Chapter 25 #2
Idris is entirely silent as he presses me back against the door, his sweltering, marble chest pressing against mine. His hand moves with feather-light pressure, covering my skin with an explosion of sparks as he methodically scans me for injuries.
“Tell me what they did to you,” Idris whispers in the dark. “I can’t wait till morning.”
“I’m fine,” I try to reassure him but Idris practically snarls, his fingers tightening around my hips.
“No,” Idris growls. “You’re not.”
“Idris—”
He vanishes, sweeping over to the bedside where I hear him strike a match and light a candle.
His bedroom is filled with a dancing golden glow as he returns and pulls me closer.
He spins me around to face his arched bronze mirror.
He presses my back flush against his front, his blistering fingers trailing over my collarbone like he’s embedding burning coals in my flesh.
I see myself for the first time and I look … rough. But worst of all are the new bruises around my throat, almost perfectly shaped like fingers. Like a shot I’m taken back to Nouis shaking and squeezing and screaming.
I blink rapidly, retreating into Idris and the utterly demanding devouring nature of his presence. I rip my eyes from my traitorous reflection, gluing them to our entwined shadows on the hardwood floor and shaking my head.
“Nouis.” I manage to choke out the name without throwing up. Idris shakes with anger. His breathing is hissed and strangled as he fights to keep composure. He stalks away from me, bracing his balled fists on the windowsill as he glares into the inky night.
“What did he do?” Idris snarls, teeth clamped together as he fights every violent instinct running rampant through his blood. The air between us crackles with the fury of our bond.
“This was it really…” I answer quietly. I cross to his plush, unmade bed. I can’t look at him. If I do, I’ll get distracted. I have to tell him this first.
“He took me to the Holy Mother.”
Idris’s head whips around like someone snapped his neck.
The silent questions pour from his eyes as he scrambles for words.
There’s violence in his eyes. I sink into the navy and cream silk sheets, leaning against his four-poster bed.
I hesitate, my mind racing through the wild events of the last few days with horror.
“You spoke with the Holy Mother?” Idris pushes softly.
“Not that it matters anymore,” I whisper, staring at my hands.
I can still feel the ghost of her blood caking my fingers.
“I was so close, Idris, so close to exposing him and his vile schemes to his aunt. She would’ve believed me.
She was being played worse than we were and for so much longer.
And then I broke through. I lifted the veil.
I could’ve stopped this war. I could’ve forged peace, but I didn’t think…
He went mad. Actually insane. He’s feral. ”
Idris drifts closer, but I can feel his dark, devastating gaze burning into the side of my face.
My blood is filled with vicious, venomous stinging racing around my body.
My brain is rubbed with sandpaper, his presence prying needles from my fingernails.
I grip the sheets beneath me, close my eyes and swallow.
“He killed her. Right in front of me. Drove his sword through her chest, then murdered her Holy Guards. I barely escaped.”
Idris stands on the other side of the bedpost, breathing heavily but slowly – like he’s warring to contain himself. I swallow tightly, his presence scouring the inside of my head as I tell him the story.
“I escaped with the guard Nouis framed for his aunt’s murder.
We escaped to a town where I found Barone smugglers and bartered passage home.
I ended up hiding in this tiny little coffin-like space in the walls when we were boarded by the Holy States soldiers…
I thought they would find me but I got lucky.
” I turn my eyes up to him and his gaze is almost murderous. I note the heavy bags under his eyes.
Has he not been sleeping?
“What about you? What happened here?” I ask, my words barely a whisper. Idris lets out a breath like it causes him pain.
“I wanted to go after you,” he bites out immediately, like I’d ever dare accuse him otherwise.
“I was ready to get on a horse and charge the entire Holy States army if that’s what it took.
I sent our spies and scouts out to find even a trace of news, any possible notion of your whereabouts.
I turned this city upside down, praying you were being held here where I could reach you… ”
Idris swallowed tightly, his words grating to a halt. I reach for him, my fingers ensnaring his wrist as his touch sets my entire arm on fire.
“I’m here now,” I remind him. Idris walks around to the front of me. His takes the side of my neck in his fingers, drops his head to mine and he closes his eyes. He breathes in deeply and slowly.
“Yes,” his whisper is deep and rumbling, an attempt to soothe himself. “You’re here now.”
We stay like that, basking in the punishing solace of each other’s company.
“Idris, there’s one more thing,” I say, water in my eyes. “If it reaches you, I don’t want you to be caught off-guard.”
“What?” Idris says.
“Nouis has been telling people I’m his Soulmate.”
Idris physically flinches, head yanking back in pain as he looks at me in horror.
“You’re not…” he whispers, begging me to refute the claim.
“He’s not,” I agree vehemently, cupping his face with my hands. “I have nothing but loathing for that beast. I don’t know if I’ve finally broken his delusion or if it was always just a manipulation … I can’t be sure. He’s completely mad, Idris. He might actually … believe it.”
Idris’s breathing is sharp and shallow again, fury pounding in his veins as his grip tightens on me.
“I’ll kill him.” Idris’s vow is soft and pained. “I’ll tear him apart.”
“Idris,” I say gently, trying to calm him.
“I don’t care what it takes. I will make sure he is dead and gone. I will make sure of it,” Idris swears. I press my head to his, breathing softly.
“We will. Together,” I say softly. “But not tonight.”
Idris plants a shaky kiss on my forehead, clearly still working through what I’ve told him.
After a long moment, Idris drops to his knees and starts fiddling with the laces of my boots.
I’m captivated by the cruel trap of his face, watching as he pries the first boot off my blistered foot.
He looks so tired, those swollen blue curtains under his eyes betraying his days of insomnia.
“You look tired,” I start softly. He almost smirks at that.
“How could I sleep when I knew you were in trouble?” Idris speaks as though any other reaction was entirely ridiculous as he moves to my other boot. “Wherever you were, my mind was with you even if I couldn’t be.”
My heart thuds in my throat as his fingers pull the laces free.
“Should I go to my room?” I ask quietly.
“What?” he barks as the second boots slips free, his shoulders jumping up as he straightens from the floor. “Would you like to be alone?”
“No!” The word leaps from my mouth embarrassingly quickly. “No, I just know how difficult it can be to sleep with the bond. If you’re tired, I don’t want you to feel obligated to—”
Idris’s shoulders relax as he leans forwards. A biting kiss cuts off my explanation, the trail of his tongue rendering me silent as he pushes me back against the plush pillows. He positions himself over me, his body pressing into mine and igniting the sizzling, quivering wetness between my legs.