“Lore.” I rose up onto my knees and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “Don’t give up. Please. Stay with me.”
“Even if there’s nothing but my shadow left, it would rise to stand between you and whatever is rushing toward you.” He stared into my eyes, and I saw everything I could ever need there.
“Because ofyou, you’ve both survived. Don't you see? Where he casts light, you carve the path. And there’s something breathtaking about watching someone who refuses to yield, someone who embraces the chaos and finds meaning in it. So don’t ever think that what you have to offer isn’t enough.”
Leaning close, he pressed a kiss against my forehead.
And when he leaned back, he gave me the sweetest smile.
I kept trying,but the nullification power refused to come back. I didn’t know what treat to offer, assuming something like thatwould work with a non-living being. Was power alive? In some ways, it felt like it could be.
Finally, he grabbed my shoulders and shook me, making my head flop around. “Stop trying. Now.” He pressed his face so close to mine, our noses bumped. “I mean it. No more for tonight. You’re exhausted.”
I blinked at him. “Gotta try again.”
“No.” Standing, he swept me up into his arms, pulling me tight against his chest. “You’re not doing anything else tonight. I forbid it.”
My head pounded, and my mind kept spinning and threatening to just…shut itself off. I splayed my hand wide on his chest. Snuggling close, I sucked in a deep breath of his scent, willing my mind to relax. “Ruthless shouldn’t smell this good,” I mumbled, my lips dragging across his tunic. I leaned up to lick his neck. “Domineering shouldn’t taste this good.”
He snorted. “You might be surprised.” He hitched open the door to the tower room and started down the stairs.
I slid my fingers up his neck and cupped his strong jawline. “Reckless shouldn’t feel this good, Lorant.”
He paused on the stairs, staring down at me. “If there was ever a time that recklessness had a place, it’s now.”
“What does that mean?” I whispered, my eyes closing and my mind drifting.
“It means that my every instinct and every breath pulls me to you, no matter the risk, no matter the consequences.” He placed a quick kiss on my mouth, his lips brushing my skin as he spoke. “I’d give everything for one more moment where you look at me the way you did up there in the tower.”
22
Reyla
Before we reached the base of the stairs, Lorant slowed. The echo of his steps against the stone held a feeling of finality. He stopped, his face unreadable before the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You’re going to have to walk now, Wildfire.” His voice came out even, but the way it scraped low, almost broken, made a lump rise in my throat. “As much as I want to carry you, I can’t.”
I was as much his wife as Merrick's, and that realization burned through me, leaving only excoriated flesh behind.
This was more than only an “I can't”. A heavier meaning hung in his words, his pain wrapping around each syllable.
I tried to swallow my sadness, but it scraped going down. “I understand.”
He gently lowered me to the floor beside him, holding mewhen my boots touched the stone. I wobbled from the sudden shift, and his hand lingered on my waist. For one reckless moment, I thought about grabbing onto him, dragging him back up the stairs, and locking the tower door. It would be the two of us. Away from the court. Away from the curse.
But that wouldn’t fix anything. Staying in the safety of the tower would only delay the inevitable. The curse would still come. I’d still lose him.
Lose them both.
Horrifying. That was the only word for it. The thought of their death was an icy claw wrapping around my heart, squeezing tighter every time I allowed myself to breathe. A past without them didn’t hurt at all. A future without them?
There was no life for me where they didn't exist.
My eyelids drooped.
“You're worn out, Wildfire.” A touch of humor came through in his voice, but it didn't reach his eyes. “Time for you to rest.”
And what about you?
