CHAPTER FORTY-THREE #2
Despite the uncertainty and heaviness that threatened to crush them, the flutter in her chest stirred, seeming to wind around her heart and nestle against it the way she nestled against Elias.
Every hope or dream she’d ever wandered through, be it waking or asleep, had come back to a clawing hunger for this.
For him. For someone to hold her, to want her, to fight for her.
Now he was here, and she knew that the entire time, he had been dreaming about her, too.
She pulled back just enough to look into his eyes. He watched her with quiet reverence as a hand smoothed back her curls from her face.
“What is it, love?” he asked.
Tugging her bottom lip between her teeth, she mulled over the words she longed to say, every version of her question sounding more and more outlandish than the next.
Finally, she accepted that there was no way to ask it without sounding at least a little bit insane. “Was it really me? In your dreams?”
Elias’s hand stilled, and his brows lifted the tiniest bit before he let out a short breath of laughter.
“Yeah, it was. I thought I was losing my mind that night when you walked into The Crow. Either that, or I’d fallen asleep in my office.
And when I saw that you were caught up with them—with the Order—even with Sera keeping an eye on you, I don’t think I breathed until the moment she told me you were out. ”
Cadi huffed a dry laugh. “And here I thought she’d asked me to hang out because of my winning personality.”
Elias chuckled and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “It wasn’t exactly a hard sell; she adored you from the moment she met you. How could she not?”
He lifted a hand to cup her cheek. “I never expected to actually find you, especially with everything Oneirios did to prevent it.”
Cadi’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
Elias shook his head. “That doesn’t matter anymore. It does feel a little unfair, though.”
She leaned into his touch, seeking every inch of closeness and comfort she could find in him. “What’s unfair?”
Elias gave her a sad smile. “You’ve only known me for a few months.” His thumb brushed the skin of her cheek, and the gravity in his stare sent a tightness twisting through her belly. “But I’ve loved you for years.”
The air rushed from her lungs as a burning warmth began behind her ribs and radiated through her entire body.
Running a finger along the line of his jaw, she pressed forward to let her lips hover the barest breath away from his.
He closed the remaining distance and kissed her with excruciating tenderness.
A kiss that spoke not of fire, but of longing, honor, and devotion.
She needed him now more than ever, so she didn’t think, she just moved.
Rolling onto her back, she pulled him until he hovered over her, and his lips continued to move slow and soft against hers.
The heat of his hand slipped over her skin, skimming her side and bringing every inch of her to life as they sank into each other.
That night, the high priest of the Order worshipped at a new altar. The smell of her skin was his incense, the taste of her stronger than any wine. Their shared breaths floated on the air like a hymn, his name a desperate prayer she uttered into the dark.
Moonlight filtered through the window, casting its silvery beam across the rumpled covers of Elias’s bed.
Cadi leaned against the headboard and watched the gentle rise and fall of his breaths as he slept beside her, running the tips of her fingers against the bandage that covered her hand.
She searched for the bond tying her to him, unable to stop herself from summoning it now that she knew what it was.
A pleasant hum still coated her skin, singing over every place he had touched or kissed. He was hers. This gentle, strong, beautiful man next to her was hers, and every piece of her body and soul belonged to him.
Cadi gasped when a sharp pain resonated through her chest, unwavering in its need to interpose on her happiness. Elias stirred, lifting his hand to brush her arm before it settled back against the pillow.
The hook tugged again, but its force felt the slightest bit muted this time, almost as if it already knew it had her attention and now only wished to continue their silent conversation.
Her eyes lifted to the window, and the city beyond.
She couldn’t explain it, but she swore she felt the hook of Oneirios’s binding perk up.
Careful not to jostle Elias, she slipped from beneath the comforter and padded across the room to stand by the tinted glass. The city was still alive around them, its lights glimmering like thousands of stars, and there in the distance burned the brightest star of them all.
The temple.
Its stone edifice stood proud and illuminated like a beacon rising above the noise and chaos.
As soon as her eyes reached the place where it sat embedded into the hill, the violent pull inside her ceased.
This was what Oneirios wanted her to see, to know.
That no matter where she was or how hopeful she felt … he was always there. Waiting.
She looked over her shoulder to where Elias still lay sleeping and held on to his promise that no matter what, they would never stop fighting. That she wasn’t alone.
But as the two bonds strained for dominance inside her, a silent battle for her soul, she knew that nothing would ever be that simple again. In less than an hour, everything in her life had changed, and she knew that Oneirios wasn’t done with them yet.
He’d stolen her agency, weaponized her love for her friends, all while violating and taking from everyone who mattered to her like it was his right. As she turned back, the glowing image of the temple seemed to laugh, reminding her just how small she was in this fight.
But she was done letting him make her feel powerless. He wouldn’t make her hide again.
Anger simmered deep inside her, every taunt, every obscene tug against her soul feeding the violent flame. A flame that she would use to watch Oneirios and his Order burn. But first …
She had to get that fucking ring.