as we watched the two people we knew we couldn’t live without.
“Sunshine.”
* * *
As the night began winding down and everyone got ready to head home, Neverra gestured me close, digging through her handbag.
“I got it just in time,” she whispered, handing me the small box. “It’s a great idea, and it only took Logan and me a few hours to track down the booth.”
“I’m glad Logan isn’t mad anymore. Sorry about getting you in trouble.”
She waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for. Besides, Logan loves makeup sex, so we are fine.”
I laughed. “I really appreciate it. Everything,” I told her, meaning far more than just the last few weeks.
She smiled softly, her eyes filled with understanding.
“While we were there, I got this done, too. I gave Immy one, and I have one. This one is for you if you want it,” she said hesitantly, digging through her bag again and pulling out a picture frame.
It was the picture she’d taken the night she and Imogen had stayed over. I took the frame, my heart clenching.
“Now you have two more sisters,” Neverra said.
I hugged her, and she giggled, surprised.
“Sorry,” I said, pulling back.
“Don’t be.” She put her purse over her shoulder. “Goodnight, Dianna.”
“Night,” I said and waved.
Neverra turned and hurried to Logan. He held out his hand, and she walked into his arms. He wrapped her in a hug, brushing a kiss to her hair before they walked away.
I went back inside and placed the picture on the mantle beside the one of Gabby and me at the beach.
I had moved it downstairs so she could be a part of our home.
“You are right, Gabby. I like them.”
A star twinkled at me through the open window. I blew it a kiss and headed upstairs with the small box.
The room was quiet, the lights off, which meant he hadn’t moved since he came up here. They flickered on as I walked in. A smile broke across my face to see Samkiel sprawled out face first on the bed. I took a running leap and jumped on his back, making him groan.
“That didn’t hurt, you big baby.” I wrapped my arms around him, placing a kiss to his cheek.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Depends on what we are talking about.”
I raised my hand, popping him on the shoulder as he laughed beneath me.
“No,” he said, his eyes still closed. “It could have been a lot worse, given you threatened Vincent in front of The Hand.”
“You’re lucky that is all I did after what he said to you.” I sat up, running my fingers up and down his spine.
“What about what he said about you?”
“I’ve been insulted by far scarier men.” My finger traced a line across his back, the muscles beneath it twitching. “One even called me a worm and said I was beneath him, although he stays beneath me more often than not now.”
Samkiel’s laugh filled the room. He flipped underneath me, his hands cupping my hips.
“I got you something,” I said, wiggling against him.
“Did you now?” He shifted underneath me. “Is it beneath this pretty little dress?”
I laughed and pushed off him. I padded toward the long thick curtains dancing across the floor at the window.
“Guess you will just have to find out,” I said, swaying my hips ever so slightly to tease him.
By the time I parted the curtains, allowing the moonlight to cast a glow inside, Samkiel was behind me.
I turned and looked up at him, placing my hand on his chest. “The Celebration of the Fall is coming up.”
Samkiel made a noise deep in his throat that told me exactly how he felt about it. He had plenty of reasons to hate it, which was just another reason I’d done this.
“And,” I said, pulling his attention back to me, “tradition dictates that you exchange gifts. Mostly to celebrate life as a gift, blah, blah, blah, but Gabby and I always got each other something, even when I was a million miles away from her. There was an outpost where she’d send me stuff every year.
I mostly hid the gifts or lied and said I bought them myself, so I wouldn’t have to listen to Kaden. Anyway, like I said, it is tradition.”
He brushed back a long strand of my hair, his touch soothing the pain that came with the memories.
I pulled out the box Neverra and Imogen helped me get.
Imogen—thank the old gods—distracted the council while Neverra and Logan snuck out.
I opened the box, took out the layered silver pendant necklace, and held it up.
“What is that?” he asked.
“I know you kept those pictures from the festival, and I burned them. So I asked Neverra to go back to the festival booth and get another copy. They keep them on file for years. She got another copy and had them pressed into this pendant.” I held it a tad higher.
The flat, dark green images shimmered in the moonlight.
“It’s from a jeweler outside of Veistran near Naaririel.
He can make anything into jewelry, press photos or carve words.
I always wanted something from there. It was where lovers would go to purchase items for each other, but I…
.” I trailed off and shook my head. “I just thought if you’re going to keep them, at least now they won’t get lost.”
Samkiel stared at me and then at the necklace I held between us. He stared so long my heart quickened. I rolled back on my heels, wondering if I’d made another mistake. Maybe it was too much? Maybe I was too much.
I pulled it closer to me. “Well, if you hate it—”
“No.” Samkiel snatched it from me as if I was about to toss away a precious jewel.
He clasped it around his neck, his eyes never leaving mine.
The small, flat silver pendant rested in the dip between his collarbones, covering a tiny scar.
He placed his hand over it, and power radiated beneath his palm.
Small pulses of light ran along the chain, coating it in a bright silver glow.
“There, now it shall never come off.”
I beamed and reached out to touch the pendant reverently, relief and that warm emotion burning away the rise of insecurity.
“Well, unless I am decapitated, I suppose.”
I smacked him on the chest. “Samkiel! Oh my gods, why would you say that?”
He rubbed the spot on his chest as if wounded, but he beamed at me.
“I am merely stating.”
I narrowed my eyes and stepped toward him, but he dodged. I countered, reaching for him again. He grabbed my wrists and locked them in one big hand, pulling me into him, my chest flushed with his.
“It’s perfect,” he whispered, releasing my hands before he cupped my face and placed a kiss to my forehead. “I was unaware of the tradition. I did not get you anything.”
“You don’t have to get me anything.” I placed my hand against the broad wall of muscle of his chest, his heart beating beneath my palm, the rhythm seeming to match mine. “This is priceless to me.”
“Dianna being sweet. Who would have thought?”
“Right? I am absolutely terrible,” I said with pride.
He leaned down, stopping a hair’s breadth away from my lips. “Absolutely maddening.”
A feather-light kiss brushed my lips, one barely there. My entire body swam with heat.
His eyes turned molten as he pulled back.
He cupped my face, his thumb caressing my cheek, the slow, tender motion more searing than any kiss or intimate touch.
When Samkiel looked at me, it was as if he saw into my very soul and cared for every single part—the good, the bad, the ugly, and the cruel.
A cord inside me snapped, one that existed behind a wall of stone and flame.
And a lock on a door in a house rattled.
“I’m sorry I left,” I said. His thumb stilled against my cheek. “I promise to stay if things get bad. I won’t leave you ever again.”
Samkiel studied my face, relief filling his eyes as if he’d been waiting for me to say it for a while now. It was a comfort that I hadn’t known he needed, but I would make sure he didn’t doubt my commitment in the future.
He raised his hand between us, extending his small finger. “Pinky promise? A dark-haired beauty told me long ago that it is practically the law in her world.”
I grinned and grasped his finger with mine. “Pinky promise.”
He yanked me forward, our hands pressed between us as he sealed the vow with a kiss.