I wonder if I’ll ever get enough of seeing him come undone. It’s fucking beautiful.
“Shit,” he slowly starts to realize, lifing his head when he sees the ice everywhere. “I lost control.”
I grin, softly stroking his back where I clawed it earlier to soothe the sting.
“I noticed. I loved it.”
He briefly focuses on the ice around us until it all melts, dissolving into harmless, cool water before he rolls off of me. But although my pulse is thrumming and the pleasant tingling hasn’t gone away, I feel the tiniest twinge of disappointment because…my chest doesn’t sting.
Meaning, Everett’s emblem isn’t there.
I have no clue how to use my holy magic or what’s keeping me from bonding with?—
Oh.
Of course.
Quintets are bound to hearts, and as far as I know, I don’t have a heart to bind my quintettoat the moment. Not even a shadow heart like they were bound to last time, since that disappeared when my revenant purpose was fulfilled.
I have no fucking idea how I’m even alive without a heart, but thehowisn’t what matters. What matters is breaking my quintet’s curses again, because the absence of our bonds is really starting to grate on my nerves.
I need that connection to him. To all of them.
So I’ll get a fucking heart, somehow. Right after I get them back.
I glance over to see that Everett is gazing at me adoringly. The chillingly possessive undertone in his arctic eyes makes me smile. He pulls me against his side, moving and adjusting the blankets until he can tuck the dry sheets around me to ward off the chill in the room.
“Gods, I’ve missed your warmth,” he whispers against my shoulder.
“I’ve missed you,” I murmur back, still coming down from fucking amazing sex.
Everett’s arms tighten around me. When he takes a bracing breath, I know exactly what he’s about to ask.
“Maven. How is it possible that you’re back? Where the hell were you for the last six months?”
I haven’t considered the best way to break the news about my identity. Should I hold off telling him until I can explain to my entire quintet at once? What if he’s like Kenzie and isn’t sure how to react to me at first?
“You know it kills me when you don’t tell me things,” Everett reminds me quietly. “You once said you’d be better about it. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’ve gotten more patient.”
Is he threatening me? I grin, twisting in his arms to examine his face.
“Maybe I want to see you lose your temper. Angry Everett must be a sight to behold.”
His gaze sparks with cold warning, andgods,he looks good when he’s annoyed. “So help me gods, I will cuff your beautifulass to this bed with nevermelt until you quit stalling. I need to know where you were and how you came back, because I’m still struggling to believe you’re actually here. It feels like you just dropped out of the godsdamned sky?—”
A laugh escapes before I clear my throat, composing myself. “I did.”
Everett stares. “What?”
I have to get this over with. He’ll need time to adjust to being matched to a demigoddess, whether he likes it or not, since there’s no shot in hell I’ll ever let any of my matches go.
I decide not to mince words. “I fell from Paradise.”
He stops breathing, eyes widening as he puts together the fact that mortals can’t go to Paradise.
“My mother took me there after my revenant purpose was fulfilled,” I add.
For several long moments, silence hangs heavily in this room. Finally, Everett exhales slowly.
