With a gentle touch, she acknowledged each one. Her pale features were a mixture of exhaustion and affection. Her hand trembled as she glanced at the rune. I could feel her exhaustion through the bond.
"Let’s get some rest," Aimon's soft suggestion hung in the air, a gentle reminder of what lay ahead. “We need to be fully prepared to use that dagger.”
"No kidding.” Bastian's eyes never left Fawn's weary form. The room's glow seemed to dance upon his features, casting shadows that mirrored his feelings that flickered through the bond.
"We just need a day of fucking rest first.” Jasper's words were tinged with a raw edge, his frustration palpable.
"That’s a great idea. As long as we’re not attacked tomorrow, let’s just do something for us," Casper suggested.
“Actually, that’s a good idea,” I said as Fawn’s gaze softened on me. “We need a little bit of…normalcy.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever had normalcy since meeting each other,” she let out a weak chuckle, and Casper lifted her up into his arms.
“Then it’s settled, sunshine.” He grinned, glancing down at her. “We’re going to go to sleep, and then in the morning, we’re going on a date.”
“With all of us?” I tilted my head.
“Of course,” Jasper scoffed. “We’re all in a relationship with her.”
“I’d love that,” she mumbled against Casper’s chest, her breathing evening out already as her eyes fluttered shut.
We left the potion room in silence, each lost in our own thoughts as we made our way to the room we were staying in.
Casper laid a sleeping Fawn on the bed with her cats surrounding her once we went into our room, and we all settled around them.
I knew that Fawn wouldn’t back down; she would face Matthieu with the same determination that poured from her into our bond. But even with the power of the dagger, it was still fucking terrifying. Matthieu had the same weapon we did, and he was too insane to be defeated easily.
But we promised her that she would get the chance to kill him, and I would make damn sure she would—even if it killed me.
As the room grew quiet, Bastian spoke up. “We need a plan for taking him down.”
Everyone turned to him, waiting for him to continue.
“Matthieu is no ordinary immortal,” he explained. “He’s been alive for longer than we could possibly guess. He’s watched Fawn foryears.He has a sick obsession, and he’s got the dangerous power to back his insanity. Ihatethe idea of her going up against him.”
“But we will do what we can to protect her,” Aimon interjected, scratching at his beard. “We can’t let him continue to threaten her life or the world.”
“Of course,” Bastian agreed. “But we need to approach this strategically. We can’t just charge in blindly.”
“Emperor Lloyd has eyes on Matthieu,” I muttered, forcing a hand through my wavy hair with a sigh. “He’s easy to track since he’s stayed in monster form since the last time we’ve seen him.”
“And he’s still in the Allura Empire,” Aimon added. “He’s headed toward the Lethium Empire, but we should have time to spend one day with her to do what we want.”
“One fucking day,” Jasper spat, shaking his head. “She needs more than that. The woman has barely had normalcy in her life, and it pisses me off to no end.”
“She deserves more, but we need to kill that fucker for her to get it,” Casper told his twin, and Jasper nodded, not taking his eyes off Fawn’s sleeping form.
“We’ll figure out a plan tomorrow,” I said, my voice soft as I stared at her too. “But for now, let’s get some rest. Weallneed it.”
Everyone murmured their agreement, settling into their spots on the bed.
I watched over Fawn, making sure she was breathing steadily before I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
We had to make sure Matthieu’s spirit shriveled up and died for good.
12
FAWN
