“I wanted you to leave with me, Elwyn. I wanted this life only with you, do you not remember my pleas? Five years ago, and every year after, I begged you to come with me. Have dreamt of nothing else.” His whispers tickle the back of my neck. I fight the urge to lean into his body. To encase myself in his warmth and scent. But I don’t. “It’s only ever been you.”
“Except it hasn’t,” I say, swallowing down my own self pity. I continue to face the door. I don’t want to see his face. Don’t want to see every memory of us etched into it. “I have Elora to look after. Go before your wife starts to worry.”
He releases his grip, but his fingers linger on my skin. He says nothing as he backs away, the warmth I was so desperate for immediately gone and out of reach.
I wait several moments before I turn to face where he’d been. Hoping by some sliver of insanity that he’ll still be there. That I’ll still be able to whisper those words to him I’ve dreamt about since the last Autumn Moon.
We’re coming with you.
But he isn’t there. He is long gone, and with him, my last bit of hope.
Thirteen
Sorin
The echoingthuds of my boots are a reminder that I truly have lost my mind.
“Sorin?” Park says as I pass him in the hall.
I don’t acknowledge him, don’t stop, until I get to my room.
Slamming the door shut behind me, I finally glance down at the blood coating my hands. The sticky liquid is still hot and a wave of nausea hits me. Sprinting, I push open the bathroom door and thank the Mother there’s water in the basin. I shiver as it splashes against my skin, but I don’t stop rubbing until the entire basin is stained red and my hands and face are mostly clear.
I slump to the floor and rest my head on the back of the tub. It’s been a long time since I killed a man with such brutality. The men on the mountain the night we lost Elora were one thing, the hunter in the alley just now… Likely a man just trying to feed his family.
Just like me.
Nausea hits me again, but I force it back with a few deep breaths.
“Can I come in?” Sam asks as she joins me in the bathing chamber, not waiting for an invitation.
“By all means,” I groan. Even my voice sounds different. Tired. Drained.
Sam's brows bunch together, and I can only imagine how dreadful I must appear to earn that look.
“That bad?” I chuckle, pulling myself up from the floor.
She steps aside, making room for me to exit the washroom and slink into one of the chairs by the fireplace.
“Mum okay?” I shoot her a glance.
“She’s fine.” Sam joins me near the fire in the chair next to mine. “A little shaken up, but she’s with the twins.”
“Jarek?”
This breaks Sam’s haze, her eyes light up. “He’s helping Park clean up.”
Fuck. I really am an arse.
“I should go—” I stand and turn for the door.
“No.” Sam grabs my arm, pulling me back down. “They’ve got it, Sor I want to talk to you about the plan.”
“The plan?” Laughing, I kick my feet out, so my legs are fully stretched. “We can save it until morning, Sam. Our mother was almost just taken.Youcould have been taken.”
“We don’t have time to wait until morning,” she snaps. Her eyes pierce the side of my face, and I’m truly worried that if I look at her, a dagger will come shooting out and land between my eyes. “We need to leave tonight. More hunters will come, they always do.”
“I don't disagree. I just thought you all could use the rest.”
