Chapter 12 Lana
Lana
“Idon’t want to leave this room,” I whispered against Kade’s chest.
His arms wrapped around me. Here, nestled under the covers, we were shielded from the weight of the world. No Thames. No war. No prophecies.
Kade rolled me over, cradling my face in his hands. “One more minute.”
I grinned; this was about the twentieth time he’d said that.
He took one of my rose-gold strands, curling it around his finger before leaning down and kissing the tip of my nose.
My hands roamed up and down his back, over the horrific marks of his past.
Even though his father had died by his hand, some pain couldn’t be erased. The scars would forever be a reminder of his tortured past, but I would always strive to remind him of his inner strength. That his father failed to turn him into a monster.
A slight tremor coursed through Kade at my touch, and I savored every second of it. Relished in the power between us that had grown since being together last night.
“I love you,” he said as he gazed at me tenderly.
I kissed him, pulling him close to me as our mating bond surged with delight in my chest. “I love you,” I whispered against his lips.
Kade rolled over until he kneeled behind me, kissing my back. My magic healed my injuries quickly last night, but it hadn’t helped Kade manage the guilt he felt at having caused them during our “adventure” in the woods.
“Never again,” he said. “Never again will I succumb to the darkness and hurt you, Illiana. It may still be here, inside of me, but I will fight it every breath of every day.”
“You have more than made up for it.” I winked over my shoulder.
He grasped my chin in his fingers. “I swear it. I’ll die before anything like that happens again.”
“It won’t come to that.” I turned, facing him so I could touch his face. “What happened with Thames? What did he do while you were trapped there?”
Kade’s shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes. I rubbed my thumb along his cheek, tracing the lines of his face.
“I killed too many people in his name,” Kade said, his voice shattered by pain. “I don’t deserve your love, Lana. I don’t deserve it.”
My heart crumbled under the weight of his tortured words. I leaned forward, kissing his forehead. “You do deserve it. You were trapped by his darkness.”
“It’s my darkness. It’s lingering,” he sighed, pulling away from me. “Fighting me constantly to take control. When I think about what happened, what I’ve done, the darkness gets stronger.”
I refused to let him bury his pain and continue feeling alone, instead wrapping my arms around his neck.
“You don’t have to talk to me about any of it now.
But just know I’m here when you’re ready.
We can carry the pain together. You will never suffer in silence again. Not from Dargan. Not from Thames.”
He met my gaze, shifting me to the side, and kissing me briefly. “I know I’m not alone. I wasn’t alone with Thames either.”
I frowned and he leaned over the bed, reaching into the pocket of his pants. He pulled out the necklace he’d given me for my birthday. His mother’s necklace.
“Every night I remained in Mysthaven, I slept in your room. Even when fully consumed by the darkness, my shadows led me there. To lay where you once did, even if it had only been for a short period of time. I saw this left on the nightstand and grabbed it. Keeping it with me.” He swept my hair behind my ear.
“Even when my mind lost hope, you were here.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “You will always be here. Saving me from the darkness.”
My lip trembled as I took the necklace, running my fingers over it before I clutched it in my hand.
Kade traced my lips with his thumb before rising from the bed. He ran his fingers through my hair, combing out the knots we’d created together. “Now let’s go before I never let you out of this bed.”
Exiting our sanctuary, we walked hand in hand down the stairs toward the tavern.
Kade smiled at me when he caught my gaze.
Our hearts were full, our bond and bodies satiated.
It was as though something had clicked into place when I first admitted what he was to me during our battle at Mount Legion.
But last night, it fused together, unbreakable. I touched my chest with my free hand.
Hope flickered, enticing and expanding. If I could bring Kade back from the darkness lurking beneath his skin, maybe there was a way we could defeat Thames and the evil plaguing our lands.
Before we took the last few steps down the stairs and walked into the main tavern room, I stopped, pulling on Kade’s hand. “Are you ready for this?”
He kissed the top of my head. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Come on, let’s go cause chaos.” He threw me a wink before continuing down to greet everyone.
He stood at the bottom of the stairs, sending shadowy tendrils toward Jax, Raya, and Storm, who all sat together eating their breakfast. As his shadows poked Raya’s ankle, she dropped her spoon into her porridge and let out a yelp, splashing the food all over Storm’s arm.
“What in the actual fuck?” Jax laughed as he bit into another apple. He looked up and his grin morphed into shock as he dropped the fruit, which clattered to his plate.
Storm shoved his chair back, turning toward us immediately. His shoulders sagged in relief as he looked Kade over. When he met my gaze, we shared an unspoken sentiment. We’d both missed him, and the relief in his eyes reflected back in mine. I gave him a soft smile as he exhaled sharply.
Raya jumped up from her chair, knocking it over as she ran to Kade. “You’re okay?” The pained expression on her face was riddled with a combination of guilt and relief.
She moved to kneel before him, but Kade reached out, grabbing her arm and wrapping her in a hug. “I’m okay.”
Raya pushed herself back. “I’m so sorry. Everything is my fault.” She wrung her hands with a nervous energy so unlike the hardened warrior she portrayed. “I couldn’t fight him. I hurt you. I hurt Storm. I hurt Lana. I don’t know how to fix what I’ve done.”
Even without knowing Raya for long, I knew this was not a side seen by most. The guilt caused by the events at Mount Legion had weighed heavily on her this entire time. While none of us would ever blame her for what happened, she needed to know that Kade did not blame her.
“Raya.” He grabbed her hands. “You are not at fault for anything. There is nothing to apologize for and I will not have you thinking otherwise. As someone who is intimately aware of what it’s like to be controlled by another, you are a true warrior for fighting as hard as you did.
As you can see, all of us are in one piece. We’re together again.”
Raya bowed her head and stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself. Hopefully with his forgiveness, she could stop destroying herself for things she had no control over.
Storm came forward to greet Kade. The two embraced momentarily, clapping each other on the back. “Happy to see you again, brother.” Storm smiled.
“It’s good to see you too.” Kade pulled him in again. “Thank you for keeping her safe.”
Storm cleared his throat and took a step back, coming to stand on the other side of me. I rested my head on his shoulder, knowing if anyone understood what the separation was like, it was him.
Kade positioned himself to speak to all of us. “Thank you for everything you all have done to keep each other safe. To keep Lana safe. I will be forever grateful.”
A warm tingle skittered down my arms. I would never grow tired of looking at this man and knowing he was mine.
Jax approached Kade and playfully punched him in the shoulder. “Enough of the mushy stuff.” He waggled his brows. “How did you escape?”
Kade motioned for all of us to sit at the table as he pulled an extra chair over for me. I didn’t miss how he moved it to be practically on top of his own.
Possessive mate of mine.
“Thames is worse than we even imagined.” His expression turned sour.
“Just what I wanted to hear,” Jax moaned, a disgruntled look overtook his features.
Kade shot him a look. “He has taken over Mysthaven and placed himself as ruler and is creating an army of dark ones. While we knew that’s what he was doing through my father’s confession, I think it’s much more than just an army. There’s something happening at Firestone.”
An army of dark ones was terrifying enough to deal with, but the thought of Thames having some sort of secret up his sleeve sent chills up my spine.
“What is Firestone?” I asked.
Kade’s hand came to rest on my leg. “It’s a volcano in Mysthaven. It hasn’t erupted in our history, or at least that I’m aware of, but the place is still avoided by most.”
“By all,” Jax corrected, clearing his throat. “Unless you have a death wish.”
Storm’s eyes narrowed. “I wonder what he’s hiding?” he mused, steering back to the conversation at hand.
Kade’s head dropped slightly. “I don’t know.
I was never given access to that information.
The last time he forced me to torture a so-called ‘traitor’ in the dungeons, he mentioned if the Fae wouldn’t turn willingly, he could choose between dying by my hand or being used to feed his weapon at Firestone. ”
The haunted look in Kade’s eyes broke my heart.
He’d need time to process whatever Thames had forced him to do.
All he ever wanted was to escape the monster his father created him to be, and here he was, forced to be it once more.
One day, when this atrocity was behind us, he would never have to be the Monster of Mysthaven again.
“That volcano always did creep me out.” Raya shivered. “Nothing good can come from this. A weapon of any kind is bad, but something created by a sorcerer as powerful as Thames could have more implications than we can fathom.”
Storm folded his arms across his chest. “We’ll just add it to the growing list of questions we need to answer.”
The door to the Knotted Willow slammed open, and a warm breeze whispered across my back, urging me to turn around.