Chapter 53
Reign
When I wake, Ryder is already gone. Left on the nightstand is a plate of delicious smelling food and a note. I’m not sure how late we were up last night talking, but judging by how tired I feel, I’m guessing we only got a few hours of sleep. I stretch across the bed and reach for the note.
Morning, Princess,
I’m sorry I won’t be here when you wake, but some of the Dread Woods creatures have arrived early. Enjoy your breakfast and I’ll see you later.
P.S. You snore.
“I do not!”
Before I have enough time to feel truly offended, Amaya is bursting into the room. She looks frazzled and quickly shuts the door behind her as if she’s running from something.
“Get dressed,” she orders, tossing my folded-up clothes that still smell like bonfire at me.
“What’s going on?” I ask, jumping out of bed.
“Damien is back.”
My heart jumps right before it plummets. “Wait, already?”
She grabs my jacket and holds it open for me to slip my arms through. “Yes, and he’s looking for Ryder.”
“But Ryder is with the Dread Woods creatures.”
“Yeah, I know that.” She drops to her knees and begins tying my boots like I’m her child. “And you know that. But Damien doesn’t. So, unless you want him to catch you walking out of Ryder’s room, I suggest you hurry it up.”
“Shit! Okay, okay. Let’s go,” I say, shaking her off. The laces can wait until after we’re outside of Grimstone.
I’m almost down the stairs lined of skulls when I step on one of my shoelaces and send myself tumbling. I’d like to say I was at least graceful about it, but I was anything but.
“Jeez, Reign! Are you okay?” Amaya ask as she loops her arm through mine to help me up. There’s concern on her face but that doesn’t stop her from laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny. Are you okay?”
“I feel like I just threw myself off of a cliff but other than that I’m good.”
Amaya snorts and I can’t help but join her, imagining what I must’ve looked like rolling down the stairs.
“You should’ve seen the way your feet—” She laughs harder playing the image back in her mind. “Flew over—” She can barely catch her breath now. “And then all I saw was a flurry of red hair. This must’ve been how you felt when I face-planted into the flowerbed.”
“Pretty much,” I admit, trying to pull myself together.
“What’s so funny?”
The voice I hear behind me is one I know all too well.
Amaya and I immediately stop laughing when Damien walks up.
Even though I knew he was back, I’m somehow still in shock seeing him.
He picks me up in a tight hug and kisses me.
It feels weird at first. Almost like it’s wrong, but that feeling quickly fades and I welcome the touch of his lips against mine.
“How’d it go?” Amaya asks, buying me time to collect my thoughts when he puts me back down.
“Not great. I did what I could, but the Southern Territory leaders know how King Cimmerian is and they want no part of it.”
There’s a look of defeat on his face. “That’s okay,” I reassure. “We were able to get some of the Dread Woods creatures to join us. Actually, some of them arrived this morning.”
“Ryder’s with them now,” Amaya adds.
“Perfect, I need to speak with him.”
The thought of the two of them together makes me feel nauseous. It feels like there’s a secret that everyone, but Damien knows, and I want to tell him. I want to explain to him how I’m feeling but now is not the time.
“Kane was going to head that way, too,” Amaya tells Damien. “He’s in the war room if you want to grab him to go with.”
“Cool, I’ll go get him.” He turns to me and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll come find you after.”
“Okay.” I offer a smile and I hate that it’s forced.
Once he’s far enough up the stairs, Amaya grabs my hand. “Nope. I can already see the guilt eating away at you.”
“I can’t help it,” I whine. “He’s completely oblivious.”
“Let him live in the bliss for a little while longer. In the meantime, you’re coming with me.”
After I get changed into clothes that don’t reek of smoke, Amaya takes me to one of the rooms that is similar to the Entity ones back at the Sector.
She spends the next three hours showing me all of the skills she’s been able to learn since being here.
Some I’ve already seen, but even so, I can see how much she’s improved.
Her power is like no other. Space magic is so unique from everything else.
I was amazed when she formed the mirror for me in the Grand Library, but now she’s able to make multiple.
The way she’s able to manipulate light with her power is trippy.
The rules of the way we see things seem to not apply.
Even when she tries to explain it, I can’t seem to fully wrap my mind around it.
The distraction of it all is just what I needed, but there’s still a voice in the back of my head, reminding me that there’s a very important conversation still needing to be had tonight.
“There you are.”
Damien rounds the bookshelf I’ve been hiding behind and leans up against it with his arms and legs crossed.
“How’d it go today?” I ask, shutting the book I’ve had my nose in the past couple of hours.
“Good, actually. Most of the ones who arrived today were four-legged beasts or ones with wings that flew most of the way. Ryder had the earth witches create a small forest that will be comfortable for them to stay in while they’re here.”
“Is it like the Dread Woods?”
Damien shakes his head and his curls brush against his forehead with the movement. “No, it’s much better. More similar to Avelion’s, but there’s a section with twisted trees and fog for those who prefer it.”
Hearing what Ryder has done to make them feel at home, makes me fall for him even more. It’s those small details that most people overlook, yet he takes notice and makes them a priority.
“That’s good.”
There’s an air of awkwardness that I know Damien must feel, too.
He clears his throat and crouches down beside me. “I was able to bring back a mender for Elias.”
“You were?” I immediately perk up with excitement.
He nods. “It was an offering from the Southern Territory leaders for refusing to get involved.”
Damien could’ve taken their answer and left, but he went out of his way to get Elias a mender. That’s the kind of friend he is. The kind of person he is, and I love him for it. Both of them are incredible and I’d be lucky to have either one.
“That’s amazing! When will they heal him?”
“Sometime this week. Mending is nasty business. It will be a long and excruciating process.”
“Oh. I had no idea,” I admit, thinking about the pain Elias will have to endure.
“It’ll be a rough couple of weeks for him, but he’s been through worse.”
“True,” I say, standing up to shake out my legs that have gone numb. I reach my hands out and pull Damien up. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
His expression hardens, and it makes my stomach hollow. “I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”
“Can we go to my room?”
“Sure,” he says, picking up my bag and tossing it over his shoulder.
The walk from the Grand Library to my room is long and uncomfortable. We’re both lost in thought and neither of us want to speak until we’re there. I think about asking something surface level, but it feels weird and unnecessary, so I just let the silence linger between us.
When we get to my room, he sets my bag down and leans up against the wall.
“Please sit,” I beg, patting the edge of the bed beside me.
“What’s going on, Reign?” His face is grim and part of me wonders if he knows what’s coming.
“I—I don’t know where to start.”
He reaches for my hand and sets it in his lap. “It’s okay. Just say what you need to say.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “I love you. I want you to know that. Despite everything that has happened, there’s not one part of me that blames you or resents you.
I’ve worked through those feelings, and I want you to know that this is not because of that.
” He nods slightly like he’s giving me permission to continue.
“Ryder and I spent a lot of time together those months we were at the safe house. I didn’t know it then, but the bond we built there had more of an effect on me than I had realized.
” I can see the hurt behind his eyes, but I keep going.
Drawing it out would only hurt him more.
“The truth is, I care for him too, and I can no longer ignore it. I’ve tried.
I wanted to just be with you and be happy again, but too much has changed. ”
“Do you love him?” His voice is low and sharp.
“I do.” He can’t even look at me now. “But I love you, too.”
“But you love him more.” It’s not a question but a statement.
“What? No. I mean, I don’t know. It’s not something I can compare. My love for him isn’t greater or less than my love for you. It’s just different.”
“So, what does that mean for us?” He asks, looking me deep in my eyes.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I think I need more time to figure out what I want.”
He doesn’t say anything for a long time and I’m not even sure what to say, so I wait for him. Eventually he stands up and reaches for my other hand, pulling me off the bed.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“You deserve to be happy, Reign. If time is what you need to work things out, then that’s what you’ll get.” He kisses the top of my head. “But if he’s going to take you from me, then he’s going to have to put up one hell of a fight because I’m not going to make it easy.”
The hurt has faded from his beautiful face, leaving only determination behind. He lets go of my hands and cups my face, kissing me so deeply it gives me butterflies in my lower half. When he pulls away and heads for the door, his honey eyes lock on mine.
“May the best man win.”