Amira’s eyes fluttered open and she caught Elyssa’s delighted smile as she looked up at her before Elyssa’s gaze drifted back to her chest, pulling back the remaining material with her free hand.
Cold air swept over her bare chest just before Elyssa’s warm touch heated every part of her. Her hand caressed her breast at the same time as she added a second finger, and everything in Amira tightened before sparks rained down on her. Her shattered cry echoed through the tent.
Elyssa drank it in with a kiss as she slowed her movements, letting Amira slowly come down, utter bliss flowing through her veins.
As Elyssa pulled back, the heated gaze in her eyes almost stole Amira’s breath again. Smirking, Elyssa fixed Amira’s bralette. Amira could only look at her, still shaken from what they’d shared. She had never thought such pleasure was possible in life, at least not for her.
Her gaze wandered over Elyssa. Amira wanted to give her the same pleasure, but her insecurity sneaked back into her mind. As if reading her thoughts, Elyssa grinned and gently pushed her back on the bed, lying next to her on the covers.
“Tomorrow, we’ll show them hell, just you wait,” Elyssa said as she took her hand, kissing Amira’s knuckles in a gesture so sweet, she would never get enough.
Amira could get used to this. Elyssa by her side—fighting beside her, lying beside her. She could see a future where she was happy, unplagued by shadows looming over her, Elyssa there to chase any remaining nightmares away.
For once, Amira chose to believe that fortune could be on her side.
Chapter64
Lora
The eyes staring back at Lora in her bathroom mirror had become weirdly familiar. A few months ago, the vibrant turquoise had upset her. Now, the only thing she really disliked about them was their similarity to Karwyn’s.
But how would her family react to them? There had been no time to ask Eyden how to dim the fae light shining through. She never got tested to see what level her powers were, but if the merge with Karwyn happened, she might find out. If it did come to that, she would have to lose either through Karwyn’s hand or through her own—giving up and relinquishing her life source to save her mother’s life instead of her own.
The longer Lora looked at her reflection, the less she found the version of herself that she’d been before leaving her hometown. The old her didn’t know what it felt like to be beaten, captured,used.She hadn’t known how to defend herself, how to fight back, orkillwhen it came down to it.
Most importantly, the old Lora hadn’t known what it felt like to let the fire inside her run free. To truly beherself,human and fae. The saddest part was knowing she might lose it all just when she was ready to accept that part of her.
Shaking her head, Lora squeezed her eyes shut and focused on the task at hand. There was a strong possibility that she would never get another chance to say anything to her family ever again. This was her last shot. This evening, she would be in the city plaza with Karwyn and their plan would unravel. Tonight, one way or another, this would all end.
Grasping her phone which lay beside her on the counter, Lora turned on the camera and selected the video option. She’d been obsessing over this all day. She’d decided facing her family in real time wasn’t an option. They would ask too many questions. Lora wasn’t sure she could keep up all her lies if she looked directly into her mother’s eyes. So instead, Lora had decided to record a goodbye video.
Holding her phone in front of her, Lora smoothed down her hair, which had grown way past her shoulders. The necklace Eyden had given her was hidden under her sweater. In the background, only the white tiles on the wall were visible. Before she could back down, Lora hit record.
She cleared her throat and forced a small smile on her lips. “Hi Mum, Dad, Oscar. I’m sorry to do this this way, but facing any of you…the thought alone breaks my heart. I can’t properly explain to you why I’m still here, why I haven’t come back. But as I told you in my letter, if I could, I would be with you now. I love you, and I would never put anyone above you. Please know that. I’m trying, I’mfighting.”
“I’m saying all this now because if you’re listening to this…” Her voice broke, tears burning her eyes. She glanced at the ceiling to force them back. “If you’re listening to this, I’ve failed. I didn’t only promise you the cure. I promised I would be there, that I would come back.” Tears rolled down her cheeks; she wiped at them hastily. “I’m so sorry…I won’t be back. I tried. I really did. If there’s one thing Icanpromise, it’s that I bloody tried as hard as I could.”
Lora paused to catch her breath, the tears streaming from her eyes steadily now. “Even though I wish nothing more than to be with you, to return home, I don’t regret crossing. I don’t regret getting that cure for one second, even if it means…” Choking on her tears, she cleared her throat. “Even if it means I won’t make it. I don’t regret saving your life, Mum. I don’t. Not one bit. Please don’t regret it either. You and Dad deserved to be cured, and the rest of the world did too.”
“So Dad, don’t regret letting me go. You wouldn’t have been able to stop me. I would have gone even if I knew where it would lead. Oscar, I’m sorry to leave you alone and that I failed to realise how you felt about me being away. I wish I could be there, but I know you’ll be okay. You’re brilliant, and I wish I could’ve seen you grow into the amazing human I know you will be.”
She took a deep breath, no longer looking into the camera. There was one last thing she needed to say before she lost her nerve and broke down completely. “I don’t know if this will make things better or worse, but crossing over, being here…I know it was always meant to happen. I know it will sound crazy to you, but I justfeelit. I needed to break out of this shell, thislieI’ve lived in. It’s like…my whole life, I was only half alive.”
The crack in her voice made Lora pause as she turned back to stare directly into the camera. “Iamhalf fae. And I don’t regret it. I don’t regret feeling the fire swirl inside my veins. I don’t regret meeting the friends I’ve made here, the revolution I’ve joined. I don’t regret falling…”
She cut herself off. “I don’t regret any of it. So please,please,see this as a positive in all the darkness. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. And if everything fails”—Lora swallowed, brushing the back of her hand over the fresh tears staining her red cheeks—“at least I’ll die being myself, knowing I kept one promise—that I saved you.”
She closed her eyes and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. This was it. Lora forced her eyes open and whispered, barely audible, “Goodbye.”
Hastily stopping the recording, she stared at the file. This was all her family would have left of her. Her own eulogy. She felt the impending breakdown deep inside of her, the tears increasing, her knees becoming weak.
Quickly, Lora wrote a message to Maja, telling her she’d always be her best friend and asking her to send the video to her family if she didn’t message her by tomorrow morning. It wasn’t fair to ask Maja to keep this to herself, but Lora saw no other way. She told her she was sorry, that she loved her and wished she could explain more.
Not waiting for a reply, Lora waited till the video was delivered, then turned off her phone, hiding it away with the WiFi cube.
Staring at her tear-streaked face, Lora finally broke down completely, sinking to the hard bathroom floor. Her hands moved over cold tiles, reminding her of the almandine cell Karwyn had first put her in.
Just like then, Lora was drowning. But she would get back up to fight one last time.
