So do mine.
Yet, there's a twisted pleasure in watching him suffer, mirroring the torment he has inflicted upon me all this time. Maybe the Gods have protected me from the hurt he would cause me. I wonder if they knew if I gave him my heart, he’d rip it apart. Shattering it into pieces as if it were made of nothing more but glass. Fragile. Delicate. Weak.
My heart was never made strong enough to withstand a love with Koen. The Gods knew it.
He inhales before letting his lips open. “I think just the thought of my lips never tasting yours will kill me instead.”
“Koen…” I pull my gaze away with mixed emotions, the longing and pain he has caused me is maddening. Why do I feel weak when I am around him? How come my knees tremble, feeling as if they could give out at any moment when I just hear the sounds of his breathing?
“Serene.” As he speaks, he lets out a deep grunt. My stomach tightens with the sound of his voice saying my name. His jaw ticks every second as his eyes linger on every inch of my body, except my eyes.
My bottom lip quivers, letting out a shaky breath. “I thought you don’t trust yourself around—”
“Anyone I care about.” He cuts me off. “Who said I cared about you?”
“I suppose you never did. But you speaking to that woman about your duty to kill me shows you don’t.”
“Wait, how did…” The playfulness in his eyes is instantly gone, revealing sadness and regret as he takes a deep breath. “Just know whatever happens, I never meant to hurt you.”
My brows pull together. “I…”
“Shhhh…” He slowly shakes his head, leaning in to whisper against my ear. “When I say run,you run.”
My browns snap together and my chest rises. “What?” I hiss, my voice dropping to a silent whisper. “What the hell do you mean?”
“Something is here with us,” he mutters. “I sense it.”
He pulls away, his eyes flickering at the crystal lights that pulse blue hues, watching them intensely. “I know you are here, Darkling,” he growls, gradually pulling his curls into a bun. “Who sent you?”
Fire embers crack and pop, echoing around us as my eyes flicker side to side. The once cool air around us is now slowly being replaced with a scorching heat. Claws digging into therocks begin to screech in my ears, causing me to flinch and cover them.
The lights of the crystals darken as soon as the sound of a creature slams into the gravel outside the Vitaei waters.
“Where have you been,Koen?” the creature's voice wails, a low grumble like the sounds of hell itself. I don’t move, but I know Koen has made eye contact with the beast as his eyes narrow into slits. The emerald flakes in his eyes are slowly being replaced by hues of a raging fire.
He said his damn name.
“He knows you?” I hiss, curling my hands into fists.
“Not now,” he orders, moving around me in a slow, yet deliberate motion. “What do you want, Darkling? Why have you come to the healing chambers of the Vitaei?”
“I am not here for you…but her.” Its voice sends chills down my spine, my breath hitching as I close my eyes. “Thank you for doingyour dutyand bringing us to her.”
“What.” My head whips towards him as he stands beside me. I catch sight of his eyes closing, inhaling a deep breath before raising his hand towards me as if he knows I am about to burst.
“Not a word, Serene.”
“Your duty?” I scream, heat flushing through my throat. My fingertips prickle with sparks underwater as I heave. “You brought whatever the hell this is to me?”
His eyes reflect the regret that is coursing through him. “I never wanted this. Believe me.”
Chapter 31
“The embers are a lifespan of the descendants. This holds them close and bonded to the Gods of the Realms. But, they do not protect the Fallen Embers from the darkness.” - Book of Azure
“OH, BUT YOUR HEART DID want this,” the creature hisses. “Don’t you remember,dark one?”
I carefully shift my body, turning towards where the voice is coming from. My eyes widen as the flames consume the darkling's body. Its raven, leathery skin cracks around its chest and arms, revealing scorching flames that flicker out of it. As if its body underneath its charred skin is nothing but fire that is ready to combust. Its face is similar to a man’s, but with crimson eyes and cracks with fire around its cheekbones.
