Iwas greeted by smoke and embers.Theemerald fire engulfed his room.Itspilled out over his furniture which had been toppled and torn to shreds.Allhis fine books had been strewn out over the space, as if hit by the gales of a storm.Manyhad caught the embers of the fire and were smoking obscenely.Hiscurtains were still ablaze as they fluttered in harsh wind from his open balcony doors.Isaw him there, hunched over the railing, his long silver hair blown wildly about by the wind.Iapproached him cautiously and laid a hand on his shoulder.
Hesnapped around and grabbed my wrist until the bones of my arm crunched together.Hiseyes were ablaze, as if that great viridian fire had been set inside of him, but the centers glowed a gold brighter than the sun.Helooked at me like he didn’t see me, and his grip tightened.Icould feel it now, the great pressure of his magic, as he bared his teeth at me like some great beast.ButIwas not afraid, not anymore.
“Abraxas, it’s me.Yourlittle bird.Iflew home,Abraxas.”Ilifted my weak arm, running my fingers over his cheek, until they laced in his hair.Ipulled him to me, even as he held firm, running my lips over his, sliding his tongue against my own.Buthe shoved me away, andIsaw that he still looked beyond me, that it wasn’t me he was fighting.ButIcould fight him.
Hecharged at me, andIanticipated, moving out of his way at the last second.Ilet him fly past and tripped him.Hesprawled on the floor, but quickly recovered to flip over.Islammed into him with my whole weight, pinning him to the ground.Imanaged to grab each of his wrists and stick them to the floor as he tried to claw at me and pinned his hips with my own. “Abraxas!Wakeup!Snapout of this!”I’dgotten much stronger these past weeks, but it was still difficult to hold him, soIdid the only move available to me and slammed my forehead into his face.Painradiated across my face, butIfelt him relax beneath me.Ipulled back to see his nose bleeding and his eyes fluttering.Hestopped fighting my grip and when his eyes finally fluttered open, they weren’t glowing anymore.
“Tori?”
“I’mhere,Abraxas.”
“Why?”Hewas still dazed, his eloquence gone.
“YousaidIcould go whereverIwanted.”
Heslowly sat up. “Andthis is where you wanted to be?”Hiseyes no longer contained those flames but something much more fragile, and this time, no part of me wanted to break it.
“Yes,Iwanted to…come home.”Theywere simple words, butIhad feared them.AndnowIlet them go and the fear was torn away by the wind.Iknew that here by his side, was more home thanIhad ever been inNiata.Ikissed him again, and this time he kissed me back.Hewrapped his arms around me, andIpressed myself into him.Hiskiss was frantic, like he fearedImight disappear at any moment, but it was gentle, unbearably gentle.
Themoment seemed to stretch on and on, an eternity of time asItried to imprint his touch into my memory.Aftera lifetime we parted, and he ran his hand up to my face.ThenIsaw that ridiculous grin spread across his face, and my heart had truly cracked open.
“Howwould you like to go on a quest,Tori?”
Chapter51
Abraxas
Ihad broughtToriup to speed on everything we knew aboutTenebraeforest, which to be honest, wasn’t much.Allthe reports we had received still conflicted with each other, like the forest had a mind of its own.Sheasked if any of the healers were present.
“Thereare a few already stationed at the camp?Why?”
“Oryxhad mentioned he grew up in this region.Itmight be useful to have someone who knows the terrain better since we don’t seem to know much about it ourselves.”Shekept surveying the few maps we had.
“Whydon’t you go and convince him to join us?”Iasked her.
Shelooked at me, confused, “Couldn’tyou just command him to join?”
“Icould, butIfind that being asked by a beautiful woman is a much more compelling reason.”Iloved that color still rose in her cheeks before she nodded and made her way out of the study.
Avlynhated every minute of this.Theywere still distrustful ofToriand had not held that back.
“Youcan’t trust her,Abraxas.She’sproven that.”
“Muchhas changed,Avlyn.Besides, can you really blame her?”
“Icertainly can.”
“Youaren’t guiltless in all this,Avlyn.Whydid you have us duel on the beach that day?”
“Iwas hoping the two of you would just fuck and get it out of your system.Ididn’t think it would lead to all this.”Theygestured to me frantically.IknewAvlynwasn’t jealous, at least not in the traditional sense.Theyhad picked up on my protectiveness after all these years together.Afterall this was over,I’dhave to focus on getting them to direct that at someone else.
Ilaid my hand on their shoulder, which was actually higher than mine.Icould still remember them as that little creature that we had found on the beach, the little terror running through the legs of soldiers during training.Howmany lifetimes ago had that been?ButIstill needed to remind myself sometimes they weren’t that little fae anymore.
“Itrust her,Avlyn.”
Theyscrewed up their face.Ihad to stop myself from chuckling.Itwas the same faceTorimade.I’msure they picked it up from her.Theywould hate that.
“Maybeyou do.Andmaybe that’s not the problem.MaybewhatIdon’t trust is you around her.We’vehad this plan for so long,Abraxas, and ever since she’s shown up, it’s like it doesn’t matter anymore.You’vebecome erratic— reckless.”
