Chapter 67
Chapter sixty-seven
Dominick
Every time Dominick closed his eyes, he saw flashes of the scattered bodies and blood that had lined the tent floor. Sword slashing, maimed prisoners, his coven.
To then be traveled to such an opulent room was unnerving. A four-poster bed, red velvet duvet, and carpet. Tapestries on the wall, candles burning in sconces—it was beautiful. And Theo was here, so this was where Dom stayed.
“Don’t leave me,” he whispered, cradling Theo’s head. His sandy blond hair felt like straw against his palm. “There is so much more we need to do, to see.”
Sleep pulled at him, but he refused to give in.
Instead, Dominick sat there soothing him for hours. He told him every childhood memory he could think of. He told him about his first crush, when he lost his virginity. His first day as an oracle.
“Do you remember the first time we met?” Dom’s back ached something fierce, but he refused to move.
“You directed me to the correct pool because I had my head too far up my own ass to find the training pool.” He chuckled to himself.
“I thought you were cute. Convinced myself you were too quiet, bashful.” He rubbed a salve the singular healer had left him across Theo’s dry lips.
“Let’s be honest, I was loud enough for both of us. ”
He desperately wished that he hadn’t noticed the way Theo’s breaths were further and further apart.
Dom’s voice cracked. “You haven’t even met Sera.”
Leaning down, he kissed Theo’s forehead, each one of his bruised eyelids. The Council had broken him. Battered him and tortured him, leaving him for dead.
Breath after breath came in gasps. Dominick pulled Theo to his chest, cradling him in his arms.
Shadow, it hurt. It hurt so fucking much.
“I love you, Theodore Sano.” It had been the biggest surprise when the words slipped out of his mouth. But they’d been true.
If only his love could heal him. If only there was something he could do to save him. He’d bargain. He’d trade his life if only someone would take it.
Theo exhaled for the final time, going slack in his arms.
“I love you, and you never got to hear me say it—not even once.”