Page 10 of Ruined Kingdom

“Helene brought you back to life? But the Gods cannot interfere with mortal dealings. It’s strictly forbidden.” He scratched at the stubble on his jaw anxiously.

“She didn’t really interfere. All she did was open the doorway for me, so to speak. She said because my strength and will are strong, I’d be able to do it myself. But I don’t know if I would have found my way back without her,” I explained.

Though he seemed mostly relieved—his beautiful dark eyes softening as he studied my face, as if he’d thought he would never see me again—there was still something hinting at him being unsettled about the news of how I’d made it back.

I’d been about to tell him about the rosebud Helene had given me from his garden, though another version of it, but thought better of it. The Goddess had called it a timer, and I knew it’d be something he would obsess and worry over.

No, this was something I needed to deal with myself. I hadn’t even been back a day and the ticking rosebud had already changed into something more than a mere rosebud. I couldn’t begin to know what it meant, but Helene had told me to keep it close at all times, and that I’d know when and how to use it.

But when she’d said that to me, I recalled how it had also been around the time the Goddess had barely been able to look at me anymore…

“I can hardly believe it, but for whatever reason you’re here—I’m so very glad. I will be grateful for it for as long as I live,” Kaine murmured, stroking his hand lightly down my cheek before cupping my face in with both his hands, and leaning in close.

He looked deeply into my eyes, and for the first time, I could feel him fraying apart at the seams. He’d thought he had lost me forever before I burst in here a few minutes ago. I could sense his pain and sorrow as if it were my own.

I only wished I knew how to heal it. “And I’m unendingly grateful that you were here waiting for me to return, and not out there traumatizing and tearing down the entire forest searching for me.”

This brought a half-hearted smile to his face. He wanted to laugh, but there was an underlying hurt and shame to the idea. He waited for me to return because that had been all he could do. For all he’d known before seeing me alive, only my body had been taken.

An indescribable blast of emotions hit me. It was sorrow, elation, desperation, fear, and something much sweeter and stronger, all filling me at once as he leaned over me. He touched his lips to mine so gently, so tenderly, as if he was afraid he was going to break me.

Being broken was no longer a fear I had. What terrified me the most now was the thought of being lost in the darkness away from him.

I wanted him to take that away from me, so I buried myself in him, hoping that by the time I came back up for air, my darkness would be lost in his.

He wrapped his arms around my waist in response to my sudden plea, drawing me into him. He felt like he was on fire. His muscles tensed against my soft skin, locking me into place and imprisoning me against his powerful body.

I couldn’t help but let out a little breathless chuckle against Kaine’s lips at the thought of how this was no longer an imprisonment I wished to escape from. In fact, I craved it now.

There’d been a time I had wanted nothing but to literally claw my way out of these walls, and away from him. Now, things were turned around. Whenever I found myself away from this castle, and without Kaine, I knew, come hell or high water, I would keep clawing my way back—whatever it took. There was no price too high to pay.

Kaine’s hands began making their way down my dress until they found the strings to the corset. He detangled them with expert precision before pulling the strings out until the corset came loose.

He opened it from the top down, slowly and tenderly. He gasped and stared at my stomach. “You’re wound… There isn’t even one anymore.”

I had completely forgotten about it until he brought it up. I ran my fingers over my smooth and unmarred skin where his eyes were fixated on. “Yes,” was all I could think to say.

I knew it was going to lead to more questions. I knew it was going to bring up subjects he didn't want to talk about … things I didn't want to talk about. But the curiosity on his face told me that I wasn't going to be able to stop the inevitable.

“Was this Helene’s doing? Did she heal you?”

He eagerly searched my eyes for answers, causing me to drop them to the floor as I tried to muster a lie or half-truth, but I couldn't bring myself to do that to him. “I was healed by the Golden Deer that I once rescued in the woods.”

“Golden Deer?” he reiterated, not with disbelief as I’d expected but with bewildering wonder and curiosity.

“I know it’s silly, but for a long while, I thought she was something like a guardian angel to me. But now I suspect she’s been working with the Dark Fae all along.”

He seemed to gloss over what I had just said, lost in his own thoughts. “A golden deer that healed you?” he said more to himself than to me.

Still, I felt the need to respond. “Yes… Does that mean something to you?”

His lips pressed into a thin, straight line, and his brows furrowed deeply at me. The darkness in his eyes swirled. “I don't know yet but don't concern yourself with it for now. We’ll figure it out.”

“Is the deer something I should be worried about?” I tugged on his arms, demanding more information I knew he had—I could feel a forebodingness emanating from him concerning the topic.

“It's not the deer that concerns me,” he confessed tentatively, running his fingers over his chin pensively. “I’m more worried about what the Dark Fae might be planning to do with it.”

“What do you mean?” Before I was even able to finish my question, he turned away from me. “You're not doing me any favors by keeping me in the dark, Kaine. How can I possibly know how to protect myself if you keep everything from me?”

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