Twenty-Nine
Dust motes floated in the shafts of filtered sunlight early the following morning.
There weren’t any curtains manning the paneled window overlooking the ocean, but I didn’t mind.
Because the sight of Rorik’s slumbering body was something I never wanted to forget.
We’d hardly gotten much rest the night before; after our first round, we’d lain with our legs intertwined and allowed our hands to merely explore each other’s bodies while we shared stories of our past. That’d quickly shifted into a more intimate round of slow, emotional sex full of love confessions and heated make-outs.
We came together again, breathless and teary-eyed, neither one of us willing to break eye contact for several minutes.
Later, I’d summoned vines of my own and tied him up so I could taste the entirety of his hardened length and tease him without interruption.
Lydia had been right. The magic between us flourished and came the moment I called.
Controlling it was as easy as breathing.
Rorik likely could’ve regained control in a breath, but he played along.
At least until I took him in fully and he hit the back of my throat.
He tore through the vines without a second thought and then fucked me from behind until he came. Loudly.
Gooseflesh rippled over my skin at the thought of us doing that again.
Propping myself up on my elbow, I cupped my chin and watched the methodical rise and fall of his chest. He was so peaceful.
So calm. I wanted to wake up to him exactly like this for the rest of my days.
Gently, I trailed my fingers over his bare chest, stopping only when I hit the hem of the sheets draped across his waist.
He peeled his eyes open, a crooked grin already on display. “Good morning.”
“Morning.” I kept exploring. Every groove. Every contour. I wanted to learn all his dips and curves so I could trace them from memory alone.
“Having fun?” He raised a brow but didn’t stop my procession.
“Very much so.”
Reaching forward, he brushed back several mussed white locks that had fallen over my shoulder to hide my breast from view. Then he cupped it and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Two can play at this game, love.”
“You won’t find me complaining.” Still, I stopped and flopped on top of him, pressing my chest flush with his and resting my chin on his sternum. “We didn’t get much sleep, though.”
A glint of mischief flickered through his eyes. “We could spend all day doing the same thing. We’d never have to leave this bed.”
A soft moan pushed through my lips. “As wonderful as that sounds, we have work to do.”
“We do?” His brow furrowed.
“The blade. Death. You know, that thing you keep telling me to avoid.” Pushing off him, I stretched my hands to the ceiling and glanced around the room.
He pursed his lips but couldn’t keep his gaze from roving to my exposed breasts. “I can’t persuade you to stay in bed and let me ravage you however you desire?”
A tingling warmth shot through me at the thought.
“No, but nice try.” I followed the trail of Rorik’s clothes to the place where he’d torn my pants to shreds.
And undergarments. I sighed, then headed back to the bedroom, where he’d propped himself up against the wall and was watching me with a knowing smirk.
“I don’t know if that was your plan all along,” I said as I gestured over my shoulder to the mess, “but I’ll go naked if I have to.”
A dark, sultry laugh filled the air. “Love, if you walk in front of me naked you won’t make it to any destination. I’ll bend you over the first rock I see or take you straight to the ground. Your pick.”
My stomach clenched, and I ignored the wetness that had begun to gather between my thighs.
Instead, I headed for the armoire and sifted through the few articles of clothing that had been left behind.
It was a mismatched collection of shirts and trousers of varying sizes, but I snagged a few things that looked like they’d fit.
The sleeveless black shirt was slim-fitting and a bit snug, but at least the resistance would keep my breasts from spilling out.
The trousers, on the other hand, were a touch baggy and slouched around my knees.
Thankfully, though, I found a belt and was able to cinch them tightly about my waist.
“See?” I said, twirling for effect. “There’s even a pair of flat boots in there, thank the gods. My feet will be grateful for the lack of heels.” I tucked the flared bottoms of the pants into the lace-up boots. Far from a perfect fit, but manageable.
Rorik sighed. “Who’s the impossible one now?”
“Just accept it. You can either let me walk into Death’s domain alone or come with me.” I looked back into the armoire and found an overcoat clinging to a bent hanger. The leather was worn but warm. Good enough.
“Edira.” Rorik dragged a hand over his face as he padded across the floor, not bothering with his clothes.
He came to a halt before me. “I’m not saying we won’t do this, okay?
You win. We’ll confront Death and see if there’s a way to get him to call back the blight.
But it doesn’t have to be now.” He cupped either side of my face and forced me to meet his stare.
“Please. Let’s go home. Let’s regroup with the others and come back with more force.
We have no idea what we’d be walking into. ”
“More force?” I folded my arms beneath my chest. “We don’t know where Seville is.
We’re not going to ask the girls to help, they’re too young.
That leaves just Lydia and Clesian, because as shocking as Ossanna’s help has been, I highly doubt her charity goes this far.
Do you really want to risk leaving Amalyss and Tasia without their parents? What if something goes wrong?”
I didn’t even mention my brothers. They knew nothing of this plan, and if I told them, the last thing they could do is help. I didn’t want them anywhere near Death to begin with.
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” Rorik tugged me closer. “What if something does go wrong? What if you get hurt? What if you die? You can live longer now that you know how to blend our magics. Isn’t that enough?”
No. I didn’t know why it wasn’t, why I wanted this control over my life so badly.
Beyond that, there was also Rebellyn’s evervow.
Just the thought of walking away set the evervow on edge.
It constricted around my limbs like a metal chain threatening to strangle me if I went back on my promise.
I swallowed twice and pressed my eyes shut.
Don’t worry. I’ll go. I didn’t know whom I was talking to or if Rebellyn would hear my plea, but the pressure ratcheting around my limbs lessened. Slowly, I opened my eyes. The coldness didn’t abate, though, and I shivered in place.
Of course, Rorik noticed. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I hedged.
“No.” He shook his head once. “You bared yourself to me and I to you. Don’t hide from me now.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. But I knew that stalling solved nothing, and there was no easy way to explain the predicament I’d landed in. Before I could second-guess myself, I let the words simply tumble out.
“I accidentally made an evervow.”
Rorik went stock-still. “With whom? What does it entail?”
“I don’t really know for sure, but I’m going to guess Rebellyn.” I forced myself to hold his concerned stare. “The ancestor tree responded well enough to our Fernglove magic. But when I found the blade—rather, found the hand that was holding it—it wouldn’t let go. Not until I promised to help.”
“Tell me exactly what you said.” He grasped my hands tight. “It’s important.”
“I told it that I wasn’t trying to hurt it. That I knew how to stop the blight, but I needed the weapon.” I interlaced my fingers with his, stealing what strength I could from his touch. “And then I said, ‘I’ll save your kin. I promise.’”
I was bound to Rebellyn’s will. A promise in exchange for her coveted blade. If I ignored it or reneged on my vow, then I’d suffer the consequences. In this case, not confronting Death likely meant that I’d die in exchange.
My options were death or Death.
Rorik closed his eyes. Cursed. “And I’m guessing that you now feel compelled to take the blade to Death and save all Everkind.”
“That’s the gist of it, I believe.” I lifted a shoulder.
“It seems I can’t hurt any of her descendants, either.
When I saw Zeverin nearly kill you, I lost all control and battered him with my magic.
And I felt the vow kick in, but I didn’t care.
If it was going to kill me, I was going to take Zeverin down, too. ”
“Fuck.” Rorik pressed my hands to his forehead and took a deep breath. When he looked up again, his eyes were steeled with resolve. “We’ll find a way around this. You broke the Fernglove evervow. We can break this one, too.”
I palmed his cheek. “Maybe. But not today. Not with how close I already am to Death’s domain. It’s like the vow knows. It won’t let me walk away without at least trying.”
Rorik watched me for a long moment. Then he moved toward his clothes and began dressing. “I hate this.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that a dead Ever could invoke a vow like that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” He finished with his pants and secured his shirt.
“I don’t think even Zeverin would’ve known that Rebellyn could do something like that.
I doubt he even knew the blade was there to begin with.
” Once his shirt was in place, he parked his hip on the edge of the bed.
“You might have been the only one she would’ve shared it with.
She trusted you to fix her folly and, in the same breath, protected her kin from the likes of you. ”
“The likes of me?” I said, brows raised.
“A threadmender with the power of an Ever.” He shrugged. “It’s never been seen before.”