He licked the blood from his lips, before zeroing in on my own lip. I could feel the blood still beading on it, and Calix looked hypnotized as he leaned in to suck my lip into his mouth, his tongue sweeping up the blood. His deep moan shook my entire body.
He forced himself back abruptly, panting. I was left out of breath myself, and weirdly jealous he’d licked away his own blood before I could. His shadows loosened and let me go, and I mourned their presence immediately.
“Calix…” I wasn’t sure how to finish that thought. Things were so mixed up between us. I wasn’t sure I was truly ready yet, but I also couldn’t deny the pull to him. Nor my feelings for him, which I had to admit, were there, stronger than I’d admit, and quickly becoming impossible to suppress.
I knew nothing of love, not truly, but I knew whatever would come about from Calix and me together would be nothing short of cataclysmic.
“If I don’t stop now, I won’t be able to,” he admitted, a growl rumbling deep in his chest that had me pressing my legs together to try to soothe the ache it caused. “Forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I told him quietly. His eyes shot back to mine, and I decided to experiment, pushing my acceptance and desire to him. The feeling I got back in response felt like it lit me up from the inside, just as much as it lit Calix’s eyes.
He started to smile, reaching a hand out for me, “Come on, we better not keep them waiting anymore.”
I gulped, taking his hand and letting him lead me up the mountain. Even if I’d rather we stayed at the base, losing ourselves to each other.
It seemed like a better fate than walking up that mountain and discovering whatever fate may await me in the future.
Chapter Twenty
Asteria
Walkinginto the star opal fortress, Calix led me past the bowing guards with a quick greeting and brought me straight toward the meeting room he’d instructed be used for this.
Pausing outside the room, I breathed deeply, trying to get a handle on my nerves. Calix lifted our clasped hands and pressed them to his chest. It was only then I realized I was shaking as he shushed me gently.
“It’s okay to be nervous, Asteria.” He ducked his head down to meet my eyes. “Anyone would be in this situation. But I’m here with you, okay?” He nodded his head once, and I nodded back. “I’ll be here every step of the way. You aren’t alone. You willneverbe alone. Not one day for the rest of our immortal lives. This, I promise you.”
A tear escaped my eye, thinking back to how alone I had been all my life.
“You and I, my réalta, we are eternal.” He swore passionately, if quietly. “Where you go, I go. Forever.”
My heartbeat did something complicated in my chest as I nodded again, smiling tremulously as he lifted our clasped hands, pressing a kiss to each knuckle on my hand. When my hand was free, I used it to softly caress down his cheek. “Thank you, my dorchadas.”
“You ready?” He double-checked, and I gave him my permission as he reached for the door handle.
The black double doors opened into the meeting space. Inside, the walls had been covered with wood and then wallpapered in a light grey damask pattern. A white table made of star opal sparkled in the middle of the room, surrounded by black upholstered chairs on all sides.
But none of that truly registered, not when they stood before me.
My mother, Aurelia, had long hair the same color as mine—so dark brown it was nearly black—and watering blue-grey eyes that were locked on me with singular focus, her hands shaking as she raised them to her mouth. Her makeup highlighted the pouty lips I’d clearly also inherited from her.
It was so strange to look at her and see so much of myself there. I remembered saying goodbye to my parents at Placement Day and lamenting that I’d never be able to look into a mirror and see them staring back at me.
She even had the same button nose I did, the same heart-shaped face. She had sharper cheekbones than I did, and a different eye color, but it was nearly uncanny otherwise.
A strangled noise caught my attention from where I stood, frozen in the entrance. Arien stepped forward haltingly, his eyes wide. He had long dark hair the same color as mine, with identical blue eyes, nose, and lips. His nose was straight as opposed to tilting up at the end. His face was longer, and his cheekbones were sharper than even our mother’s.
As he approached me, I noticed he was also much taller than me. Closer to Calix’s height than mine, while Aurelia looked to be of the same stature as myself. She even had my curves, or I supposed, I had hers, while Arien clearly took after our father with his height and straight, lean body.
He paused as he reached me, eyeing where my shaking hand clasped Calix’s for dear life. His eyes met mine again, and he swallowed hard.
“Asteria,” he rasped, almost a plea, and I swore I could nearly feel his aching desire to hug me. I let go of Calix’s hand and stepped forward toward Arien. I only took one step before he swept me up in his arms, lifting me and leaving my feet swinging like a child’s as he embraced me.
I let my eyes fall closed, resting my forehead on his shoulder as I hugged him back hard. It felt like something I’d lost had finally clicked back into place. That strange feeling I’d get sometimes, where I’d expect to find someone beside me, only to find them missing. Hugging Arien now, it was a feeling of completeness that was completely different somehow from the completeness offered by the bond I shared with Calix.
That feeling seemed to fully form as I let myself acknowledge that this was mytwin brother, my little brother, and a surge of affection overcame me. I could feel Calix’s wariness, along with his own adoration, as he watched me, but his unease was clear.
“By Hyperion,” Arien whispered, his voice heavy with tears. “I’ve missed you all my life, sister.”
