Page 90 of Secrets & Curses of Cerithia

“Thank you for being my friend.”

“I think I’m the one who should be thanking you, Thea. I owe you my life more than once.”

I gave him another squeeze before heading to the castle as he turned to head home.

“Are you alright?” Cassius was standing in the shadows. Had he been out here the whole time? The smell of rain and night hit me as he ran to catch up.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For being kind to Leer and Larissa. They mean a lot to me.”

“Anyone that’s important to you is important to me,” he said sincerely.

“Will you just... stop.” My voice echoed around us.

He pulled me back by my arm.

He frowned. “I love you.”

My mind didn’t want to believe his words, but my heart did. Even though we were making progress, something had shifted in the past two days. My mind had been concocting all these false scenarios of Cassius betraying me, and now I was drowning in negative thoughts. All because he had been avoiding me. It was as if he were chasing away all my doubt by being around, but when he was gone it hit me ten times worse.

He gripped my wrists and pulled me close to his chest.

“I do love you,” he said to me. “When the gods decided that I was not worthy of you, Thea, all I could think was to hell with them because you are my heaven and stars. As long as I can make you think I am worthy, then I will die a happy man. I will do anything to show you that I love you. I would do anything for you, my love. Please, just give me a chance to show you and explain to you why I did what I did.”

I shook my head. “What if your reason is not good enough? It will destroy me.”

Cassius dropped to his knees in front of me. Holding himself to my stomach.

“You are everything to me.” His golden eyes looked up at me, and he frowned as tears filled them. “I am nothing without you.”

I shook my head.

“What happened in the past two days to make you look at me like this again?” he asked quietly.

“You have been avoiding me and I feel like I did something wrong. My mind is swarming with every negative scenario it can think of, and I can not stop it. I am trying to be strong; I am trying to be in a place where I can talk with you."

“Little viper, that wasn't my intent. I was giving you some space to process. If you want, I will linger around you constantly.” He glanced up at me from his knees. “You have to face this at some point. You can’t keep running from it, thinking that it will reveal some ugly truth. If anything, I would hope my words and truth bring you comfort.”

Gods, he could read me like an open book. I would push this conversation off until the end of time if I could. It was odd to hide from this, but on the other hand, I wanted to know the truth more than anything.

“We’ll talk soon,” I promised as I backed away from him and headed inside to our room, leaving Cassius kneeling in the dirt.

Chapter 29

Startled awake, I quickly opened my eyes. Something felt... off, and my senses were alert, but when I glanced around the dark room, it was empty. Sitting up slowly, I felt an overwhelming sense of urgency. At first, I thought it was the bond, but it wasn’t. There was something clinging in the air around me that I had never experienced before.

“Cassius?” I called out, thinking he was close by, but he didn’t appear. Glancing around, I couldn’t help the feeling of being watched. I stood and walked to the living room, but Cassius wasn’t there.

A movement in the tree line outside caught my attention. My body went rigid when I saw her, Della. She stood in the bright glow of her mist, which reminded me of the stars twinkling in the night sky. Her dark hair flowed around her, and she wore a black, dainty crown on top of her head. Her golden skin popped against the darkness of her dress, and even from this distance, I could see her smiling directly at me.

How could she see me so clearly? Then, like a whisper in the wind, I heard her feminine voice calling out to me in my mind.

Come. We need to talk.

I waited for my instincts to tell me not to follow her into the woods, but they didn’t. Instead, they told me to go. Still, I hesitated. However, when I saw Wisp with her, I knew I wouldn’t be harmed. So, I slipped on my clothing and boots before racing out the door. Quickly, I made my way out of the castle and to the woods. Della stood there smiling at me as I came to a quick stop.

“Thea.”

My brows furrowed as I stared at her.

---