Page 76 of Of Night and Blood: Special Edition

If my statement surprised him, he did not show it. His arms tightened, as if letting me go meant losing me forever. Then they loosened, his hands sliding from my back, to my shoulders, to my hands.

“Would it be okay if I took you somewhere, Princess?” he asked.

My eyes darted around our sleeping camp, trying to determine what might be nearby that would interest him. Nothing. The valley was low, grass crisp from the cold and leafless trees with branches that jutted out ominously.

Anger still pulsed through me, because he had done all those wretched things I said. He had stripped me bare—left me without family, friends, or a home. He had watched me lose everything with no remorse.

Still, I could not ignore that taking me also opened my eyes. I missed The Capital. I missed Nicola and Jasper and Farai. I even missed Mia and Xavier, though I would never say it out loud. But I would not deny the fact that Bellamy had rescued me in many ways.

I nodded, and he flashed me a dimpled smile before the smoke wrapped around us. The pain was still heavy, like being torn to pieces for that moment between time and space.

We materialized at the top of a canyon, overlooking a vast expanse of orange rock that was dusted with snow. The terrain was jagged and uneven, as if the years had eaten away at it piece by piece. Something I could relate to.

Straight ahead, the sun was rising over the land, bidding us good morning. Though I had not known true peace since that night Noe had held me, I felt it here once more. Next to Bellamy, who was as warm as the sun itself. Not just in power and magic, but in his soul.

A reminder of sorts that if we all had evil in us, maybe we all had good too.

With one hand still in mine, Bellamy leaned in and whispered, “You mean everything.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Eight more days of grueling travel passed.

In the night, I dreamt of Sterling finding me, his fingers turning to claws as they scraped down my torso. I screamed and screamed, but no one came. He spoke to me in a voice of velvet, promising to love me and take care of me, as long as I gave him everything he wanted. My crown, my immortality, my power.

When I begged him to stop, when I thrashed violently and refused him, the sultry voice disappeared, turning strained as he dragged those claws across my throat. He damned me to the Underworld, cursed my soul, and called me a monstrosity.

All the while I sobbed, wishing it would stop. Wishing I would die.

I awoke shrieking in terror.

Almost instantly, Bellamy appeared from a cloud of black, running to me.

I knew it was him, he was right in front of me, yet I fought to keep his hands from my body. I bared my teeth at him, opening my senses and shoving at that stupid mental shield of black fire. He lifted his arms immediately, backing away a step.

“Asher, it is me, Bellamy. You are safe. Please, I am here. You are safe, Princess. Please,” he begged, his voice cracking with the plea. My eyes darted around the tent, desperately searching for some sort of sign that this was not a trick of my mind, that Bellamy would not attack me too.

Slowly, tentatively, he stepped towards me, noting how my eyes tracked his feet. How my body went rigid at his nearness. One step turned into three, five, and then he was there. Right beside my cot. Leaning down with caution, he reached a hand to me.

Tensing, I waited for him to strike. I deserved it after all.

A monstrosity, Sterling had called me. Yes. That was what I was.

Yet, Bellamy did not move to hit me, instead, he ever so gently placed his palm to my cheek, wiping a stray tear from under my eye. When his knees hit the floor, I finally snapped out of the crazed state.

He was real. I was safe. He was real. I was safe. He was real. I was safe.

I sighed, leaning into his touch. Relief washed over him as I did, causing his shoulders to slouch and his eyes to close. His other hand moved to my hair, massaging softly at my scalp and calming my pounding head, only stopping when my body lost the tension.

I would be okay. Bellamy was here, and he would keep me safe.

“Want to hear something funny?” he asked after a few moments of silence. I looked up, catching his blue eyes that appeared almost translucent in the demon light that Henry had crafted Noe and I last night. There was a devious look to them as he smirked to me.

“What?” I asked, eager to have anything else on my mind other than the nightmares. That hand remained gently clutching my cheek, thumb stroking my temple lazily. His smile grew, showing teeth.

“I once had a meltdown at a court function. Anger ruled me for a long time, and someone had made a snide comment about my ears. Many were unimpressed, if not outright disgusted, with the fae. A future ruler with pointed ears was enough to nearly start a civil war. I heard the carefully sculpted insult and everything turned red, a fire-filled haze blinded me with rage. My entire body erupted in flames. When the king finally calmed me down, I stood there, slightly hunched, and fully nude,” he confided.

I burst into laughter, the thought of Bellamy standing without a speck of clothing on in front of a group of esteemed demons nearly leaving me heaving from hysterics. Though I could not help but feel a tinge of anger for his mistreatment.

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