Chapter 10 Elodie #2
“Do you want to get closer?” he asks, nodding toward the tower of steel, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip, nerves getting the better of me. Before I can formulate an answer that doesn’t involve me dismissing the offer, he places his palm at the small of my back and guides me closer.
I can feel every inch of his hand, and despite the layers of fresh clothing between us, my skin still heats at his touch. It’s distracting and infuriating all at once, but I bottle it up and focus all of my attention on the attraction growing taller with every step we take.
We’re silent as we bumble through the security lines like everyone else, a normal factor for me, but it feels strange knowing there’s a shadow fae right behind me, unbeknownst to those surrounding us.
Stepping under the steel, I crane my neck back, trying to fully grasp just how big it is.
I sense Thorne’s absence the second his hand falls away.
I almost pout, but deep down, I appreciate the moment to myself.
The atmosphere is euphoric, an air of awe and bewilderment as I let my eyelids fall closed.
For a moment, just one, I imagine my life isn’t crazy. For just this second, I’m Elodie Blackwood, the high school dropout from across the pond, standing beneath the Eiffel Tower. As soon as I let my mind wander, there’s no stopping it.
Imagine I’m not a dropout.
Imagine I am just a girl with a dream that led me here.
Imagine I am standing beneath something so extravagant, yet longing to go back to a place where I felt safe, loved, and cherished.
A knot forms in my stomach as nausea threatens to rise in my throat, forcing me to open my eyes. Pressing my lips together, I turn my attention to Thorne, who stands a few feet away, but instead of gaping at the tower in awe, his gaze is set firmly on me.
I’m locked there, staring deep into his eyes as seconds stretch between us, both of us too scared to blink. It’s only when a little child toddles between us, squealing, with his mother a step behind him, that our gazes drop.
Thorne clears his throat as he takes a step toward me, but instead of reaching for me like last time, he stuffs his hands into his pockets. “What else would you like to see?” he asks, and I shake my head, the knot in my stomach growing tighter as my chest starts to ache.
“After all the walking you’ve made me do already, nothing,” I murmur as a couple a few feet away giddily take a photo together with the legs of the Eiffel Tower arched around them.
“Do you want me to take your photo?” he offers, slipping his cell phone from his pocket, but I shake my head.
“No,” I breathe, my voice raspier than usual, and he cocks a brow at me.
“Why?”
“The memory is enough,” I answer truthfully. I will never get this moment out of my mind, I know it. Before he can push on the subject, I nod toward the exit. “I guess we should go.”
He runs his tongue over his bottom lip as he peers at me, searching deep into my eyes, but I can feel the invisible walls rising around me. “We can stay as long as you like,” he states, and I huff, unable to keep my mouth shut as I had hoped.
“Not when you’re being nice to me,” I mutter, watching his eyebrows rise in confusion. “It always comes with an expiration date,” I explain, and he grimaces. I should feel bad, especially when I know I’m trying to hurt him before he can hurt me again, but I can’t bring myself to apologize.
Thorne’s lips part, but his gaze quickly dips to his cell phone before he can speak. He angles the screen, and I capture a glimpse of his notification. There are endless missed calls and unopened texts from Kael and Rion.
My heart lurches.
“Do they know where we are?” I blurt, and he shakes his head slowly. I exhale softly. “Good.”
“Good?” he repeats in confusion, and I shrug.
“Kael is dead to me. I believe you didn’t know, but there’s no coming back from this,” I clarify, turning for the exit, and Thorne immediately falls into step with me.
“I already told you, I—”
“I know what you said,” I interject, glancing at him from the corner of my eye before I turn my attention to the rotating exit, stepping through it in a flurry, only to pause on the other side since I don’t know where on Earth I’m going.
Instead of taking the lead as I’d hoped he would, he stands in front of me, arms folded over his chest as he cocks a brow again.
“I’m eternally grateful to be out of there.
I owe you one, but like I already told you, your good moods don’t last. I get why, but I can’t handle the hot and cold on top of everything else as well,” I mumble, and all he does is blink at me.
Something so mundane shouldn’t look so hot on him.
Clearing my throat, I stand taller. “I’m ready to leave. ”
He stares at me for what feels like a lifetime before he sighs, his chin dipping to his chest for a second before he meets my stare again. “Okay. Let’s get you home,” he says, turning to stand at my side, but before he can take a single step, I grab his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
“It’s not my home. I’ve never truly had a home, but The Vale, that definitely isn’t it. If anything, it will forever be my prison.”