I was tired, and probably dozed off for the hundredth time. At some point I heard a rattling sound, as if metal was rubbing against metal. I assumed my fever was causing me to hear things, but it was actually a real sound nearby.I opened my eyes to see Gwendolyn, she didn’t even look like she was here… it was like some sort of golden Veil surrounded her.
She was almost transparent, like a faerie or pixie.
What was happening?
“Malakai?” she asked, searching for me.
It was like the light, the stars and moons came all together and embodied themselves in one person. His soft angelical features, silver grey eyes, straight nose and beautiful velvety skin made him look like a celestial god, like he had been the answer to all of my prayers at night.
I smiled at the way she was describing me, and I knew she had no idea that I’d been listening to her thoughts every single second of the day. Even the sad ones, the sweet ones. All of them were part of my mind and have branded themselves in it.
“Gwendolyn?” I whispered, my lips grazing her soft skin, trying to see if she was real or only some part of my imagination. My entire body started to tremble as I felt her softness under my lips.
Was she really real? And how could she even be more beautiful than I imagined?
She cupped the side of my face, her thumb brushing my cheek as I leaned in to press the softest kiss against her lips to make sure she was really there. My gaze roamed over her, drinking in every delicate detail, every curve, every breath, every trembling heartbeat that called out to me.
I was utterly captivated bymy little robin, unable to tear my eyes from her soul-deep, alluring brown gaze. The eyes that had kept me awake at night, which had given me the strength to keep going.
“You’re real… right?” I repeated in a whisper, still in disbelief.
She didn’t seem to be afraid of me. She should have been. Instead, she looked at me like I wasn’t a monster at all.
She pulled me into her arms, and my wings wrapped tightly around her, shielding her from everything else, from fear, from the darkness still clinging around me. To make myself realize that she wasn’t a ghost, not a memory or an illusion, she was real. I pressed soft kisses over her forehead, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, savoring the salt of her tears against my lips. Each tear was like water on parched earth—precious, and mine to cherish. I had been so thirsty my entire life, starved for this connection, for something real. And now, I could drown in the taste of her, in the raw and pure essence of her emotions. If I could have used my hands, I’d use them to stroke over every single inch of her skin.
And I’d never let her go again. Even if I didn’t deserve her.
“Malakai.” That was Damien’s voice.
My wings tightened instinctively around her as my head snapped up, scanning our surroundings.
And then I saw him.
Damien. My brother. The only one in my family that loved me.
“Damien,” I called out softly.
“I’m here. You’re not alone anymore,” he replied.
He took me in his arms, holding me close, refusing to let Gwendolyn go either. My wings cradled them both against me. My brother and my mate were here… they’d found me.
For the first time in years, I wasn’t standing alone in the dark anymore. I was with the ones I loved, the only ones that ever mattered.
“Since when are you here, Malakai?” Damien asked.
But there were so many things I couldn’t speak out loud, especially not in front of her. Too deeply ran my shame. Too long had I let my body and my mind be used.
“You can’t stay here,” I said, although it was more of a plea. I didn’t want neither her nor him to feel the things that had happened to me. If she ever found out… even in my mind, I couldn’t bring myself to form her name without feeling disgusted and how I didn’t defend myself enough.
“You’re coming with us, Malakai,” Damien said, his tone a promise. “I’m never leaving you behind again.” He rose to his feet, a surge of power rippling through his body, his eyes regarding the ancient stone walls of the cave I’ve been locked in, as if he was searching for any kind of trace I couldn’t see. I had spent so much time trying to find a way out of here. But there was none. Leanan was clever, she hid me here because she knew it was the only place between Veils, so it took a lot of effort to use your powers here. For someone with minimal powers it was nearly impossible.
However, my brother’s powers were anything but minimal. The fact that through Gwendolyn’s and my bond he was able to sense me, even in the sacred water of the Ancient Springs, a place that was supposed to mute all outside forces. And now, standing before him, I couldn’t even begin to fathom how much he had changed… how much his powers had changed.
But it wasn’t only his powers that seemed to change, it was alsomine.
Angels were able to form connections without bonding with their mates physically, but the way I felt Gwendolyn was almost unnaturally intense. It was like I could feel her body inside mine, her soul had been calling out to me, even when she didn’t know what or who I was.
She had called me her guardian, whispering sweet pleas to me at night. I focused on her warmth, the way her hands were still around me, stroking over my wings as tenderly as possible, like she was afraid to break me into pieces. Not knowing she couldn’t break something which was already broken.
