My love, you must be strong. Walk away,Kyanite begged.You're only going downstairs. You're not leaving him.
At the words “leaving him,” my heart sped up in a panic and my hand clenched tighter, completely ignoring the “not” that preceded. I had to take a few deep breaths and tell myself that Iwasn'tleaving, just going downstairs. Verin would wake up and join me soon. I could do this.
Why is this suddenly happening to her?RS whined.She wasn't this bad yesterday.
She dreamed of the others last night,Ky mused.It was enough to set you free. Maybe she's starting to fight the spell and it's fighting back.
Fuck.
Indeed.
Come on, El! You can do it!RS cheered me on.You've fought yourself and won; this is nothing.
I let go of the door handle and walked away, my steps jerking and stiff. By the time I made it to the end of the hallway, I was able to breathe calmly and walk normally. And by the time I made it downstairs, my heartbeat was back to normal. I was fine. Everything was fine. I was stronger than whatever this was.
That's when the roaring started.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
I had nearly made it to the doors that opened on the veranda—the patio where Banning and I had breakfast with our friends the morning after our disaster of a wedding—when the roar stopped me dead in my tracks. The other men were gathered at the iron tables, drinking coffee and talking over plates of food but the sound of my frantic lover had them surging to their feet. They called to me but I was already running for the stairs.
“Verin!” I shouted as I ran. “I'm here! Verin!”
I knew immediately what was wrong. Verin had woke to find me gone. Yes, that's all. I would have felt the same panic if I'd found him missing. I wouldn't have roared about it, but I wasn't a dragon. I should have known this was how he'd react when it had been so traumatic for me to simply walk out of the room. I shouldn't have left that room without him. I shouldn't have listened to the damn voices in my head.
In our defense, this is just insane,RS grumbled.
Kyanite remained silent but I could feel his fear.
I heard the pounding of footsteps behind me, but I didn't glance back. I was utterly focused on the brokenhearted sounds of a sea dragon lamenting the loss of his mate. Something crashed. Another roar shook the entire building.
“Verin!” I shouted again.
Verin came bursting out of the bedroom—naked, glorious, and ready to do battle. His indigo eyes were wide with panic; they shivered with relief when he saw me. He rushed forward as I ran to him. We came together with a slam, our arms going around each other and hands clutching desperately. Our bodies were pressed so tightly together that I could feel the rapid pounding of his heart through my chest and the tension in his muscles. Verin crumpled around me, trembling as the fear left him and then settling into calmness. His head lifted from my shoulder, his forehead nuzzling mine before he kissed me tenderly.
I needed that kiss as much as he did. His roar had burst my control and sent me spiraling into that craving again. Except his panic had made me panic too so it became a clawing craving. I'd known there was nothing wrong—that I'd be with him in moments—but I'd still been anxious. I didn't want him suffering, not for a second. But once I was touching him, all of that melted away. His hands calmed me as much as I calmed him. His mouth moving over mine was blissful relief; the tenderness in his kiss a balm to my pounding heart. When we finally eased apart, it was to stare into each other's eyes as if we never wanted to look away.
“You were gone,” Verin whispered with an embarrassed undertone.
“I didn't want to wake you. I'm sorry. I should have—”
“No, it's okay,” he cut me off breathlessly. “I shouldn't have reacted like that. I don't know why I did. I just saw the empty bed and all I could think was that someone had taken you from me. Or that—that last night had upset you and—”
“Last night was amazing and I'm right here.”
“Motherfucking magma,” Slate growled. “This is so fucked.”
“We need help,” Torin added. “There's got to be a way to break this spell.”
Verin and I eased away from each other just enough to look at the other men.
“You two must realize that this isn't normal.” Declan waved a hand at us. “Surely you can see that now? People don't normally panic when their lover leaves the bedroom.”
Verin and I looked at each other. I did know that but it didn't change the way I felt for Verin and judging by his expression, it was the same for him. I stroked a hand over his cheek lovingly.
“For fuck's sake, man, at least put some clothes on,” Banning grumbled. “She's fine, you see that now.”
Verin looked down at himself, grunted, and released me but his fingers trailed down my arms as he walked away. I started to follow him.
