Page 64 of Feathers and Thorns

Rook had challenged her in a way they could not. Her words and actions had pushed her friends away while they seemed to only make him gravitate closer. In the beginning, she had been trying to escape her circumstances, but by the end, she had known she was only trying to escape her true feelings for the man she was supposed to consider the enemy.

She could feel his soft breath caress her cheek, followed by the faint metallic tang of blood mixing with the soft pines of his own scent. She looked into his sapphire eyes, letting herself get lost one last time in the fractured shards of crystal that lay behind his long lashes. She willed herself to be brave and use these last moments to show him where her heart truly belonged.

She pressed her lips to his in the sweetest of kisses. It was a kiss that said, “I wish we had more time.” It was a kiss of love and longing, and hope and heartbreak. It was goodbye.

Before their mouths parted, Soren whispered against his lips. She spoke so softly that the words would have been carried away before Rook had even heard them, had there been a breeze. Three words that would forever change them both.

“I forgive you.”

“I forgive you.” Those three words were like a balm to all of Rook’s unseen wounds. When she’d nearly died in the frozen water those long weeks ago, he’d assumed she would hate him forever.

He pulled her tight against him and could feel the wetness of her tears dampen his chest. She was fading. He could feel his grip on her mind slipping. The world he had created around them started to shimmer. He reached one hand down, tilting her chin upward, and stole one last kiss.

“I hate you,” she said, giving him a sad smile.

He smirked and brushed his thumb down the apple of her cheek. “I love you, too, little bird.”

The words had slipped from his tongue before he could stop them, but he did not regret the admission. If he was to truly lose her this time, he was glad she knew.

The shock on her face was evident, but before she could say anything more, the dreamscape wavered again, and his hold on her world ended.

* * *

Rook was back in the fabric shop, his hand firmly gripping Soren’s as she lay on the crafting table before him. The sewing needle and thread he’d used to mend her injury lay beside her leg, along with the strips of cloth he had used to staunch the wound. The blood on his hands was beginning to dry and flake off like pieces of ash from a dying fire. It was still sticky where their palms met, and he kissed her knuckles before separating his fingers from hers. She had minutes left.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, not caring that her hair was matted to her scalp with the blood of the enemy. Before he could whisper his last goodbye, however, the door burst open. His weapon was in his hands, and he was poised to strike.

Before he could swing his blade, the female Celestial donning the armour of the enemy held up her empty palms and said, “Wait—I can help.”

“I sincerely doubt that,” Rook ground out. His teeth were pressed so hard together he feared they might crack.

“Let me save her,” the woman said softly, not taking her eyes off his sword.

“Save her?” He let out a sickening laugh. “It is your people who have done this.”

“I know, but I am not here for them. Please, let me heal her.”

Rook looked at her, and then at Soren, whose breathing had slowed to a dangerous rate. He flicked his eyes back to the strange woman, and something in him said to trust her.

“Fine, but if you try anything, I will remove the hands you say will heal and show you what the true meaning of pain is.”

To his surprise, she quirked a smile and said, “I would expect no less.”

The woman had an intense look of determination in her golden eyes as she moved to Soren’s side and placed her hands over her calf. Her palms glowed with a soft violet light that seemed to soak into Soren’s tanned skin and snake through her veins. Within seconds, her whole body glowed violet as the woman’s power took hold.

When she was finished, she backed away, breathing heavily, and sat in the chair Rook had been previously occupying. His blade fingers itched as she then traced her index finger along Soren’s face. What she said next took him by surprise.

“She looks so much like her mother.”

“You knew Celandine?” Rook asked, still wary of this stranger.

The smile she gave him made her look as aged as all the years she had been in existence. Then she nodded, wiping away a stray tear. “She was my best friend.” She held up her hands. “She was the only one, until my mate, who knew of my ability.”

“How does it work?” he asked, lowering his blade. If she was going to attack him, she would have already done it.

He rolled the tension from his shoulders and waited for her to answer.

“My father liked to experiment, you see. The Maker of all things got bored, and making different versions of his children brought him joy. Adriel was gifted the power of healing himself, whereas I was gifted the power to heal others, though mine is finite. Father must have known I would use my gifts on the people of Entheas and did not want me to upset the balance of nature here.”

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