Chapter 39
DES
Dark clouds roll and rumble outside, manifesting the devastation ravaging Thane’s soul down in the belly of our mansion.
I stand at the railing of the balcony in Darcie’s room in Greece, staring out at the volatile sky, cursing the Creator for the fate he has dealt.
In the room behind me, Darcie sleeps, recovering from the horrific ordeal Adir and the rogue Elder put her through.
A vice squeezes my heart at the thought of the agony she had to endure.
Bondings are not painful, not according to my brothers and their wives.
But what I witnessed…that was not a typical bonding.
The Elder acted against the Will of the Creator. He and Adir tried to circumvent the fated bond my brothers and I have with our Ones. They tried to take Darcie from me.
And they nearly succeeded.
My head falls forward, and I try to suppress the ache that threatens to overwhelm my good sense. The ache that urges me to close the distance between the bed where the young woman who haunts my every waking thought rests and me.
“There is no need to punish yourself.” Alex slides up next to me. His pale fingers wrap around the railing, and his ice-blue eyes stare at the impending storm.
“Who said I’m punishing myself?”
“I’ve known you for centuries, and I recognize the self-loathing that is minutes away from darkening your soul.” He shakes his head with a sigh. “It’s the same self-loathing that has robbed you of happiness more times than I care to count.”
You and I both.
I track a lightning bolt that tears down from the sky, splitting into two strikes.
“She didn’t deserve this.”
“Neither did you.”
I swallow, and a confession I’ve been avoiding since the first moment I laid eyes on Darcie claws out of my throat. “But I wanted it.”
Creator knows…I’ve yearned for it.
And that makes me an asshole.
It is dangerous to be my One.
I’d resigned myself to never accepting the bond. It was the only way to keep my soulmate safe after centuries of failure.
And yet, the moment I saw Darcie in the National Garden all those months ago, I could not resist going to her.
The Creator may design paths for our souls to meet, but I am the one who followed it.
I approached Darcie.
I believed I could have a moment—a single moment with the stunning soul meant to be mine.
I never intended to bring her into our world.
But by giving in to the link pulling us together, that’s exactly what I did.
I doomed her.
I have stolen Darcie’s future.
And I will never forgive myself.
“Enough,” Alex snaps.
I don’t even flinch. “Enough, what?”
“None of this is your fault, Desmond.” He shifts, and his stare drills into the side of my face. “It was not your plan to complete the bond.”
“But I did.”
“Because you had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“Not with this.” He shakes his head. “Not when the Elder had already begun the ceremony. You heard your brothers. Darcie’s soul was brought to the surface, and it was tearing apart while waiting for another soul to bind with.”
My chest constricts.
The memory of Darcie’s agony—of the golden lights burrowing into her flesh and bone, digging, searching, desperate to cling to her soul and inextricably tie it to another’s—is burned into my mind for all eternity.
And to think, if I had been too late, it could have been Adir’s soul she connected with…
My blood heats with rage.
I shift forward and place my hands on the railing, grounding myself with slow, deep breaths—breaths that match the sleeping woman behind me.
“I failed. After all this time…I failed.”
“Really? I would say you succeeded.”
My head snaps up, and I scowl. “How could you say—”
“You have bonded your One,” he interrupts. “After centuries of tragedy and heartbreak, you have finally sealed your fated connection.”
My mouth snaps shut.
“It was a forced bonding ceremony,” I counter. “A ceremony Darcie never had the chance to consent to.”
“And that is a tragedy.” He nods, eyes solemn. “But if you do not believe Darcie feels for you the way you feel about her, you are a fool.”
I cut off the tendril of hope that tries to creep to the forefront of my thoughts.
“You’re wrong.” Another lightning bolt rips through the dark sky. “I have done my best to keep my distance.”
“And yet…” His gaze takes on a knowing look. “I suspect you have failed.”
Memories of holding Darcie in my arms, of feeling her soft body press into mine as our mouths meet in a storm of want and desire, assail my senses.
“It doesn’t matter.” I swallow the longing clogging my throat. “She will hate me for the rest of time for what I’ve done.”
“You do not know that.” His voice hardens. “And instead of assuming what Darcie thinks, you should simply ask her.”
I sigh and rub a tired hand down my face.
“I agree,” a delicate voice rises from behind me, strumming the strings of my soul.
I jerk and spin toward the balcony door.
Darcie stands just inside the threshold, wearing a pair of rumpled clothes, but everything else about her is…flawless.
Long, golden hair falls over her shoulders, luscious and curling. Her skin glows. Warmth floods her cheeks, and her eyes are bright.
My knees weaken. I stagger back to lean against the stone railing to keep from falling.
Words escape me.
My eyes drink in her beauty, and every fiber of my being thrums with awareness.
Is this the bond?
I’ve always felt connected to my One, no matter what century or circumstance, but this?
I have never experienced this.
“Darcie.” Alex clears his throat. “You’re awake.”
Her stunning gaze doesn’t leave mine. “I am.”
My heart thumps.
Does she feel it too?
Does she know what’s happened?
“Des?”
My name on her lips is my undoing.
Before I can reconsider—before I can remind myself she just woke up and needs time to process what’s happened, I close the distance between us and wrap her in my arms.
My heart squeezes when she returns my embrace.
I tuck my head into the crook of her neck and breathe her in.
“Des?” She mumbles against my shirt. “Are you alright?”
“I am now.”
And I vow, before the Creator and with every ounce of power in my veins, I will never let her go.
It is no longer a choice.