Page 176 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

My cheeks heat up with embarrassment.

“We need to focus.” I clear my throat, trying to ignore the fluttering in my stomach his closeness causes.

He smirks at me knowingly.

“I am focusing on you,” he retorts smoothly.

“Enough. This is serious?—”

But before I can finish my sentence, he presses a finger to my lips and his expression turns serious. He tilts his head to listen carefully.

“Someone is coming.”

My eyes widen in alarm.

Palming the pin, I use some energy to move the lid of the casket off the ground and place it on top of us.

Darkness engulfs us.

The door to the morgue opens and steps thud onto the floor as soldiers march in. They’re deep in conversation, making ribald jokes and poking fun at each other. I would have rolled my eyes at the situation had I not been backed into a corner like this—literally.

Although it’s dark inside the casket, Mine’s breath fan over my face, the air getting warmer and warmer. The old, musty smell of the wood is all but forgotten as his scent invades my nostrils.

We’ve been in close quarters before. Yet somehow this seems more intimate, more…important. Despite the fact that neither of us speaks and that the only noises around us are the raised voices of the soldiers, the silence is heavy. Perhaps it’sbecausewe’re both silent that I am so acutely aware of him next to me, of his warm body warming my own when cold is all I’ve ever known.

I squeeze my eyes shut against the barrage of feelings that threatens to consume me. From the start, I set out to focus on the mission and get my powers back. But just as well, from the start Mine set out to thwart me at every turn. Even when I feelmost confident about what I’m supposed to do, he still makes me waver.

Now, as I feel his presence, steeped in all the sensesbutsight, I start to realize that no matter how strong my resolve is, his might be stronger.

He never once balked in the face of a challenge, even after knowing my true identity and my goals; or after all our misunderstandings.

He’s been steadfast where I have been wavering. And that realization makes me pause. Not only because a relationship with him as a human goes against everything I am, everything I was taught, but also because for the first time, I am someone’sgoal.

Have I ever had someone put me first before? I find the courage to ask myself. And the answer is evident: no.

I was born for a purpose, I was raised for a purpose, and I was always treatedasa purpose. Even during my time in the military, an avenue I sought out to establish myownpurpose, I was just another soldier in a sea of equally or better qualified ones. I did my job, but I was never indispensable, as evidenced by the way the military so easily washed its hands of me. To my family, aside from the advantages my union with Theron would bring, I am rather…dispensable.

Never in my life have I felt that I was the sole focus of someone; the sole ambition.

“I’m here,” Mine whispers. “I’ll keep you safe.” He takes my hand in his and squeezes it tightly, that gesture alone imbuing me with more strength than any magical object ever could

I blink my eyes open, though I still cannot see him.

“W-what?” I whisper back, the word spoken through trembling teeth.

His hand slides up my arm: up and down. That’s when I realizewhyhe is trying to comfort me. My entire body is trembling.

Shudders consume my body and I am unable to stop them. Fear, frustration, and desolation compete for supremacy within me. It’s an overload of emotions, and it’s all because of him.

Because he goes against everything I should want. Because he made me his purpose when all I’ve ever been was an accessory to a purpose, never one in itself.

“Shh,” he continues, holding me as best he can in this tight space.

Such a precarious situation we’re in, and my emotions decided to suddenly surface just now.

“I’m here, with you. Always with you. Nothing will happen, all right?” He continues to whisper, to comfort, as if he had the power to change everything even when I know he doesn’t.

Strangely enough, I find myself believing him.

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