Chapter Forty-Seven #2
“Is that Vex on your shoulder?” Aurelie asked suddenly, amused. He glanced down to find that the vesper was, indeed, still on his shoulder. This time, though, she really was asleep, breathing peacefully while surrounded by the comfort of his feathers.
“I’d forgotten about her,” he admitted. “I was too distracted.”
Aurelie laughed, and the sound slipped beneath his skin and turned his blood hot. Earning that sound had a way of making him feel as though he’d just won a prize.
“By the demons?” she asked, breathing a little faster now, a sheen to her skin.
The right thing to do would be to bite his tongue. Instead, he said, “By you, dancing with that demon.”
Aurelie stilled, her skin flushing. “You can’t say things like that, Yuri.”
He knew that better than anyone. Yet the stronger this bond burned, the harder it was to ignore.
“I know I have no right, and what I said earlier is still the truth. As an angel, I have no leniency in my life.” He drew a long breath, terrified to even hint at the emotions he was wrestling with.
“But what I said before that was true, too. I’m an angel, but I’m also still a man.
” He stopped talking then, knowing full well that Severin was listening.
Yuri spoke the next words directly into her mind. “I think you and I should leave this place tonight.”
Aurelie’s brows pinched tight. “What do you—”
“Careful what you say here,” he cut in quickly. “Do you think you can cut off our sound from the others?”
She hesitated. Then, within seconds, the world around them dulled, the tavern revelry becoming nothing more than a quiet hum in the background.
“I don’t know how long I can hold this,” Aurelie warned, her voice still low despite the magic. “What’s going on?”
He kept moving, holding her close as he kept his back toward Severin to mask them as well as he could.
“It’s more of a feeling than anything, but don’t you think this was all too easy?”
“Easy?” Her face twisted. “We traveled for days. We faced a demon horde and hundreds of awful Nyxaris … My entire body aches, and I believe I’ve had a collective fifteen hours of sleep in the past week. What about any of this did you find easy?”
It hadn’t been simple, but for something that had the potential to reshape the world, this was all feeling too straightforward.
“We should leave tonight and send warning back to Rhovar. Severin can bring us the cure tomorrow, just as we’d planned. I’m asking you to trust me on this.”
“Trust you?” She drew away. “They’ll capture Severin if we leave him.
They’ll take him to the hold, and rather than give my father that cure, they’ll study it, and who knows if or when they’ll figure out how to replicate it.
Do you think Severin will help us then? He’s wrathborn, Yuri.
If we betray him, that’ll be the end of our hope.
“We’ve seen the cure work,” she continued. “I share Severin’s magic, and he couldn’t have done anything to fake that. I know you mean well, Yuri, but I can’t risk my father’s life because you’re so unwilling to believe that a demon might be the one who saves us.”
“Do you really think he’s doing this out of the goodness of his own heart?
” Yuri couldn’t help the laugh that cracked through him, cold and bitter.
“You said it yourself, he’s wrathborn. I came along on this journey because I knew it would be the only way to protect you, but how am I supposed to do that if you won’t even listen to me?
“I’m your bonded.” He hated how desperate he sounded.
How pleading. “I gave up everything for our bond. When you fled with a demon, I found and remained with you despite my better judgment so that I could ensure we stayed safe. You’ve only just met Severin, and yet you trusted him enough to follow along on a quest that has put our lives in jeopardy more than once.
So why won’t you extend that trust to me? Why are you choosing him?”
“Because I don’t have to pretend with him!
” She spoke the words with startling ease, seeming to surprise even herself.
Through the bond he could feel her tangle of emotions knotting together—anger, sorrow, frustration.
She backed away, opening and closing her mouth several times before she managed to get the rest of the words out.
“I know he’s a demon, and I know he’s dangerous. But he isn’t judging all my choices like you are, Yuri. He and I both want what’s best for our people, and maybe I’m the world’s biggest fool, but I trust him to help us.”
Pain and embarrassment burned through the bond as he stilled, feeling his heart breaking.
How many times had he suffered through the same fears? The paranoia, the need to conceal every true thought and emotion he had, the constant fear of retaliation.
And here he was, doing the same thing to someone else.
“Aurelie,” he began, but the admittance had drained something out of her. She swayed, breathing hard. One hand lifted to her temple, her breath catching.
And then her knees buckled.
Yuri caught her before she could fall, steadying her as her fingers slipped weakly against his sleeve. Her skin was burning hot, soaked with sweat.
Suddenly, Severin was there, reaching for her with a gentleness that made Yuri’s stomach knot.
“She’s used too much magic.” The demon pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. “I’ve seen it happen before. She’s burning up from the inside.”
“What do we do about it?” Yuri demanded.
“I’m fine,” Aurelie slurred even while her hands shook.
“You need to cool down. If we stay in this heat, it’ll only get worse. We should take a walk outside—”
“It’s freezing out,” Aurelie argued. “I don’t need you babying me.”
“Spare me your pride, Badger, and hold your tongue.” He slipped an arm under hers, steadying her when her legs began to give again.
All the while, Yuri held himself as still as stone.
He knew he should go with them. Whether she wanted the help or not, he was her bonded.
But there was an opening here, and if he didn’t seize it, there was no saying when or if he’d get another chance. So Yuri did what he’d always done. He pulled on the mask of the angel who believed themself better. Holier.
He became exactly what Aurelie believed him to be.
“You two go.” He clenched his jaw, steeling himself for what the lie would cost him. “I can’t stand the sight of you together.”
She flinched as if struck, and never had the wall between them towered so high.
“Don’t come after me,” she spat, and the venom in her voice nearly killed him. “The less I have to see you, the better.”
She turned without another word, leaning into Severin as they moved for the door. Though he didn’t look back, Yuri could all but feel the demon’s gloating.
Yuri watched her go, the space between them widening like a chasm, and knew he’d likely sealed his fate with his bonded forever.
But what choice did he have? He was still an angel, after all.
This was the price of obedience. And he would pay it, just as he always had.