6. Chapter 6 #2
“But you told me once that the moon also has a dark side.” She took a shaky breath. “What if I’m not stronger than it? What if this is a part of the curse the legends have foretold?” She pulled away from my hold and wrapped her arms around her body.
I wanted to run to her, scoop her into my arms, scream to the giants of her strength, her capability.
Her power. My own anger increased tenfold at every soul who had crossed her path and told her she was less than.
A shadow. She was more. She was space and time.
She was the ground beneath my feet and the very fucking air I breathed.
Seeing the battles she faced with the unknown around her was one thing, but seeing her battle herself and old lies?
I couldn’t handle it. In an easy step, I was in her space and tilting her chin up to meet my gaze once again—but this time, instead of a challenge, my eyes held compassion.
Understanding. Because I knew exactly what she faced.
“If the things inside us are made from the same cloth, then I know its goal is to lie to you, manipulate you to do its bidding. But what makes you strong is that you recognize it and fight it. Yes, you’re still a person who will have flaws, but that is what clings you to humanity.
Not what these legends have narrated to you. You are absolute perfection.”
She scoffed as she tried to pull away.
I only tightened my grip and pulled her toward me again.
“I mean it, Ophelia.” The strong use of her name caught her attention.
“You have people who love you who are willing to fight tooth and nail to help guide you back. When you feel like you’re failing, let us help you carry this burden.
You are Ophelia Endromeon, for giants’ sake.
The fucking princess to the realm of Gria.
You and your power are more than the lies inside your head. ”
She only nodded, but I could see that she was trying to convince herself of the truth in my words. I leaned in and planted a soft kiss to her lips, punctuating my endearment.
“Did you mean what you said earlier?” Ophelia asked. I watched her chew her lip. If only she knew how much that little action did to me, and how badly I wanted to take it against mine.
I raised my eyebrow with confusion.
“That you love me?” she clarified.
There was a deeper war in her eyes that fractured another piece of my heart. Did she not believe I did?
Are youuu suuure that you love her and nooot the power that swells withiiin her? Was iiit love that drew you in, or was iiit that you defiiied every word I screamed at youuu that day?
I was able to fight against you, wasn’t I? I bit back at the voice.
“Yes.” The words left my lips on a whisper. “I meant every word, Ophelia.” Her hold tightened around me as her eyes grew soft, like her smile.
It cackled. You thiiink you found a waaay to beat me, boy? Get on yooour knees and pledge your loyalty to meee. You feel my power buildiiing inssside of you. If it wasn’t for that biiitch, we would stiiill have the freedom to dooo what we wanted.
You mean what you want?
You thiiink this isss a game?
Something akin to white-hot coals slashed against my mind. I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes to steady myself against the pain. Flashes of bodies covered in blood darted across my eyes, showing all of my past sins that I couldn’t escape, no matter how many prayers I sent to the giants.
You’re miiine and will always be miiine. I’ll make youuu kill the bitch, jussst like I did your wife, before I fall under another’s demandsss.
“Peiro?” The soft voice brought me back to the present, the memories gone.
Even with my eyes closed, I could sense her concern as her small hands framed my face.
I leaned into the warmth of them and let them guide me home.
She gasped when I opened my eyes. “They’re brighter. It’s growing stronger again, isn’t it?”
There was no denying what she could clearly see.
Worry filled her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. “I’m so sorry, Peiro. I’m so sorry that you’ve been enduring this for so long. If I only knew the how, I would rip it away from you. Giants, give me the how.” The last words left her lips softly.
“Save your concerns, moonlight.” Her hair felt like the finest of silk as I ran my fingers against the strands.
“What if we could?” Her words were full of hope.
“What do you mean?” I wanted to believe that she could. Those moments when I felt peace, even if only for a small passing of time, gave me hope that she could rid it altogether. She hadn’t even realized her magic had such a reach the first time she used it on me outside of Zonnagberg.
I hadn’t thought peace was even a possibility then.
It had been since the time of fucking King Jaris that I had known such a thing.
I had tried every remedy and given myself to every type of sorcery for the whispers to stop for just a moment..
My feet had dredged across this earth and never found the possibility. Until her.
Your soul isss miiine. We merged the day you found me. There is no ridding me without you following my fate. I could feel the voice practically showing its sickly smile against my mind.
Ophelia straightened a little and dropped her hands to my chest. “What if my magic could somehow break its ties from you?” She looked down at my chest with brightness in her eyes. “They were created together in a way, right? They’re tied in some sort of way…”
Even before her hands could glow, I could feel the immense power building around her.
It was like a force pulling me toward her, beckoning me, summoning me, and I had no choice but to obey—and I wanted to succumb to it.
To her. The entity began to thrash then strengthen, digging its grip against my ribs, trying to escape the power she brought to the surface.
It not only hated the thought of her being more powerful, but that it had to obey her calling, too.
“Ophelia?” I grunted against the pain of the proverbial claws as the pressure of her magic built against me.
Immediately the power stopped and the glow within her hands receded back to where it had come from. “I see it,” she whispered. “Your lifesource. I’ve seen it before but it’s chained somehow.” Her eyes were transfixed on my chest, seeing something I couldn’t.
“Did you just attempt to take my life?” I laughed and tried to make the question sound as light as I meant it, but her face immediately fell.
“What? No! No, no! I would never.” She shook her head rapidly.
I laughed again. “I was only teasing you. It might take more than that to finally do me in. But even I could have told you I was chained to it.”
A hiss slithered against my mind.
“Yes, but this is different.” She looked at me again with more hope in her eyes. “I will figure it out. I promise.”
Do yooou want to tell her that it’sss imposssible? Or do youuu want her to inevitably learn firsssthand?
I shook off the voice and smiled at the woman who claimed my heart in a way I hadn’t believed was possible. She saw me for who I was—not my past transgressions or as a thing, like many have before… She saw me and the man I had once been.
We stood there for a few minutes longer in the moonlight.
I didn’t want this moment to end as we listened to one another’s heartbeats.
Hers was steady and beat in time with the water at our feet.
Beasts howled at such a distance that the typical person would never stand a chance of hearing.
I smiled as I took deep breaths of her scent, but soon faltered when I heard shouting in the distance.
My ears trained on the sound, letting the other noises fade away so I could hear what was taking place, but then I chuckled as soon as I recognized the voice.
“What’s so funny?” Defiance laced Ophelia’s tone. If she only knew I relished it when she tried her hand at daring me.
My hands reluctantly released their hold. “We’ve been gone too long. Your sister is out for blood.”
Ophelia’s head popped up. “How do you know?” I shook my head as I pointed to my ears, emphasizing the keen ability.
She sighed and pulled away. We turned, hand in hand, and walked back to the tent with the others.