The wind rose, whipping Airess’ wet locks wildly around her face and neck. By now, their clothes clung to their bodies, completely soaked through. Lightning struck overhead, and she took a step towardTaryn, rainpelting her from the side. She raised her voice enough to be heard over the storm.
“Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t care what you’ve done? What makes you think I’m this good person? Why is the thought of us being together so unfathomable?” she retorted.
Taryn shook his head slowly, water dripping from his soaked hair. “You are a good person, Airess. You deserve better than me.” He cupped her face with one hand. “To think I would have trapped you forever if the Oathmark hadn’t interrupted us at the Inn. I was so irresponsible.” He ripped his hand away, as if he were afraid to touch her.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the implication. Airess recalled Ismene’ words.Once the relationship is consummated, the true effects of the Bond will take place. Your souls will be completely tied together.
“What are you saying, Taryn?”
His face hardened. “You’re not Fae. How can you understand what this means? I’m giving you the space you deserve.”
“You don’t get to make that decision.” Airess shot back, instilling as much strength in her voice to mask the panic rising in her chest.
Taryn raked both hands through his wet hair. “Don’t fight me on this, Air. I’m doing this for – for you.”
Airess scoffed in disbelief. “Don’t shut me out just because everyone in your life has abandoned, betrayed,and left you behind.”
Taryn’s jaw ticked. “This is for your best interest.”
Anger simmered hot in her veins, and the words were pouring out of her before she could stop them. “Oh, that’s rich, Taryn. Especially coming from the male who murdered, spied and smuggled drugs for a living. What would someone like that know about mybest interest?”
Regret closed in as soon as the words left her mouth. He took a step back, recoiling at what she threw in his face.
The rain poured harder than it had been. Water dripped off her nose, and her hair clung to her neck. Taryn’s curls soaked around his ears and plastered against the sides of his face. His eyes hardened, the background of the storm adding a shadow of darkness to his features.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck down next to them. Airess was knocked off her feet, and for a moment, her ears rang. Adrenaline flushed through her entire body, and her hands suddenly were coated in Starlight, a natural defense mechanism. She blinked, but hands had gripped her sides and yanked her to standing. She met Taryn’s wide eyes.
“Oh my Gods. Are you okay?” he asked, frantically scanning her entire body.
Lightning struck again, vibrating through the ground and shaking Airess to her very core. She stumbled backwards at the force of it. At the force ofhim.
Hewas causing this.
Her breaths became labored. Not in fear of him, but in shock. Airess had never known the depths of Taryn’s power, and when Ismene said it may be heightened outside of Luciena’s ward, she had never expectedthis.
Taryn held his arms out and reached to help, but yanked himself away with a pained expression. “I’m sorry.Fuck.”
Taryn stared down at his hands, as if they were the enemy.
She came to stand, looking from him to the clouds. She held out her arms, trying to diffuse the situation. “Taryn, it’s okay. Just–just breathe.”
Taryn shook his head and created more distance between them. “You need to leave.”
“It’s–”
“I don’t want you to see me like this,” he rambled, and suddenly he seemed lost. Broken. “You can throw my life in my face, and I would still do anything for you. You can’t make me hate you. I never will. My feelings for you are too strong. Please, just leave. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She stood there, frozen. If she left now, her words would sink into his mind. Fester.Gods,she was an idiot. Why did she say that?
“I didn’t mean what I said. I’m sorry,” she whispered, shrinking into herself.
She turned and left, tears pricking her eyes. She couldn’t look at his face anymore. She couldn’t look at the pain she caused, that they both caused to each other.
The storm raged on far long after she returned home that night.
Chapter 36
“The Sun and Moon Gods, Ghrian and Gaeleach, will always find one another. In this universe, and the next.”
