Chapter 17
seventeen
OPHELIA
The room was blissfully quiet when I eventually woke up.
I wrestled with my eyelids as I attempted to judge my surroundings. I was laying on something thick and warm.
Dante.
There was something draped over my legs and back.
Fabric.
A blanket.
My wings were hanging freely, with Dante's hand on my spine.
I finally peeled my face off his bare chest, and met his eyes.
Oof.
He was definitely still furious.
Definitely.
His gaze dipped to the bruises around my throat, and his anger swelled, rolling through the bond.
"How do you feel?" His words were clipped.
"Like I lost a fight with a dragon, but otherwise, fine." The power I'd exerted hadn't restored completely yet, but it was coming back. I already felt nauseous about the intense level of darkness that was now living within me again.
Dante's nostrils flared. "Tell me exactly what happened before I got there."
It was a command. Not a question.
I was aware that I had fucked up, so I wasn't going to resist answering.
Turning my head, I looked around the room. It was my bedroom in the mansion, and we were alone inside it.
I tried to slide off his chest, to put some space between us before I explained.
He didn't let me go.
His hand pressed harder to my lower back, holding me firmly where I was.
Guess we were cuddling while I told him everything.
I quietly told him about everything he hadn’t been there for.
"How bad is the structural damage to the magic?" he asked.
He'd had a conversation or two with River, to be asking me that question.
My chest tightened.
"Reaper has been tearing it away slowly. It's pretty bad. With all of the unraveling I just did, I'd say there's a decent chance he's already destroyed the rest of the rules I built into the prison. The elevator is our last defense."
"Is there any way to repair it?"
I shook my head slowly. "We're going to have to move the prisoners. With enough time, Reaper can get through the elevator. If I go down there again, I can probably—"
"No." Dante interrupted me.
His voice wasn't hard, or cruel, but it was really fucking blunt.
I blinked.
"You're not going back down there," he said, his gaze not leaving me. "Not until it's empty. I'll lead the group myself to deal with Reaper. You're not going back."
"I'm the best weapon we have in that place. I—"
"You aren't going back in, so it doesn't fucking matter."
I gave him a minute to cool down.
He didn't cool. Not even a little.
"How mad are you, on a scale of one to ten?" I asked.
"A solid nine."
"Oof."
"I was an eleven before I made it down that elevator."
"My plan failed, and I can agree that the situation wasn't ideal, but—"
His nostrils flared. "Not ideal?"
"Obviously."
Dante didn't say a word as he sat up slowly, taking me with him. His gaze was still locked with mine. "You almost died."
"I didn't, though."
He closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again. "We've got a fucking big problem, Angel."
"I know the prison is a shit show. You don't have to tell me again, I—"
"Not the prison. Us."
My stomach clenched. "What do you mean?"
"You don't see us as legitimately mated. You think I could replace you if you died. You don't even fucking believe that I enjoy the taste of your blood."
I didn't try to argue with him. There was no point. He was right about all of those things, and we both knew it.
"I don't think our situation is that important in the grand scheme of everything else that's happening," I said instead.
"I can tell."
Once again, I tried to climb off him.
His grip on my waist tightened, holding me where I was. "We're not done."
"There's nothing else to say."
"Like hell there isn't. You don't find our situation important, but I do.
I spent centuries looking for a mate. It would've been better for me and my family if I had settled down a long time ago, but I wasn't willing to spend the rest of my immortal life in an unhappy mate bond.
I tried to give you space to come to terms with the bond between us, and in return, I almost fucking lost you. I'm done."
"What do you mean, you're done?"
"There will be no more space," he stated. "I'll be living here with you. Sharing a bed with you. Sharing a fucking life with you."
I blinked once.
Twice.
My forehead finally creased. "You're going to move in?"
"My things are waiting just outside the door."
I shook my head. "That's not going to work for me."
"Is that a challenge?"
"No," I said quickly.
"It feels like one." He lifted his fingers to my throat, dragging the pads of them over my bruises lightly. If his touch had been any rougher, I was pretty sure it would've caused me pain.
His voice was soft as he said, "If you ever risk yourself without me there to protect you again, I will lock you in this house, consequences be damned. You're not the only one who can build a prison."
The threat shouldn't have made me hot.
It did anyway.
I would've clenched my thighs together if I wasn't currently straddling him.
Dante's grip on my hips loosened.
I took the opportunity to roll off his chest. "Okay. Great. Well, I'm going to take a shower."
My legs were a little shaky, but I managed to keep my balance as I forced my wings away while I shuffled to the bathroom.
Fuck, my body hurt.
The walk wasn't long. I leaned heavily against the wall after I was out of his sight, separating myself from the gigantic vampire and staring at the window without really seeing it.
Dante was moving into the house.
He was going to try to make me like being mated to him.
What the hell was I supposed to do about it?