Chapter Twenty-Eight All Dead #3
He turned to her, falling to his knees before her. Cupping her face in his calloused hands. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice rough, but caring as his eyes scanned her for any sign of injury. His eyes narrowing at the collar at her neck.
His hands gentle but insistent as he helped her to her feet. She could feel his anger still swirling around him, but now it was tempered with something else—
He was here. Adan threw her arms around him and let his scent calm her racing blood.
The weight of their situation came crashing down instantly.
"Nox," Adan whispered into his chest. She didn't know how long until someone came and separated them.
His strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her flush to his chest.
His scent, his warmth, his presence finally broke her-- but not in the way that Darius and his goons wanted.
He was here--He was alive and he was here.
His arms were like iron around her, holding her close, and for a moment, the weight of everything else—the pain, the terror, the cold—seemed to evaporate.
His presence was like a balm on the raw, bleeding parts of her soul that she'd kept hidden away. She could feel the tremors in her body now, the exhaustion catching up to her after everything that had happened. Nox's grip tightened, steadying her.
Adan pulled back slightly, her tear-streaked face meeting his gaze, her hands pressing against his chest as though she needed to ground herself in the reality that was right in front of her.
His face was streaked with blood, his clothes tattered, but his eyes—they were the same as they had always been, the same stormy depths that never failed to make her feel seen, understood.
"You're here," she whispered, her voice rough with emotion, too much of it building in her chest to let any one word escape. "You're alive, Nox."
He nodded, his expression tight, but there was a softness in his eyes as he cupped her face again. "I'll always come for you, Adan."
A broken laugh bubbled up in her throat. "You're a prisoner too." Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. "We're still locked in here."
Nox's gaze darkened, the quiet storm inside him rising again. "They can't keep us here forever," he growled. "We'll find a way out, love" His eyes dropped to her chest, his fingers pulling her shirt aside to reveal the brand that Darius Dreadmore had burned into Adan's skin.
Nox's gaze was unwavering, his eyes hardening with the same fire that had ignited in him when he first arrived.
"This—" he whispered, his voice low and dangerous, "—I'll kill him for this."
Adan's breath hitched as she looked at him, her throat tight. "It's not that bad." Her hands shook as she tugged her shirt back into place, hiding the scar from his gaze.
"Not that bad?" Nox's voice was, low and feral, as he moved closer to her. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, stormy and fierce. "No one is entitled to do that to you."
Adan swallowed, her heart pounding against her chest. She could see the violence bubbling beneath the surface of Nox's calm, the weight of everything he had endured, everything they had both endured, threatening to break free.
Nox's hands moved to her shoulders, gripping them with a force that made her feel the weight of his promise. His eyes softened, though there was a storm still raging beneath the surface. His hands moved again to cup her cheeks, his thumb brushing her tattoo.
"He scarred this too..." His eyes searching hers, she only nodded. "What else?" His voice like icy death. She closed her eyes for a moment, and he shook her gently, "Adan, what did he do?"
"Nothing-- not that... he didn't get a chance." Relief dripped down his face as he pulled her back into her chest and held her there. His fingers curled around her tightly, pressing her against him as if to reassure himself that she was really there—alive, breathing, with him.
As he held her, something inside him cracked open—something darker, something that could not be ignored. The rage that had simmered, that had bubbled just beneath the surface of every fight, every moment he had been apart from her—it surged again, stronger than before.
He closed his eyes, feeling the weight of her body against him, the warmth of her skin that soothed the brutal coldness inside. "I'm here, Adan. And I'm not going anywhere." His voice was hoarse with the unshed emotions that clogged his throat, the relief, and the rage warring inside him.
A soft sob burst from her chest, "they'll be along any minute to take you away." Adan let herself melt into him, the tension in her shoulders easing for the first time in days. His arms around her felt like the only place that mattered, the only place that was real anymore.
"I made a deal with Antonius." Adan leered back at the mention of the master of the pit, concerned etched on her face.
"He asked for assurances when the king is overthrown. He will let us stay together, but the rest is out of his hands. Slippery bastard."
"Do not trust him, Nox." Her eyes softened as she gazed up at him, a mixture of hope and doubt flickering across her face. "but I trust you," she whispered. "I trust you with my life."
Nox held her gaze for a long moment before kissing her softly, his lips lingering.