Page 81 of A Simple Truth

“You would’ve remembered,” Ivan murmured.

“Would I, though? I stopped remembering their faces before I turned eighteen. Their names, long before that.” I took another sip. “What’s another burned nameless village to us?” I glanced over the men in the shadows, at their somber faces; men that stood by my side for years now, following me into each massacre, into each battle, without question. Blackening their souls at my command. “I can’t even tell how many we have burned and destroyed anymore.”

It was just another body against my sword, another pile of ash, another soul to scorch. Their faces, their screams; they all twisted with the bloody darkness within me, pulling and tugging me further into the abyss.

“So, what’s the plan then? Wallow in self-pity forever? I’m sure she’ll love that look.” Orest rolled his gray eyes at me, but I didn’t care.

“For her? I have no plan. I have no fucking strategies.” I raised my mug up, toasting to my defeat, and then gulped it all at once.

“Yeah, I don’t believe a word of that,” Bear challenged. “You were scheming before you could even talk. I mean, hell, you staged a full-blown coup at the barracks when you were barely eight, just because you wanted a nicer bed. You always get what you put your mind to.”

“Not this time,” I objected pathetically, the fucking heartache blinding any reason. I couldn’t even spare a thought on what to do, because all I could think of was her.

Finnleah.

Finnleah.

Finnleah.

And the fact that she was not by my side, not in my bed.

“Sleep it off, Gideon.” Ivan patted me on my shoulder, standing up. “I’ll see what I can pry out of my wife for you. And with the amount of wine they stole, I am about to see her horny,chatty ass in my tent soon.” Ivan chuckled, heading for the exit alongside the rest of them, as they all said their encouraging goodbyes. Orest stayed back, watching them all leave.

“How do you do it?” I asked him as he ran his fingers through his burgundy curls.

“Do what? Watch them all be happily married while my heart gets crushed every day by the woman I love?” Orest sadly chuckled, his deep voice mingling with the darkness. “You get used to it.”

“I don’t think I can ever get used to it. It feels like my heart has been dunked in burning acid and then stabbed repeatedly, and then cleaved into a million pieces. And the only way to stop it is to have her here, by my heart, in my arms... It’s pure fucking agony.”

Orest laughed at my words. “Never took you for a hopeless romantic.”

“Never thought I was one either,” I said, each word laced with defeat as I rubbed my face with my hands. “What am I going to do, Orest?” The weary desperation suffocating me.

“You are asking the wrong person.” He scoffed. “Remember? They are the ones happily married; I am the castaway. Trust me, if I knew what to do, do you think I’d be spending my time with your sorry, drunken ass, or getting laid by my smoking hot wife?” He let out a long, dramatic sigh. “I care for you Gideon, but not that much.”

I flipped him off and he returned the gesture with both hands, managing to put a bleak smile on my face.

48

GIDEON

Iwasn’t sure how long I was passed out amidst the stale smell of terrible wine and aged barrels. My eyes slowly cracked open, grateful for the profound darkness. I groaned, sitting up off the wilted grass. My fingers ruffled my hair as I fought grogginess accompanied by a terrible headache. I welcomed the light buzz of alcohol still in my veins, though quickly dwindling. Orest was long gone as I made my way out, strolling through the sleeping camp, back to my tent. There was a certain serenity outside, as the chilled, night air filled my lungs. The cloudless sky was covered in stars, caught in between the late night and early morning glow. The miniscule Destroyer fires scattered across the camp were nothing but embers now, the little streaks of smoke stretching out in lazy ribbons. I sauntered, taking the long way back, attempting to organize my jumbled thoughts.

Yet, my thoughts all crashed into one, and I almost tripped, abruptly stopping in my tracks, my eyes freezing at the recognition of the one person I was supposed to avoid today.

Finnleah closed the tall, log-like door behind her, stepping away from the shadow-covered walls of the shower house. I had to blink a few times, unsure if it was truly her. I had to have beendreaming, because she was standing there in nothing but a small gray towel, wrapped around her body. Her unbound, wet hair dropped to her bare shoulders as she hopped on one leg, putting on her slippers while holding the top of the towel with her other hand.

Whatever lingering effects of alcohol were there before, disappeared in a single blink. My body immediately filled with such burning need that my skin felt as though it was going to melt. I’d never experienced this kind of desire before. All consuming.

I fucking wanted her more than air. In fact, I didn’t think I knew how to breathe anymore. Finnleah glanced around, scanning the surrounding area as if she was looking for someone. Without a second thought, I sent my fire, pushing her flush against the wooden wall, hidden in the shadows.

“Hello, General,” she purred, not fighting my fiery restraints. “You are just the man I was looking for,” she sweetly cooed, her eyes darkening with dangerous craving. I stepped out of the shadows, closing the distance between us. She tilted her head a bit as her lips stretched in a wickedly seductive smile.

She looked like a goddess. No, better than that. Divine. Celestial.

“Finnleah…” I whispered. Her body was just a breath away from mine, my arm stretched out, hand gripping the moss-covered wall next to her head as I pinned her between my body and the wall. If reason was screaming at me, I couldn't hear it against my loudly beating heart. “It’s dangerous for someone like you to walk around in the middle of the night like this.”

She stretched her neck up, reaching my ear as I hovered over her, her sultry murmur sending shivers across my skin. “And why is it dangerous, General?”

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