Chapter 41 #2
“But those wishes died along with the light in her lover’s eyes because her best friend had already fired an arrow into his heart to protect her.
” Adara blinked, as if in a daze, reliving the moment and trying to remember where she truly was.
“A scream echoed through the night. Her scream. Not even comprehending who it was she had been begging moments before to lower the bow, who killed her lover, the princess grabbed the knife from her lover’s lifeless hands and whirled around, hurling the blade through the air.
It sank deeply into its target”—a shuddered breath—“and only then did she realize she’d killed her best friend. ”
A sharp pain speared through Dominic’s chest that had him tensing under her gentle hands. She shot him a look which he dismissed with a nod, for the pain was there and gone, replaced by a raging storm in his mind. He did his best to ignore it, deemed it the result of his magic ebbing away.
“Part of her felt relieved. Her lover’s killer was dead, her revenge already taken.
But her friend had only been trying to protect her.
” Adara took a deep, shuddering breath. “She’d never forgive herself for that day.
Leading them to a supposed escape, only to end up in a slaughter.
She wanted to end it all right there, to die with her friends.
Instead, she was thrown through a portal, never to see her beloved home again, constantly questioning if it is too late to fulfill the prophecy,” she finished, eyes distant and gleaming like stars begging to be seen through a cloudy night.
A constellation of tears lay scattered upon her rosy cheeks.
Once she was finished mending his wounds, Dominic slowly pulled himself to sit upright, groaning as pain seared through him.
He reached out to cup her cheek. His muscles screamed in agony, but he didn’t care.
He paused before he touched her, careful not to cause her any more pain.
She gave his hand a sideways glance, then leaned her head into his palm.
His thumb softly stroked her cheek, wiping away her tears.
“Thank you,” he murmured. For saving his life. For healing his wounds. For telling a story to distract him.
A long silence settled over them as Adara grabbed another damp cloth and began to wipe away the dried blood on his cheeks and temples.
Her eyes were focused on the narrow, red rivers dried across his face while his were focused on the pools of magnificent flame that were her irises.
Striking and familiar, burning with such regret and pain and sorrow that Dominic felt mirrored his soul.
A strand of brown hair fell in front of those blazing eyes, denying him of their beauty so much that he reached out a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“What was her name?” He found himself asking softly.
“What?” Adara responded incredulously, going still under his gaze.
“The princess,” he replied. The princess whose pain Adara carried with all her might, so much more than simple empathy for a character in a story. His eyes searched hers. “What was her name?”
He had to know, to be sure the story was true. He prayed that it wasn’t. But it aligned too well. The distant home, the years of torment, her magic that lit the way out of the dark. The lover who tried to kill her. The friend who tried to protect her and ended up with a knife in him.
Adara sighed, finally meeting his eyes while she applied an ointment to a cut on his forehead. “Her name,” she paused, drawing in a deep, empowering breath, “is Adara Rhyes.”
He squeezed her hand. There was nothing he could do to change the past, but he could promise it would not happen again. “You will not fight alone,” he breathed. It wasn’t much consolation, but it was all he could offer.
She stared at him, eyes vacant, and Dominic wondered if she could see right through him. Silence stretched between them. Not even the snarls of monsters lurking outside penetrated the cottage. Shadows flickered in the dim candlelight.
Adara eyed them wearily. “Neither will you,” she responded. “Till death and beyond.”
Adara watched the shadows moving beyond the open door, with a dagger in her hand, as Dominic lay on the sofa, dragged into a deep sleep from exhaustion. Flames danced over the candle wax sitting next to her on the rug. She leaned back against the couch, Dominic’s breaths ruffling her hair.
She kept an eye out for any danger until she no longer could. Until the shadows drifted in, but not the ones that made her unsettled. They were the ones that made it feel like she and Dominic were the only two people in the world.
The weight of his palm resting on her shoulder was a comfort Adara never thought she’d experience.
She lifted a hand to rest on his, thumb idly stroking his soft skin as she stared into the dark, pondering what in Dominic’s past had gone so horribly wrong to haunt him lifetimes later to this day.
What had broken him? Had made him believe he should face this alone?
Dominic might be heartless, but he was not emotionless.
Deep down, part of the boy he used to be was still in there.
It was that person she cried for, held, and prayed for.
It was that person she swore to protect at all costs.
It was that part of Dominic Nite that Adara would never forget existed, and she would always fight for him—even if it would cost her victory.
Eventually, exhaustion swept over her, gathering her in its waiting arms. Her eyes fluttered closed, letting the world drift away into complete darkness.
Adara didn’t know how much time had passed or how she had moved, but she lay upon something much softer than the floor she’d fallen asleep on.
The plush ground dipped beside her. A weight settled around her abdomen.
The scent of pine and sea wrapping around her had her sighing with content as the warmth of Dominic’s chest seeped into her back.
The faint press of lips against her forehead.
Adara could have sworn she dreamed it as Dominic murmured, “Please, please don’t fall for me.”