Page 59 of Where We Ended

“He’s going to find me, Silas. He knows where I sleep. He’s been in here.”

My space. My safe place.

Where was I supposed to go? What was I supposed to do?

A white cottage with a fenced-in backyard, a patch of green grass.

“I know, baby, but this is still the safest place for you. I’ll tell Killian, and he’ll reinforce the club. I’ll send Death Raiders to fix this. You’ll be protected at all times.”

Something in my brain was misfiring because his words should be bringing me comfort, but there was a rope untethering, one knot at a time. Wasn’t this what people did with panicked animals? They spoke softly, promising a better future, while they removed anything that had once connected them.

“No, it…I don’t want that, I want you.” My words were rushed, my eyes closed as I continued to breathe.

Silas didn’t speak; he just continued to hold me.

“They’ll be the best of the best, Caelum. I’ll be back…but I have to find him. I have to.”

No. Don’t leave me. Don’t go. Not again.

I wanted to say it, to beg it, but somewhere deep down refused to give him those words. Not when he’d take them and bottle them, only to do what he saw was best in the end. I used to think it was the war always brewing in his blood that kept us apart, but now I saw it for what it was.

A vendetta with his father…and what was the absolute worst part of this, was I didn’t even blame him. Not after seeing all the ways Silas had changed throughout the years from Fable’s training.

Revenge would always come first, and while I understood this specific time, it had to do with me, it was still the same score to settle from years back.

It burned that Alec was right, and while Silas may see it as protecting me, I wouldn’t survive another two years of him trying to keep me safe from a distance. This would be our end, and we’d never even really had a beginning.

“Please don’t go,” I managed to whisper with my voice cracking.

His hand moved to the side of my face, tilting it back, and right as I opened my mouth to continue pleading, his lips were on mine.

He moved savagely, kissing me like he used to when he’d leave me after we’d turned eighteen. I tried to pull away, but he held me firm.

“I’m not leaving you. I’m here.” His hand moved to my chest, over my heaving breasts. “I’m always in here.”

His lips returned to mine, sensual, slow and violent all at once. I moved with him, lost in his taste and his familiar touch.

“Silas.” A sob finally broke free from my chest. “Don’t go.”

We stayed like that, rocking back and forth in each other’s arms. But eventually it came to an end with a firm knock against my door.

Silas broke away first, holding my face in his palms. “Natty, the man on the other side of that door is named Garrison. I trust him with your life, which you know means I trust him with my own. He is going to sweep your room every time you enter it and go with you wherever you go.”

I was already shaking my head, a fresh tear dripping down the tip of my nose.

“I’ll come with you. Just take me with you this time.”

His stare softened, his dark hair cutting over his forehead, his pale blue eyes searching my gaze for something…I had no idea what.

“I have to find him, and in order to do that I have to hurt a lot of people.”

I gripped his arm to stop him from retreating then let out a strained breath.

“I want to be your partner, Silas. I don’t need to be kept in a tower while you go fight all our enemies. Let me just stand with you. I’m?—”

My voice broke off, as worry and panic edged into my throat.

“I’m tired, Silas. I’m so tired of being alone of being left…just,” I squeezed my eyes shut, “please just don’t leave.”

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