I know what lies behind us, what we’ve fought for and come from, but the uncertainty of what resides ahead causes my thoughts to scramble.
With the frost nipping at our heels, we slide through the village entrance, the looming stone walls and a hot—forged iron gate looking like an opened mouth baring its teeth.
What we see in front of us is more grim than the phantom frost that threatens to snuff us out.
It can only be described as if a molten pot of ore exploded and crumpled the inside structures in pure devastation. It’s horrific.
Chapter 19
Alora
The Devourer stirs in the makeshift bed Caym piled together with scattered linens. Exhaustion wears into my bones, my limbs heavy in my lap.
I lean back against the tufted chaise lounge, books and random fabrics stacked haphazardly, leaving no room to actually sit.
Across from me lies Leeson. She’s cradled on her side, tucked into Caym. I’ve been watching her restless sleep take hold, her arms twitching and face contorting, surely due to the terrors we faced outside of this room that’s become our fortress.
I wasn’t prepared to see so many bodies. The elderly, men and women alike, even the innocent.The far too innocent.
Only few remain alive in Treach, and they might as well be phantoms by the broken expressions on their faces. Their hollowed gazes stir far more fear inside of me than the frost that snaps at the gates.
The unnatural mist has cloaked the outside perimeter of Treach in white fog that dances menacingly, beckoning the survivors to walk into it, only to be devoured and never seen again.
The world outside of this room has become a hellscape, and I’m not sure we’ll survive it.
I watch The Devourer’s lips move in his sleep, the ones that keep pursing together.
Gods know how long I’ve stared at his mouth, imagining it on mine. I wonder if his lips taste like sunshine, if they’d give warmth to my broken soul, or if they were delectable darkness. The forbidden kisses that draw electricity into your veins, the ones that crackle down to your core.
I keep watching his face, like a stationed guardian, battle ready for the moment his eyes crack open to reveal the green I’ve become accustomed to.
As if he can sense my presence, he shifts his body toward me, a soft groan bubbling up from his throat. I rip my gaze to see if the slumbering couple across from me wakes, but to my relief they don’t.
He slowly sits up and looks around, it’s almost comical seeing him out of his element.
I don’t know why I find such satisfaction watching him wake. Perhaps it’s because I’ve begun to enjoy our shared moments together, the ones where we say nothing but somehow speak a thousand words in one glance.
His brilliant green eyes lock on mine and the weight of them heaves against the walls I once thought impenetrable. My heart pangs.
“You called me by my name.” My breath hitches.Shit.
“You said Kassiel.”
One thing about The Devourer is certain, heyearns.The world could be burning down around us and he would still be gaping at me the way he is now, like someone who’s taken their first breath. Like someone whohungersfor something other than food.
“I must not have realized I used it.” I’m lying through my teeth. Of course I knew I used it, because the moment his name left my lips I wanted to snatch it back, as if I could steal back the prayer and keep it to myself. His searching gaze leaves me feeling raw, like he can see through my façade and I’m utterly exposed.
“Don’t hide from this, Alora.” The knot in my throat tightens and the last threads that hold me together threaten to fray.
I swallow thickly, choking down everything left unsaid. The last hours ticked by painfully slow as I awaited to see if he would wake fromthat.I couldn’t bring myself to run away like I’d wanted.
The moments I guarded over his sleeping form were only bearable because of the whispers in my heart that willed his chest to keep heaving. The unsaid pleas of hope and torment.
I can’t help it when my eyes brim with tears. If I give words to the feelings that strangle me, I’d reveal too much. I’d be a betrayer and traitor.I would have to admit that the stolen glances were more than attraction.
The hot beads begin to run down my soiled face.At once, The Devourer rolls to his side in an effort to sit up.
I put my hands up, gesturing for him to stop.If he touches me, I’m not sure my poorly structured walls would hold.
