* * *
“Cael,”Xenia croaked, her throat raw and thick from sobbing. “Cael, are you there?”
Alexei and two Deathstalker guards had escorted her and Cael down to the dungeon, placed them in separate cells, and extinguished the torches.
A fitting punishment as the nothingness mirrored the atmosphere of her soul.
She would never,everforgive herself for what they’d done to Cael. Because of her. She couldn’t stand it. And maybe she was selfish and cruel, but she would have sacrificed a hundred Sisters to prevent the loss of Cael’s wing.
She’d have the chance to prove that statement soon. Tomorrow, when they’d drag her to Primarvia and she’d be forced to help Maksym kidnap Shrouded Sisters again. Would she be able to do it this time? She’d have to. There was nowayshe would let that fucker take Cael’s other wing.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Something tapped against the iron bars of her cell.
“Come here.” Cael’s voice, soft and resigned, not angry, soothed some of her unease.
She crawled towards him, her knees scraping against the rough stone floor as she hitched her dress up.
Alexei hadn’t returned to deliver her dress robes yet. She suspected he wouldn’t tonight. They’d probably let her shiver in the cold until tomorrow as further punishment.
Not even the faintest hint of light leaked into the darkness, no glimmer for her eyes to adjust to and catch outlines or silhouettes. She had to rely on her other senses, her hearing and her touch.
She flailed out an invisible hand until it smacked against the stone wall, then followed that forward, reaching out with her other hand until it bumped against rough iron.
“Cael?” she whispered into the darkness.
“I’m here,” he said softly. Close. As if he were right next to her.
She pressed her back against the wall, dragging her knees against her chest and resting her hand at her side through the bars. She heard a rustling noise, then cool, callused fingers brushed against hers.
She wrapped her index and middle fingers around Cael’s, squeezing as hard as she could manage in a tactile apology. “I’m—”
“It wasn’t your fault.” His interruption was calm, measured. With no hint of reproach.
His tenderness cracked her open.
Her sobs poured out in choking, endless waves, violent and dry. The heaving, bodily earthquakes tightened her throat, and she couldn’t breathe.
She tried to pull her hand away. How could he bear to touch her after the life-shattering devastation she’d just caused him?
But he refused to let go.
Gripped her fingers as tightly as if they were a lifeline tethering her in place.
Or was he trying to tether himself?
“I’m gonna give you ten more seconds to howl like that for me and then you need to put away your pity. Do you need a countdown?”
Xenia garbled out a phlegmy laugh, wiping at her nose with her free hand. “You are such an—”
“Asshole, I know. No loss of limb is going to change that, Blondie.”
“If I had known this was the penalty, Cael, I would’ve shoved that tainted Delirium down the throats of every Sister in that Temple.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. And I wouldn’t have wanted you to.”
“What are we going to do? Even if we could get out of these cells, we don’t even know where we are.”
