Chapter 18 Lucan
Inever thought I’d regret that someone besides a Guardian picked up the necklace.
But still, why did it have to be her?
She’s far too precious, dammit. Too good.
Her heart and mind are too pure for this.
Despite the fierceness that brews behind her careful facade, I’ve deconstructed her thoughts that she tries so hard to hide, picking away at the deep recesses of her mind.
And while she’s angry, yes, her passion for life is blinding and completely surprising. How she’s become what she is in spite of being raised in a human farm like cattle, I can’t wrap my head around.
But I also can’t let myself be distracted. One woman cannot get in my way, no matter how much I like the sound of her voice filling my head.
This has been my goal, my destiny, from the moment I was born, so I can’t allow fear to hinder me now.
Yet, I’m still afraid—that she’ll be overwhelmed, that she’ll be caught, that she’ll die, that she’ll continue to hate me. The list seems endless.
It certainly doesn’t help that her own panic is tearing through me like knives.
If I could, I’d dig under the Wall to get to her right now.
But I’ve tried countless times before. The Wall only seems to sink deeper and deeper into the soil, like it has no bottom, like it sprouts more roots every decade and keeps burrowing further into the ground.
If I hadn’t known what it was like before, I’d have convinced myself by now that it grows from the very core of the earth itself.
Sitting down and looking up at the moon, I push my feelings down and focus on my one task in front of me—the Wall stretching out to my left and right. Not a woman.
Because I’m so close, the closest I’ve ever been. And while there’s still so much more to tell her, who knows if she’ll choose to continue on this path after I do.
I’m here with you, I tell her, feeling her breath snag in her throat. She acknowledges my presence without words. Instead, it’s like a fire crackling, the warmth cascading through my body down to the end of my tail. I promise, I’m not going anywhere.