Adrian being the one to suggest it took me by surprise, but I didn’t say anything, just nodded. I heard them leave, each footstep matching the thundering beat of my heart. I couldn’t look away from Orion, no matter how hard I wanted to.
And yet, I waited until the door closed before I sucked in a breath, closing my eyes. “I am so sorry,” I whispered, hands trembling. “I should have come to you sooner, but I was so scared. That’s no excuse.” I opened my eyes and took his hand. In my dreams, he’d been warm—so alive, so real.
The team had left his gloves on, probably at Blythe’s request. But slowly, I peeled them off. In the dreams, he’d gone without them. He’d been free of the barrier.
I was careful pulling them from his fingers, setting the first aside with a shaky breath. His palm should have been warm, soft. But instead, it was cold, limp, fingers stiff as I wrapped my hands around them.
“You said I would know what to do.” I glanced down at his hand, then followed the length of his arm up to his face. “You said I don’t need magic.”
A shaky breath fell from my lips as I moved closer, following whatever piece of me knew what to do.
“You said you just need me,” I whispered, resting a trembling hand on his chest. I couldn’t feel his heartbeat, which immediately had tears burning my eyes. “Well, I’m here, Orion. So, what now?”
My Fae prince didn’t move. There was no flutter of his lashes, no sudden beat of his heart. No gasp for breath as he came to, or even a twitch.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy,” I said, shaking my head. “But come on. This vague bullshit doesn’t help anyone.”
Outside the window closest to me, I watched a tree bend to the force of the powerful wind blowing across the island. Darkness covered the sky, heavy clouds blocking out the stars and moon.
“We can’t even go out to enjoy the field for real,” I told him. “The weather has been shit. The rain stops only long enough for wind or thunder. The ground outside is literal mush. The clouds don’t disappear for long, either. Under other circumstances, I would really, really enjoy being trapped here. But being pregnant and in constant danger takes away from the cosiness.”
I could almost imagine him smiling at that.
Moving my hand from his still chest, I brushed my fingers over his lips. I remembered what they felt like in the dream when he kissed me.
It’d been so long since I’d kissed him for real. The thought of doing it now made my chest hurt, had my skin pebbling as I shivered. Yet I leaned in, brushing my lips against his cold cheek.
“I promised you I would never let your father hurt you again,” I whispered, a tear sliding down my cheek silently. “And I failed you, Ry. I didn’t stop him. I should have been able to, but I didn’t. And I will regret that for the rest of my life. But I need you to wake up. Please.” I pressed my forehead against his, another tear rolling down my cheek and dropping onto his own. “I love you.”
It was only a brush of our lips. Maybe a goodbye, or a plea for him to fight his wayback to me.
But I felt it when his lips parted, heard him suck in a breath, felt his pulse skitter beneath my fingers as his heart raced.
And when my eyes opened, I felt a rush of warmth flood me at seeing him again.
“You,” he whispered, colour slowly returning to his face. “I love you.”
77
Orion
Iwas alive.
And she was here, tears streaming down her face, eyes wide with hope and love.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” she sobbed, falling into my chest. I could easily ignore the deep ache pulsating throughout my body as she curled into my side. Just having her close had strength thrumming through my veins. My magic felt heavier, awakening within me. “You really are here.”
I managed to bring an arm around her, lifting my other to the top of her head. “I’m here,” I croaked, throat painfully dry. “I told you I would never leave you again.”
Ivy made a choked sound in the back of her throat that almost sounded like a laugh. “We both made a lot of promises,” she said quietly, looking up at me with glassy, dark eyes.
“You were afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep mine.”
She shook her head, lips pressed together. “No,” she whispered. “I couldn’t keep mine.”
My stomach sank; those last few moments before slipping into the dark abyss came back to me in flashes. My father’s dagger going into my chest and Kamaria’s dark laugh as she slammed another into my back, the double attack taking me by surprise. The flash between being in the throes of battleto the stone walls of the cottage and Ivy’s horrified look when I appeared with three blades inside me.
Then it was all a blur, but I remembered something snapping inside me. I’d first thought it was my bond, but now I wasn’t so sure.
