***
The bedroom doors swung open. Cillian, dressed in a loose, unbuttoned shirt and breeches, stood in the doorway, watching me carefully. His messy appearance gave him an air of vulnerability, but it was brief. Did these half immortals even sleep, or was this simply a front?
He stepped inside, surveying the shattered glass, his eyes narrowing as he looked at me.
"I heard voices, Tilly. Who were you talking to?" His tone was calm, but his eyes were sharp, scanning the room, sniffing the airlike an animal before casting me a questioning glance. My heart pounded.
He couldn’t know what I’d seen. He couldn’t know what I was thinking.
Fionn’s threat echoed in my skull:
I’ll bring him into line.A quick thought entered my mind, what would Fionn do to bring Cillian into line.
If they disciplined each other like that, what chance did I have?
So, I did my best to compose myself, to mask the anger raging inside me.
“What happened, Tilly? You look upset.”
Still haunted by the reflection of myself in the fool’s face, I unconsciously touched my hair and felt a sense of relief to see that it was still auburn. Clearly, the vision was a warning, but a devastating one. I looked up and met his gaze, forcing my voice to stay steady. “I might ask the same of you since you just barged into my room.”
He approached, but I stepped back, shaking my head. "No. I don’t want your comfort.” His expression darkened, but he forced a smile.
“I heard a disruption and feared for your safety.”
"I hate this place. Everything about this place freaks me out. The pictures that hang on the walls, its creaking corridors…” Then I looked at the broken glass all over the floor. My voice trembled.
"I hate the mirrors and all the Goddamn paintings that hang everywhere in this Goddamned house. I don’t like any of them."
Cillian paused, his gaze intense.
"If the mirrors frighten you, I’ll have them all removed. Every single one, if that’s what it takes for you to feel safe."
His words were meant to comfort, but they only deepened my fear. There was a need to control everything, to keep me close. To do anything to show he was there to help. And yet… the promise soothed something raw inside me. I didn’t want to be alone. Not after what I’d seen. Not after knowing Fionn was planning on killing me. Not with the mirrors watching me in this room.
I tried to regain my posture, hiding my stress. I couldn’t tell him. Not about the vision, not about the voices. If Fionn was already contemplating ending me, revealing my doubts could only hurry my death. No, I had to tread carefully. I couldn’t trust him, no matter how sincere his words seemed. But maybe I could make him trust me. Maybe I could make him want to save me. Maybe that was the only way to survive.
“I had a terrible nightmare,” I said as I returned to the bed and curled up in a ball as though the covers would shield me. “It was so real I didn’t know where I was.”
Though the lie came easily, my fear was real. Every part of me trembled, but I clung to one truth. I couldn’t let them know how much I’d seen, how much I now understood. Secrecy was my only weapon, and I intended to use it to my advantage.
Cillian crossed the room, his presence unsettlingly quiet. The scent of him, cold rain hit me before he even reached the bed. I turned to see him sitting on the edge of the bed, his face filled with concern. The loose fabric of his shirt slipped from his shoulder, revealing the pale, hard muscle beneath.
“Tilly,” he said softly.
“There’s nothing to fear.”
He didn't wait for an invitation. He moved, sliding into the space behind me until the heat of his chest pressed against my back. I should have bolted, but I was so cold.
Nothing to fear? The irony almost made me laugh. My pulse quickened as his fingers drifted to my hair and teased the strands at my neck. His touch sent a shiver down my spine, but I couldn’t tell if it was pleasure or fear or both. My body betrayed me, leaning into his touch even as my mind screamed to pull away.
Was I that desperate for someone to protect me over the darkness?
“What… what are you doing?” I murmured.
He moulded himself against me, his arm wrapping around my waist pulling me against his frame. I could feel the steady, powerful thud of his heart through the thin linen of his shirt. I realised the feeling of someone beside me was a great comfort. I hated myself for it, but I tilted my head back, exposing my neck to him. I missed my home and I didn’t want to be alone, with the voices, the mirrors. I couldn’t help thinking if he stayed close… maybe Fionn wouldn’t dare touch me. Maybe I could use this.
“Tilly, there’s nothing to be afraid of if you choose correctly. I promise.” His lips brushed my ear, his breath hot against my skin, igniting a strange warmth that both comforted and terrified me. Was this the curse working on me? Or was it him? Was there even a difference?
