When I returned to my dorm room, another package was waiting. This time, it held five of the restoration potions I’d been receiving nearly daily. The meaning was clear—one for each of us, except Zypher hadn’t arrived yet. Smothering my worry, I handed a potion to Miles, Shadrie, and Gabriel. The four of us downed them quickly before Miles muttered something about needing to shower and wanting to sleep for a century.
“You should get cleaned up too,” Gabriel said as Shadrie slipped into her bedroom to gather clean clothes and her shower caddy.
“I–” The words caught in my throat, but something in my expression must have told him the thoughts swirling in my head. After what we’d just been through, I couldn’t bring myself to be away from him.
“We’ll go together. Zypher will probably be here by the time we get back.”
The tension in my shoulders relaxed a fraction, and I nodded. Gabriel didn’t wait for me to move, using his vampiric speed to gather clean pajamas, a towel, and my shower caddy before stopping in front of me to grab my hand. We made our way to the communal showers in silence that dragged on as Gabriel situated my things and turned on the water in a stall. Wordlessly, he led me inside and stripped both our clothes away before washing the grime from my body. There was nothing sexual in the way his hands moved over my skin, only the quiet comfort of being cared for. My entire body felt lax andheavy with fatigue by the time he started on my hair.
“Let me,” I insisted, as he raised the soapy cloth to his chest after rinsing the conditioner from my hair.
My hand curled around his wrist, and after a heartbeat, Gabriel relinquished it. I moved the cloth slowly across the planes of his chest and shoulders, my touch careful, reverent almost. He didn’t flinch, only watched me with those fathomless eyes, the tension in him leashed but ever present. The silence between us wasn’t heavy this time, though—it was grounding. By the time we stepped out, steam curling in the air, I was warm to the bone and impossibly drowsy. Gabriel wrapped me in my towel before securing his own around his waist, then dried me off as though I might shatter if left unattended. I didn’t protest—the exhaustion in my muscles wouldn’t have let me if I tried.
He dressed me with the same care before tugging on the sweats he’d slept in the night before, then led me down the dimly lit hall toward my dorm. Masculine snores carried faintly from Shadrie’s room, and I moved to peek inside. She and Miles were curled up on her bed, both fast asleep. My heart twinged at the sight of my friends as I stepped back and quietly shut her door. When I turned, the sole remaining potion vial on the counter seemed to stare at me like a silent reminder. Zypher still hadn’t shown up after the trials, and I had no way of knowing if he’d survived whatever it was the other Years had faced today.
“He’ll come,” Gabriel murmured softly, as he guided me toward the couch. I sank into the cushions with a sigh, my head lolling against the back. “I don’t think there’s anything in this life or the next that could keep that demon from returning to you,” he continued as he settled beside me.
Minutes stretched into hours, and still no Zypher. My eyelids grew heavier with each blink, the pull of sleep nearly irresistible as I fought to wait for my missing mate.
“Bechora,” Gabriel said softly, crouching before me. I blinked, trying to remember when he’d moved. “Don’t fightsleep, you need to rest.”
I tried to shake my head, but it barely moved. “Not until…”
“Shh.” He scooped me up as though I weighed nothing, my limbs too sluggish to protest. My head slumped against his chest, the steady thud of his heartbeat urging me closer to sleep. My eyes fell closed, and when they opened again, Gabriel was easing me onto the mattress with care. “Rest. I promise, Zypher will come.”
I sank into the soft bed, letting my eyes close again as I felt him climb in beside me. The bed dipped under his weight before his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer. My head instinctively found a place on his chest, my hand settling on his abdomen. It was almost perfect, but my demon was missing. Tears welled behind my eyelids at the thought.
“I’m scared,” my voice cracked. “What if he didn’t make it out of his trial?”
“He’s still alive. You’d feel it if he wasn’t,” Gabriel spoke, conviction laced through his words.
“How do you know?”
Gabriel tightened his arms around me and blew out a shaky breath. “The first trial.” He paused, but his tone told me not to press. To let him gather himself and continue on his own terms. After what felt like an eternity, his voice broke the silence again. “At first, it showed me my mother and sister. Their fate at the hands of my father, because I accepted our bond instead of rejecting you for someone outwardly more powerful. It felt like I lived every second of their torture and death as those fucking mirrors played them out in great detail.”
My breath hitched at the pain in his voice. “Gabriel–”
“That wasn’t the worst of it.” His grip on me tightened as if he feared I’d vanish. “The mirrors showed me a future where I hadn’t come to my senses and accepted our bond. You died, beheaded by the fae king for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom.” I stilled at his words, the vision so eerily similar to what the mirrors had shown me. “I felt the moment ofyour death. Our bond wasn’t complete in those visions, but I’d still initiated it with my bite, and when it snapped, it shredded through me. It was torment, and for a brief moment, I considered ending myself to make the pain stop. If our real bond hadn’t flared inside me when it did, that trial might have claimed my life.”
Hot tears slid down my cheeks, and I lifted my head enough to see his face. “None of that was real,” I whispered fiercely.
Gabriel eased my head back down to his chest and stroked his hand over my hair. “No, it wasn’t. But I knew—I know—the pain that threatened to tear me apart when the bond broke is only a fraction of what I’ll feel if something happens to you. That’s one truth I can’t escape, and it’s why I know you would have felt it if something happened to Zypher.” His words hit me square in the chest. He kissed my temple, gentle as a benediction. “Sleep,” he said. “Let your body fix what your head can’t right now. Zypher will come, and I’d prefer not to fight with him about letting you wait up when he does.”
I curled tighter against him, letting out a soft snort, exhaustion finally overtaking my resistance. Gabriel’s fingers threaded through my hair, and he hummed under his breath. My body went completely lax, my eyes falling shut as sleep pulled me under.
Morning came too soon, but I allowed myself a moment of thanks as I recognized Zypher’s body curled around mine. Carefully rolling to face him, I noted the way worry lines cut across his brow even in sleep. Whatever he’d faced the day before still weighed on him. My fingers inched up, and I gently smoothed them over the lines. Zypher’s eyes blinked open, and he smiled.
“Good morning, Dilectus.” He grinned, his arms pulling me closer, causing Gabriel to grumble in his sleep behind me. “I must say, I’ve quite enjoyed waking in your bed these last few days. I’m not certain I can go back to waking alone after these trials are done.”
I pulled back just enough to playfully swat his chest as someone pounded on my bedroom door. Gabriel bolted upright with a snarl, and Zypher let out a booming laugh.
“Get up!” Shadrie called through the door. “You’ve got another package from your secret admirer, and we’re going to be late!”
Gabriel huffed, practically throwing himself out of the bed as I shoved Zypher into motion. I moved to my closet to quickly grab a fresh t-shirt and another pair of sweats, noticing the neatly folded clothes sitting on my desk. Zypher moved to the stack, grabbing his own from the top before handing what was left to Gabriel.
“I thought we both could use something to wear today without having to leave our mate’s side until absolutely necessary,” Zypher said to my vampire.
I smiled to myself as Gabriel grunted out a thanks. We lapsed into silence as we quickly dressed and made our way into the living area of my dorm. Shadrie and Miles were both dressed and waiting. Miles wore a pained expression, his eyes flitting to the watch on his wrist every few seconds.
