Chapter Forty-Five
BLISS
“I think I could sleep for a week,” Reese says, digging into the slice of coffee cake she’s having for breakfast.
“Make it two weeks,” Amelia says, stretching out her long legs on the couch of the hotel room we gathered in last night. She grabs a spare fork and snags a piece of Reese’s cake.
The wraith vanished right before Grim’s tactical team arrived.
They cleaned up Jordan’s body and the rest of the scene before the sun broke over the horizon.
And after a rather short debriefing in one of the fae sectors of the park, we were allowed to leave, but despite what my sisters are saying, no one went straight to bed.
We’re all crammed in the room, some sitting on one of the two beds, Amelia taking up the couch. Evan stands at the window with his back to us. Shaun hovers over Simon—the only one sleeping—on the other bed, constantly checking his temperature, or fussing with his blankets.
Pisces is the only one not here.
After we got back to the hotel, I wanted to pull him aside. Kiss him. Talk to him. Let him feed off me, if he needed. I just wanted to be near him, our bond fully perking up as if waking from a long slumber.
But he made excuses to be alone for a bit and wandered off.
The door swings open and my head instantly swivels, my heart leaping up in my chest.
But it’s just Grim and Pinkie, looking haggard after such a long night.
“You’re still here?” Grim asks, coming in and collecting the map and other supplies from our planning session.
“He needs rest before we move him,” Shaun mutters, once again moving hair back from Simon’s forehead. Grim doesn’t respond, just nods, but I don’t think Shaun sees.
“Pisces is back at the park,” Grim says to me instead.
“He is?” I ask, suddenly on my feet, moving to the door. I look at Amelia, who gives me an encouraging smile. Benny leaves his spot leaning against the wall by the door.
“What are you waiting for?” he asks, giving my hand a light squeeze. “May the stars belong to you.”
I beam at my friends, and I’m off.
I make my way back to the park, wondering where he might be.
I find him at the top of the Cascada Monumental. Under the covering of the monument, he stands, overlooking the fountain from the opposite side than last night.
“Pisces?” I ask tentatively, stopping next to him. He looks down at me on his left, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“It’s beautiful,” he says, looking back at the fountain. “I’ve been here before, with my family, years ago. This was my favorite spot.”
“I can see why,” I respond. I’ve found my favorite spot. Next to him, even if we’re not touching. I want to tell him this, but I don’t know how.
“Bliss, we should probably talk.” He shifts his body so he’s fully facing me.
“Yes, I’ve been wanting to talk. I need to explain…” I trail off as he hangs his head. If my happiness about finding my mate is the sun shining and birds singing, then he is moonlight in the rain.
“Pisces?”
“I’m not sure what it’s like for Born fae when they find their bondmate. Evan’s been trying to keep his distance from your sister, so it’s not completely without self-control, but he thinks of her all the time, almost constantly. He feels the love that he could so easily pick up if he wanted.”
I nod. I feel that love now. It’s inside me, a living, breathing thing.
“But for Made fae, it’s not like that. I look at you and I just see another fae.
Just one with a rune in her eye. There’s no big feeling the way you feel it.
I’m not overcome with lust, or desire, or want.
Or need.” He locks eyes with me, and his are dull, disappointed.
“I was hoping to feel that with you. I was. But there’s nothing there.
I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you, so I’m just going to say it. I don’t want to be with you.”
His words feel like an anvil coming down on my soul.
I can’t breathe.
He reaches out, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, sliding his fingers down it, letting it fall to my chest where he’s just ripped out my heart.
Pisces hangs his head, leaving me standing there at the top of the fountain, halved in two. I watch my other half walk away without looking back.