Chapter 77 Orion
Orion
Iwas alive.
And she was here, tears streaming down her face, eyes wide with hope and love.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” she sobbed, falling into my chest. I could easily ignore the deep ache pulsating throughout my body as she curled into my side. Just having her close had strength thrumming through my veins. My magic felt heavier, awakening within me. “You really are here.”
I managed to bring an arm around her, lifting my other to the top of her head. “I’m here,” I croaked, throat painfully dry. “I told you I would never leave you again.”
Ivy made a choked sound in the back of her throat that almost sounded like a laugh. “We both made a lot of promises,” she said quietly, looking up at me with glassy, dark eyes.
“You were afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep mine.”
She shook her head, lips pressed together. “No,” she whispered. “I couldn’t keep mine.”
My stomach sank; those last few moments before slipping into the dark abyss came back to me in flashes.
My father’s dagger going into my chest and Kamaria’s dark laugh as she slammed another into my back, the double attack taking me by surprise.
The flash between being in the throes of battle to the stone walls of the cottage and Ivy’s horrified look when I appeared with three blades inside me.
Then it was all a blur, but I remembered something snapping inside me. I’d first thought it was my bond, but now I wasn’t so sure.
I couldn’t feel it, but I knew it was there, aching for her. The dream hadn’t been enough, though I knew it never could be.
But having her beside me felt like a rush.
“I’m sorry I took your gloves off,” she whispered, resting her hand over my chest. “And I touched your face.”
I couldn’t stop the chuckle that fell from my lips. “You never have to apologise,” I said, coughing. “You have no idea how good it feels to be touching you, Ivy. How it feels to know I can touch you again.”
Ivy sat up, hovering over me, eyes searching mine. “A dream is one thing, Ry,” she murmured, “but if you need to take things slow—”
“No,” I growled, shaking my head. “I am done wasting time with you. I was so afraid before, but I’m not anymore. I know exactly what I need—and it’s you. Nothing else.”
Her eyes watered as she tried to smile. “I love you. So much.”
“I love you, too.”
“Nice to see you…alive,” Archer said, pushing off the wall he leaned against as Ivy helped me out of the bedroom. “Weren’t sure you’d actually wake up.”
I nodded once, somehow managing to not roll my eyes. “Thanks.”
The mage shrugged. “Need some help?”
“I’m taking him to the bath,” Ivy murmured, looking up at me questioningly.
Clearing my throat, I said, “We could use some, thank you.”
He snorted, but he moved to my other side and helped me into the main bedroom. The sheets on the large bed were rumbled, clothes heaped at the end.
“Sorry,” Ivy said. “It’s been a bit of a mess the last couple of days.”
“Do you like it, though?” I asked as we entered the closet. There were clothes hung up, mismatched and belonging to several sources from what I could tell. “Because we can always change—”
“I love it,” she said, smiling up at me. “No need to worry about that.”
From my other side, Archer cleared his throat. “Don’t worry. She likes the kitchen and greenhouse, too.”
“You found it, then?” I questioned as we entered the bathroom. The large windows overlooking the fields were dark from the storm raging outside, but as soon as we passed the doorway, water started filling the deep, built in tub. “There are actual gardens out there, and an orchid.”
“I didn’t know,” Ivy said as she moved me to a chair someone had put at the sinks. I winced as I sat, though the burn and ache in my body wasn’t nearly as bad as when I woke. “The weather has been so horrible, I haven’t really gone outside. Not like they’d let me.”
“Not without a full bodyguard detail,” Archer teased, though the smile on his lips didn’t reach his eyes, and there was a tension between them that felt…odd. Especially after what I’d seen from them in the Old World. Hell, there’d been no tension between them at all back there.
What changed? Because it wasn’t Ivy; she gave him a small, sad smile as she crossed her arms.
“I’ve got it from here,” she said without looking at him. “But it would mean a lot if you or one of the others could bring up a tray of food?”
Archer nodded once, the tense smile falling from his face. “Of course. I’ll leave it in the room.”
For a moment, he hesitated like he wanted to pull her in for a kiss. But instead, he shook his head and left the bathroom without another word.
It was only when the bedroom door closed did she sigh. “Okay, let’s get you in the tub.”
I frowned as she helped me out of my shirt. “What happened?”
She looked at me before shaking her head. “I don’t know.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she helped me to my feet.
“Liar,” I murmured, shivering when her hands went to the waistband of my pants. I hated being so weak in front of her, but this also felt reminiscent of the first few days with her in the hunting cabin; although when I changed out of my bloody clothing, she’d turned around for that.
This time, though, her eyes remained locked on mine as she undid the ties holding up my sweatpants. “I honestly don’t know,” she said, this time desperate. “I came back, and he and Adrian were…”
“Full of shame,” I said, tensing when the pants went down. But she never took her eyes off mine. “They feel shame.”
Ivy blinked hard, a breath falling from her lips. “I don’t need them ashamed, Ry. I need my mates at my side.”
She sounded so tired, like she’d already come to terms with their distance, so the last thing I wanted to do was make it any worse.
And it wasn’t like I owed either of the mages anything; they’d made their dislike of me well known.
I respected them as her mates, but that respect was waning based on her admission.
Being parted, even though we’d had our dreamscape, made me never want to be away from her again. Only real death would do that now.
If I were them, I would never have left her after her escape. But that didn’t appear to be the case.
“Come in with me,” I murmured, lowering my face to hers. Ivy sucked in a breath, going still. “Be with me.”
I felt her shudder against me as her eyes closed. “What you need is a bath, and then rest,” she said, trying to sound firm—but failing. “No funny business.”
“What I need is my mate,” I replied seriously. “Every moment I am with you, I feel stronger.”
Ivy opened her eyes, looking unimpressed as she cocked her head. “Fine. I’ll go in,” she muttered. “But I’m not getting my hair wet.”
I chuckled. A light, almost weightless feeling bloomed within me. For the first time since leaving her in the woods as teens, I felt…alive. Real. Right. My death had been a sort of rebirth, because I even felt different. Not the same hard, coldness from years of dealing with my father’s abuse.
While my body had been healing, my heart and mind had, too.
The dreams with her had stitched together the pieces of me broken when I’d left, the parts of me that’d been destroyed by Hyperion and his enforcers.
Ivy might never realise just how powerful our dreams together had been—especially to me—because I finally felt like I could be more for her.
I couldn’t stop myself from watching as she shed her t-shirt, carefully folding it and putting it on the vanity behind me.
She wore no bra, allowing her breasts to sway as she moved to her sweatpants.
To the naked eye, she didn’t even really look pregnant.
But I’d spent enough time observing her to recognise the subtle changes happening in her body.
Her breasts were fuller, nipples darker. Her stomach mostly looked the same, except it appeared firmer around her upper abdomen.
The biggest difference was the collar. It sat darkly around her neck, a choker of power. It made me physically ill; every dream we’d had, she’d never had it on. But now, it was a real reminder of the dark hold Dante had on her.
When she was completely naked, Ivy pulled her hair into a messy bun before moving to my side. “Alright, we need to be careful getting in.”
“Like I said, I am getting stronger.” Though I wouldn’t push away the help, especially from her. Just the way the side of her body felt against mine had me feeling an entirely different way. And it had a part of me standing to attention.
At least she didn’t comment on it, though when we took our first step into the bath, I hissed at the warmth of the water, and how sensitive my skin was.
“You okay?” she asked quietly.
I nodded once, gritting my teeth. “Yes,” I said, toes curling in the water. “I’ll be fine.”
I kept my reactions to myself as she helped me all the way in. I wanted to hide it from her, didn’t want her to see any sort of weakness, but with Ivy there really was no point in hiding. Not as she helped me onto the sunken bench beneath the water, forcing me to meet her concerned gaze.
“Don’t lie,” she said, cupping my cheeks. “I can tell—even without our bond—you aren’t fine.”
I sighed. “I don’t like appearing weak,” I admitted, leaning into her touch. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you, my flower.”
Her eyes softened. “That’s the thing about being mates,” she murmured. “We take care of each other.” Slowly, she leaned in, brushing her nose against mine. “You’ve always taken care of me, Orion. Now, it’s time for me to take care of you.”
I didn’t want to argue, but she would never know the amount of care she’d given me.
Never understand how much I owed her. Not just because of the cabin and everything she did then, from helping me with my wounds to keeping me warm and fed.
It was everything that came after, too. From the bond, to giving me a reason to live—to fight.
If it weren’t for her, I would have lost to Hyperion years ago.
I would have let him beat me down and never gotten back up again.