As soon as the door was closed, I breathed deeply, knowing this was the right path despite my heavy heart.
A broken sob sounded from our room, and it took everything in me not to open the door again, not to pull her into my arms and hold her while she broke.
Instead, I turned and headed down the stairs, looking for an escape that would heal her rather than break her completely.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ellowyn
“That. Was.Amazing.” Each of Torin’s words were punctuated by a kiss as his lips worked their way up my throat and to my mouth. I sighed into his attention, lazily opening my mouth as my fingers threaded through his golden hair, pushing his face closer to mine.
Torin groaned, our tongues tangling as his hands shifted lower, one cupping my ass while the other groped my breast.
“Seeing you wield your power like that?” He pulled back an inch so I could see the sparkling intensity in his honeyed eyes. Torin shook his head in disbelief. “That wassuchan aphrodisiac. I can’t wait to get you out of these”—he plucked at the plain tunic and pants I wore—“so I can kiss every inch of your skin before I put my head between your thighs and suck on that?—”
His words caressed my feverish skin, sending my heart skittering and breaths quickening. But we were woefully interrupted by thebangof our door as it ricocheted off the stone wall.
Instantly, Torin’s hands left my body as he pushed me behind him, Fire and Water already conjured in his palms.
I peered around him with a huff of frustration. I was a godling just like him, able to protect not only myself but those I loved.
My ire and protective instincts died just as quickly as they formed at the disheveled and broken man framed by our doorway. Peytor’s face was gaunt and drawn, dark circles surrounded his eyes, and his hair stuck in every direction. His cheeks were wet, eyes so unbelievably sad and brimming with tears.
My heart broke for my brother, my first friendand protector.
“Peytor?” I asked hesitantly. I elbowed Torin in his side to a very satisfying “oomph” in my hurry to get to my brother.
Peytor dropped his bag with a loudthunk, his face and body crumpling as soon as I reached him. Arms wide, I enveloped my brother in a tight hug, trying my best to hold all his broken pieces together with my body.
He wept into my shoulder, back and chest moving with each heaving breath, each choked sob. My palms soothed up and down his spine, wordless sounds coming from my mouth as I attempted to ease his pain.
I didn’t realize Torin had moved until I felt his hands weave between my body and Peytor’s as he embraced my brother from behind. My husband-to-be rested his head on Peytor’s shoulder and squeezed.
We stood like that, the three of us tangled together, while Peytor’s wet cries eventually quieted, his breathing evening out until it hitched every so often.
“Thanks,’ he whispered thickly, snot clogging his nose. I hummed a noncommittal noise before making eye contact with Torin over Peytor’s shoulder.
An unspoken conversation passed between us as we sought understanding. I’d never seen Peytor so distraught—not even after Finian’s death. Then, he was more numb than anything else, a fact he reiterated when he detailed his time in the mines to Torin and me.
Now it was like he was brimming with too many emotions, his soul too overwhelmed to hold them all without something spilling over.
“What happened?” I whispered as Peytor pulled away, Torin’s and my arms reluctantly retracting to allow him some space.
Peytor barked a watery laugh as he pawed at his red and swollen eyes and wiped his nose with his shirtsleeve.
“I told Folami that I needed to leave,” he admitted dryly with a shake of his head. If Torin was surprised, his face didn’t betray it.
I, on the other hand, was shocked still.
“What?” I cried. “Why?”
Peytor shot me a baleful look as he continued to gather himself.
“I just—” He shrugged, searching for the words on our ceiling. “It’s . . . hard to watch her fall in love with someone else.” Peytor’s voice cracked at the end, and he closed his eyes to stave off the threatening emotions.
“So you decided to leave to give her space,” Torin finished, his voice even and soft.
Peytor jerked his head in a rough nod.
