Chapter Fifty-Six
KHALIDA
Villa Aurora, Rome
The beeping sound woke Khalida. Just outside of Talik’s bedroom doors, she could make out the light footsteps of nurses and servants wandering the halls of Dante’s house.
On her wrist, the consort mark had returned—brighter than it had been in centuries. The familiar throb was comforting and reminded her Talik was alive. She remembered looking at Lucien, unable to form any words. His would reverberate within her for centuries.
Even the ancient gods do not have the power to destroy a consort bond. They cannot take what they have not been freely given.
She lay down next to Talik and listened to his breathing.
It had been two days, and he was slowly recovering.
Wrapping her hands within his, she gently lifted his wrist to see the consort marks side by side, a mirror image of each other.
The physical wounds Ninhursag had inflicted on him were now superficial, and while he wouldn’t carry any physical scars, the mental and emotional ones would stay with him for a very long time.
She glanced up. The room was dark. The curtains had been drawn so he could sleep, but the two swords that hung across the room glittered with the dying light.
His heart rate was steady.
Whatever Lucien had done had worked—he had brought Talik back to the living.
Carefully, she wrapped her arms around Talik, mindful not to put her weight on him, and closed her eyes.
She didn’t know what the future would hold, but this time around she was going to fight the gods and death itself to make sure she got what she wanted.
***
KHALIDA
Fingers stroked her hair.
The beeping sound was gone. At some point, someone had wheeled the machine out of the way, leaving them alone.
Khalida blinked, her eyelids heavy as she slowly took in her surroundings without moving.
She wanted to stay there forever and not face the rest of the world—for it to just be the two of them.
But she was a realist. This was only a small respite.
“I told you not to do anything stupid.”
Talik’s chest vibrated a moment before he winced. “I would hate to disappoint you.”
She pushed herself up onto her elbows until they were eye to eye. Above him, she tugged a strand of tricolored hair out of his face. On the white sheets he looked pale and gaunt. The doctors had assured her within the week he would be back to his normal self.
“So, turns out you do like me.”
She wanted to punch him. Or kiss him. But she couldn’t do either. Doctors’ orders.
“Did I ever tell you I love it when you wear a dress?”
She glanced down at the loose, pale purple maxi dress she was wearing to combat the heating that had turned the room into a mini sauna.
“Making a bargain with an ancient god and dying is hard to beat,” Khalida dryly said, ignoring his attempt at keeping the conversation superficial. If she thought about what could have happened, she would go down a dangerous rabbit hole.
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, you made a bargain with Lucien, and we still don’t know which side he is on.”
“Apparently our side,” Khalida said. It didn’t matter. Lucien had come through on his end, and Talik was here. “For now.”
“Ninhursag is still alive, retreated somewhere to lick her wounds,” he said. “I sometimes think she is still in my mind, but dying broke the connection. Sypha said it could take a long time before I stop sensing her, or the damage she did.”
Talik grazed his hand over her face, tracing her lips with a calloused finger.
A silent tear rolled down her cheek. In the past, she would have wiped it away and moved before anyone saw the hint of vulnerability.
Even Talik. That was the past. She was done trying to be the perfect Atlantean, daughter, and warrior.
He pulled her face to his lips and kissed the tear away. His breath was warm on her skin. His scent reminded her of home.
“Why didn’t you let me know what was happening, that Ninhursag had a hold on you?”
“I couldn’t, not without risking your life. She made it impossible for me to almost even think the words.” Talik swallowed, his eyes slightly misty. “How did you work it out?”
“Kade realized there was something different about your scent.”
Talik softly traced her cheek. Her heart fluttered as she closed her eyes to savor the moment.
“I made you cry,” Talik whispered. “Again.”
“Grief can make you realize what you have more than what you have lost. Make you believe that within the darkness and the tears, there is a fragile beauty that must be protected because it is more powerful than hope,” Khalida slowly responded.
She shifted, returning to her original position of lying next to him, where she could listen to Talik’s beating heart.
Grief was also about finding the right words, so she didn’t weaponize her wounds.
It was what she had done in the past—used the wounds to build a barrier around herself to keep everyone out.
She twirled Talik’s hair, focusing on how the light caught the different colors.
“All I know is that without you, there is no hope or beauty. You make me mad enough that I want to kiss you and stab you at the same time, mark you until you are mine and everyone knows it.”
Talik moved, rolling so she was directly under him. His big body settled over hers, protecting her from the outside world.
“I’m fine. Sore but alive, thanks to you,” Talik said before she could protest. “No hiding anymore.”
She wanted to curl into a ball, run away from Talik and this conversation.
Instead she took a deep breath and counted—releasing the thoughts and ideas of inadequacy that had plagued her for her lifetime.
Of never being good enough, no matter what she did.
Of never truly belonging. It was time to move on.
She was enough—had always been—and she no longer needed to prove it to herself or anyone else.
“You need to know what I bargained with before you decide.”
Talik waited patiently as he wiped another tear from her face.
She wanted to close her eyes and transport herself to another room.
He needed to know everything, openly and transparently, or it wasn’t going to work.
And if she had to walk away, she wanted to make sure she had laid herself bare and shown him everything.
The bright parts of her, as well as the darkness.
She had made the decision, and she would make it again, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t grieve.
Or think about what she had given up. Perhaps in the future, it wouldn’t feel like her heart had been broken into a million pieces, and each time she remade herself, the jagged pieces would fit together better than they did at the moment. But that wasn’t now.
Talik cupped her face, the touch both tender and possessive. “You have always been enough.”
Khalida swallowed. She wanted to believe the words, but the tiny voice in the back of her mind—the one that had grown increasingly louder as she had aged—had never been quiet.
There were times when she could forget about it, forget the negative commentary existed.
But sometimes in the quiet, the voice would grow louder until she couldn’t silence it.
It was only now that she realized she needed to be the voice of reason, the one to put it back into its place.
Talik could help, but it was her decision, her power.
Her throat was suddenly dry. “A life for a life. That was the bargain Lucien offered.”
Silence greeted her. She sighed, the sound releasing some pent-up anxiety she hadn’t known she had.
“Your life?” Talik slowly asked. His grip on her shoulder was deathlike.
She shook her head. Picking up his hand, she dragged it along her chest and placed it over her womb. “No. My ability to create life.”
The tears began to fall freely, and sobs rocked her body. Talik pulled her closer, wrapping her around his big body, until she didn’t know where she ended and he started. She breathed in his scent, his warm tears mixing with hers as they mourned a path that would never be.
“I’m sorry, Khalida,” Talik murmured, repeating it over and over.
***
KHALIDA
She didn’t know how long they lay there, intertwined in each other’s arms, before the tears stopped.
Something heavy lifted from her heart.
“Kiki.” Talik lifted her head up. His dark eyes were tinged with sadness, but something else.
Love.
“I have loved others but never the way I love you. But you were the beginning—you made me realize what could be—and when Sidra died, it made me understand what true loneliness was. It took centuries to allow anyone else in, and they will always have a small part of me. But you, Khalida, you own me body and soul. It won’t be perfect, but I will always come back to you—even if I have to fight death. ”
She opened her mouth to argue, but Talik shook his head.
“I need you to know that you are enough. You are my world. I know you may not believe it, but you will. Even if it takes me our entire lives to convince you.”
“I love you,” she breathed.
He pulled her toward him, positioning her so she straddled him, and draped her dress around her hips.
Talik’s fingers trailed along her legs, sending heat pooling to her core.
She rubbed herself along his erection; even through the sheet, the friction was tantalizing.
She wanted to squirm, but Talik held her in position.
His skilled fingers glided higher and higher until they traced the sensitive flesh of her inner thighs.
His barest touch always made her a quivering mess, always left her wanting more.
Her nipples hardened. The light material of her bra felt too rough as he traced the outline of her panties with just enough pressure she arched backward, grabbing the bedsheets to steady herself as she opened herself up to him even more.
“Doctors’. Orders,” Khalida gritted out. She mentally willed her body to listen to her, but it was futile—not when it was hypnotized by Talik.
And she was already dripping wet.
Talik chuckled underneath her. The sound sent a wave of warmth through her.
“I like how you scream my name.” He curled his hand around her nape and lowered her head to his, tightening his grip as he used his other hand to circle her clit before he plunged two fingers into her entrance. “Are you going to come for me?”
It didn’t take long.
Hope and desire rushed through Khalida as she fell apart under Talik’s command.
Talik brushed her lips with his. “Forever mine, princess.”