She didn’t need to say it hadn’t been enough. They both knew exactly how far from enough it had been.
“We have to do something. Soon. We can’t hide forever. We hid when my father was chasing us because we thought we needed the Fifth Power to kill him. Now Jake, Ayla, and I have the Fifth, and he is dead. We are not hiding again, Ciaran. We just can’t,” she said, shaking her head against his firm chest before stepping back to look at him. She could get lost in the deepness of his dark blue eyes. “I will not hide. I would rather die than hide. A life hiding from whatever Fate wants to throw at us is not a life worth living.”
His metallic hand stroked her cheek, and he put a strand of hair that had escaped her braids behind her ear. The cool touch against her skin sent a trail of warmth towards the middle of her chest. “We will not hide, Hope. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
She leaned in, yearning to get lost in him and the safety he provided her. She had never felt such safety before. The metal ring of his bottom lip made contact with her top lip before theirmouths collided, and the softness of his lips on hers and the taste of his tongue was unnaturally pleasant.
She held the sides of his head as she separated herself enough to say quickly, “I need you, Ciaran. I need you so much.”
His blue eyes glinted, and the hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He looked down at the black patterns inked on his biological arm and at the top of his chest.
“I often wonder how I survived centuries without you, Hope. The gods and their inks made me wait for you, reminding me you would come, reminding me to be patient. My dreams of you kept me alive. When I didn’t want to continue, when nothing seemed of worth, then another ink would mark me, reminding me it was a matter of time. Countless times I struggled to believe my wait wouldn’t be forever.” He swallowed, leaning in until his forehead touched hers, a trail of shadows slowly spinning around their bodies. “And here you are, Hope. My dreams and my hopes come true. My meaning and my world, the reason to keep breathing, the reason to keep fighting.Ineed you, Hope. You are the light I never knew I needed in the night I’ve always lived in.”
“You are the love of my life, Ciaran,” she promised, red sparks of her magic leaving her fingers as they answered the call of his shadows, intertwining with them. She felt his night and pine scent shouting home in every pore, in every cell. “Thank you for waiting for me. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“Never,” he swore.
“I love you more than I ever believed was possible to love.” A tear full of emotions roamed freely down her cheek.
He chuckled softly. “You continuously prove me wrong, too, my strong, precious beauty. It’s only fair I challenge your beliefs now and then too.”
Ciaran dried the tear with his metallic finger before gently kissing the spot where it had disappeared from. “We will not hide, Hope.”
“We will not. We will stop this nonsense. We will find a way for people to live in peace.”
“We will.”
9
Hope
The first night back at the safehouse was awkward.
It was still—which was a change after the constant roaming and gentle rocking of the navias while they traveled across the Radel Sea.
It was sleepless for Hope, and she doubted Ciaran had slept much at all. They cuddled at the beginning of the night, and she didn’t allow her body to heat excessively despite what the closeness of his body did to the apex of her thighs.
Nevermind that he had never been inside of her—inside ofanyone,ever—yet, and she couldn’t wait to know what this man would feel inside the warmth of her core. Nevermind howmuch they desired each other and the hardness she felt between his legs which was begging to be touched, to be stroked, to be licked… Never mind none of that, today was a day for mourning the lives they had allowed to die. It was a self-inflicted punishment to wait until they could satisfy their needs and darkest desires.
The memory of his voice didn’t help. “I’d fuck you senseless in every possible way. I’ve had centuries to gather ideas,” he told her not long ago.
She couldn’t stand it any longer, so Hope sat up on Ciaran’s bed. “I’m just going to organize the mess in the Badassery Suite. Get me if you need me, please.” It seemed a decade ago when they had named the room they used to train their bodies and their magic.
“It’s four ante meridiem,” he observed.
She nodded. “Perfect time to clean my blades and burn all the bloody clothes from yesterday.”
“You do you,” he said, giving her a kiss on her waist. “I love you.”
She walked towards the Badassery Suite, her steps quiet against the floor in the middle of the silent, asleep house. Except—the safehouse was everything but silent.
The loudest sounds came from Lenna’s room, and when Hope approached the door, the noise of uncontrolled sobs was distinguishable. A tight knot seemed to jump to her throat, depriving her of air.
According to Ciaran, Jake had left hours ago. Lenna’s best friend Sasha was dead, and Brendon was too. Out of the non-panoms of their inner circle, only Indianna and Nina were alive. Ayla, her own sister, though, was also in the house, and so were she and Ciaran. Despite that, Lenna was crying—suffering—alone.
Hope knocked at the door a few times, without response. She wasn’t even sure if Lenna could hear her knocks over the desperate sounds of her pain. “Lenna,” she finally said, raising her voice.
