“Your mind?”
“When I am not awake my mind often turns to a dreamlike state. An empty place with infrequent interruption. I am sorry you had to experience that.”
Her face falls. “That’s awful. It was endless, felt like an eternity.”
“It is not so bad after a while. I have also learned to adjust, establishing a home within me, one that reminds me of a place I once knew.”
“The castle?” she asks.
I nod, realizing how close we came to one another. I had sensed her, a vague awareness I dismissed as a dream.
She shifts closer. “Will I always dream of this, and you?”
“I do not know. If so, I will seek you out. At the very least, I can provide the comfort of my company.”
She nods.
“When you brought forth my light, how did it feel?” I ask carefully, changing the subject.
She hesitates, peering at my wings surrounding us. “At first the brands grew hot like they were burning me from the inside. I saw the glow of—” her eyes streak over the cracks across my chest “—it was the same glow that shines from you. Then I lost control… I said something, though it didn’t sound like me, and I aimed that light at Adrial.”
“And afterward?”
“He left and… My mind seemed to stop working, my thoughts were fried. It was overwhelming, and I remember crying. I wanted to forget everything, praying my thoughts would remain sluggish so I couldn’t remember…” She shivers. “The sluggishness didn’t last. Not for long. I crawled to your side. I think it helped, being next to you. And after a while, everything returned to normal, like I was coming down from a really bad panic attack.”
I close my eyes. “I haven’t broken you then.”
“Broken me?”
“You were in danger. I felt it. Tried as I might, I could not run to your aid. And I tried.” I growl, straining my wings wide. “However I could drive my strength into you using the brands, and so I did. It was the only thing I could think of.”
“I felt you inside me.” She clutches her chest again. “I’ve felt you inside me ever since you placed your hands on me.”
“I will always be inside you now.”
She meets my eyes. “I couldn’t find anything about a bond like ours in these texts. There were rituals for power, for channeling that power, and even capturing otherworldly creatures, making them subservient. I’ve been reading about blood practices, incantations, sacrifices, knowing I bled on your wing the night before this all began… I’ve been wondering… Did I start this?”
Her expression is thoughtful, but her uncertainty is evident. Even without her emotions blending into mine, I can tell she needs reassurance.
What kind of reassurance, I don’t know.
I stare down at the pages on the floor. “You did not start this, and I am sorry to have suggested it before. I tested you, needing to know you were not a demon’s trick, and now I repent for that.
“Before you, there is only one I have been close to. A monk. He died long ago, in a monastery, far from this time and place. He was a good man, taking me in when my punishment first began. Back then, I avoided complete submission to stone, preferring to become a creature of the night, and dared to give him my name. In exchange, he shaped me, sharing wisdom. The angels may have made me, but he was the closest I had to a father.
“By night, I protected him until he died, murdered by Adrial. In his self-sacrifice, he never invoked me or shared my power. From him, I learned loyalty—and grief. His kind face was the last thing I saw before turning to stone and staying that way. His monastery fell soon afterward.
“Ever since, everyone else viewed me as nothing more than a statue, a piece of art, and the few who knew I was something more… they pursued my name relentlessly for greed and power to their detriment. Until you, all those who have bled on me would have immediately given my name to Adrial.
“Until you, Summer. You had no ill intent. At least none that I could discern. You may have seen me as a statue and nothing more, but I remember your presence beside mine for days on end. You came into my life and spoke to me, told me stories and jests, and laughed beside me as if I could laugh with you. None of my previous owners have treated me in such a way. You reawakened my mind, granting me something to look forward to. Affection. The days you were not beside me were—” I clear my throat “—frustrating.”
“You heard everything?” she squeaks.
“Yes.”
She buries her face into her hands. “God, that’s so embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?”
