Fighting to swallow her tears and failing, she touched his arm. He jerked away, his back hitting the windowpane.
Her fingers balled. “Nothing will ever make what happenedokay…I know that. But I’m here now—”
“I shouldn’t have said that, not to you. You took away the nightmares for a while, but now, here, in this place, it all overwhelms me like wings fluttering inside here—” He jabbed a finger at his cranium, repeatedly. Those beautiful eyes of his were edged with so much agony. “The voices, the laughter—”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“No one can help me, don’t you get it? Parts of me were left back in that hellhole. I’m only half a person—” The tormented words were wrenched free. He shoved away from the wall and prowled the room as if he might shatter if he stopped. “Those nightmares will haunt me forever.”
Slowly, Kira approached him, forcing him to stop his erratic march-about. “Then I will be there for you to lean on, to help you through each nightmare…”
She cautiously put her palm on his chest, desperate to reach him and pull him out of the abyss he was caught in. He lifted his head and stared at her with those haunted dark eyes. “I’ll never let you endure any of this alone,” she whispered. “Together, we’ll find the pieces and mend them. I’ll let nothing hurt you again for as long as I breathe. I swear it on my life.”
Týr’s throat worked as if he couldn’t swallow, then he dragged her into his arms, crushing her against his chest, his face buried in her neck. God, there was so much suffering hidden within her warrior. Tears misted her eyes as she caressed his back.
“I’m here now, love—I’m here.”
His big body shuddered, and his embrace tightened. She could barely breathe, and she didn’t care. He needed her.
After a long moment, his breathing slowed to normal. He eased back a little and then shook his head. His gaze skimmed over her face as if he were mapping her every feature. “From the very first day I met you, it was like a train crash every time you wandered into my sight. I stood no chance.” The glint in his narrowed eyes made her think that he couldn’t quite make sense of it himself. “You smashed through any shields I erected without even trying, and you utterly and completely devastated me. It took me a while to understand that all you did was show me a way back to the living. It was so easy to fall in love with you. And so damn hard…”
Helovedher? A sob caught in her throat, and then he was talking again. “Only with you there, I learned how to breathe through my nightmares…”
She sniffed, tears crowding her eyes. She reached up and kissed him on the mouth. “I love you, too. So much.”
A smile curved his lips and warmed her heart. His arms tightened around her.
To help him breathe again was a good start. But in her heart, she knew it wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed his spirit and soul healed after everything that had been taken from him. He had to learn to forgive himself. And she would do everything she could to help him do just that.
* * *
Týr held onto Kira, his limbs shaky, his mind in a daze at the emotional wringer he’d been through at having layers upon layers of his soul exposed. It still left him reeling, that she didn’t care about his past or that he’d been sold as a sex slave. She didn’t blame him for any of the atrocities that had occurred, or think that it was his fault all the protectors had been incarcerated in Tartarus in the first place.
Kira eased back and looked up into his face. “Just so you know, if I ever find those bastards who did that to you, I will make them wish for death.”
At the steely glint in her eyes, a smile started. She hated hurting anyone, but she would do so to avenge him. His heart warmed, feeling as if he’d just walked out of his constant night storms and into the dawn.
But he had to be honest. “It was my fault we ended up imprisoned.”
“Really?” She cut him a severe stare. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it was that goddess—yeah, yeah, I know she was young and all—butshegave you that damn drink!”
Týr sighed and rubbed his palm over his unshaven jaw. Even though he finally understood this, he refused to put the blame on a child.
Sounds outside the chamber intruded, pulling him back to the guards changing shift. And what he had to do. He didn’t want to leave Kira, but Riley would be waiting, and he needed to meet the informant who had info about the abducted children. Especially since it all centered around the missing boy Kira cared deeply about. Not wanting to raise her hopes if it led to a false trail, he remained silent.
“You look pensive again.”
“I’m fine. Your brother, however, seems to think I need moretoursof Stygia,” he murmured. “I need to go meet him soon.”
A smile wavered on her tempting mouth, but her troubled expression remained. Her eyes searched his. “You and him?”
Right. He couldn’t resist. “Well, we’re both still breathing.”
She gave a feminine snort and relaxed against him. “I’m glad you’re getting along. I mean, I love Echo with all my heart, but this ismybrother. For so long, I wanted to truly belong, and now I do. I have family—Riley, Gran. And most of all…you.”
