“Arga already made it back.”
My heart stops. The room swims. “What?” I try to focus on Roman through my shock. “No.”
Roman sinks to his knees beside the bed so that he’s eye-to-eye with me. “He got back a few minutes before I located you.”
A wail of pain rises to my lips. I struggle even more against the cocoon, needing to punch something. Kick.Scream. “My sisters!”
“They’re safe. Crone can’t touch them while they’re in the prison. She won’t step foot inside it. Neither will the royals.”
“And my wolves?”
“I got your wolves to a safe place outside of the city.” Roman’s alarmed gaze flashes across me as black ripples through the cocoon. “Nova, you need to stop moving.”
My teeth sharpen and my claws extend within the material, sharp enough to rip through it. “Don’t tell me to stop when I’ve failed to protect my family!”
Instead of trying to strongarm me into calming down, Roman slides onto the bed beside me, pulling me close and wrapping both of his arms around me, cocoon and all, hooking his upper leg over mine, holding me close. My head fits into the crook of his neck, supported by his shoulder and his chin rests against my forehead. My breathing is rapid against his neck, a painful whooshing sound as I fight the need to get up.Move.
And… As I fight the impact of his hug on me.
How does this demon know how to hug like this?
Every pressure point of his arms, legs, and his hands rubbing my back, despite the thick cocoon—I feel it all and it’s too damn supportive. Too fucking compassionate for a demon like him.
“I know how much you love your family,” he says, his voice raw. “If I had a family, I’d want them to be like yours. And I’d fucking kill to protect them.”
My eyes are wide as he continues.
“Your sisters are smart. Strong. They’ll keep each other safe. It’syourlife I’m worried about, Nova.”
I’m speechless, but I can’t allow myself to focus on his concern for me. Unwanted tears burn at the back of my eyes, and I hate that I’m revealing how vulnerable I feel right now. I’m so fucking scared for my sisters and my wolves. My body is probably a mess under this cocoon. My heart is stretched beyond endurance, and I can’t trust anything I see. “I can’t leave them.”
“I understand your pain,” he says. “But if you return now, injured, Crone will take advantage of that. She’ll throw you right into another trial of her making with the intention of breaking you.”
He pulls back a little to look me in the eye. “Crone can’t continue the Elimination until you return or you’re proven dead. You hold the cards right now. You can use this time to heal. You can use this time to plan.”
I search his eyes. “You’re telling me that Crone is forced to wait formenow?”
He nods, but he’s misled me before, and I can’t step over the wall of distrust that I’ve built around myself. “How can I believe you when you deceived me about who you are—about who I am?” I ask. “You could be in league with Crone, keeping me here while the others finish the whole damn Elimination without me. After all, this place is full of illusions.”
“Your distrust is fair, and I deserve it,” he says, not once looking away. “I won’t try to justify my actions because I know I could have done things differently. I didn’t trust you with the truth about who I am. Or my suspicions about who you are.” He gives a shake of his head. “I don’t trust anyone.”
My voice sticks in my throat, a hard lump. I don’t know what I’d do without my sisters, whom I know I can trust with my life. I don’t know if Roman had family. I mean, he must have had parents, but I don’t know anything about them. What I do know right now is that I’m in no shape to go anywhere. Not until I can ascertain my remaining injuries.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll stay here for now. But I meanfor now. I can’t promise I’ll stay after you get me out of this thing.”
He inclines his head before he carefully removes his arm from beneath me, laying me back on the pillow again, this time facing upward.
Without speaking, he continues removing strips of material until the cocoon around me is gauzy and becoming transparent. A quick glance at my body brings a furrow to my brow. “Am I naked under this?”
“Your clothing was melted to your skin,” he says, his expression shadowed, his hands pausing above me. “That dress is nothing but ash now.”
Good fucking riddance to it.But it means that Roman had to peel it off me. I close my eyes briefly, not sure if I should feel shock at how close I came to death or vulnerability at the fact that he undressed me.
The shadows clear from his expression as he watches my face and I’m sure I’m not hiding the war of my emotions. A quiet smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Don’t worry, I can rune you any clothing you like.”
“Some underwear would be nice, please,” I snap, my cheeks heating as he removes another strip across my hips and the contours of my body are in full view.
“Very well,” he says, his smile brightening so that it lights up his eyes in ways that highlight the onyx lurking beneath the sea green. “If you’re sure you need them.”
