I wasn’t a delicate little dweller anymore. I was a god now, and I needed them to start treating me as an immortal being with resilience to match their own. We suited each other in most ways, but I wasn’t going to be happy until we were able to exist around each other in near perfect harmony. I wanted them to be comfortable. I wanted them to bethemselves… and for Coen and Rome, I wanted to be the one person that they didn’t have to hold themselves back with. The one person who would always welcome their Pain and their Strength, as long as it meant that I could be close to them.
It had to start with them. Their powers were considered the most harmful, and their method of holding back had been ingrained in them the longest. Once I had managed to break down that barrier, the newest barrier with Aros would naturally crumble. I was sure of that. It might have seemed like an overly complicated solution to the problem, but sometimes the hardest methods were the best ones. I had never taken the easy way in the past and I certainly wasn’t going to start now.
“This isn’t over yet,” I said quickly, as I polished off one slice of bread and leaned forward again for another.
Aros—who had been reaching for a bowl of pasta—paused, his eyes flicking to mine. I held his gaze until gradually, the minuscule smile that I had seen earlier began to resurface.
“I expected nothing less, sweetheart.”
He glanced away then, and Rome’s hand slipped to my thigh, squeezing gently. “Still not going to crush you, Willa.”
I snuggled back into his chest with my second slice of bread, nibbling at it while he held me. I didn’t offer a reply, because I was sure that they could all feel the determination radiating from me. No matter what they said, this was a battle they had already lost.
