Page 63 of Of Blooming Embers
After we entered, she moved without thinking, undressing completely and plaiting her hair as she stared into the darkness outside our window. I slipped one of my tunics over her naked body.
As I pushed the beds together, the scrape of wood on wood permeated the air. Wordlessly, she took my hand as she sank onto the mattress, and I settled behind her, wrapping her in my embrace.
“I’m here, Little Star,” I whispered into her hair, nuzzling into it. She nestled into me.
“She’s … she’s the bloody raven. Always a raven following …”
“Close your eyes. I’ll be here when you wake,” I murmured, hugging her closer.
After a while, the faint trembling of her body subsided. A relieved exhale left me, and with my next breath, her sweet, air-soaked scent filled my lungs.
“What if I’m a Scion?” The words were so faint, I questioned whether I’d heard them. Heart thumping, my jaw stiffened. If she were a Scion, then she’d be in more danger than I initially thought.
“Then so be it. I’ll be beside you on whatever journey you decide to take.” My arm tightened around her.
“But the Fates?—”
“Damn the bloody Fates. You are who you choose to be.”
Her back shook against me with a sardonic chuckle. “What if I ran away and pretended this was all a nightmare? Would you follow me then?”
I kissed the top of her head. “You know I would. But you won’t. You’ve never run from anything in your life. Even when I asked.” A stupid grin spread across my face before drifting away in our silence.
The sound of water lapping at the base of the tree wafted through the window.
Her fingers brushed against my forearm, and then stilled. “Would you hunt me if I ran? Like the others?”
My pulse lurched, and I propped myself on my elbow, my upper body slanting a bit over her. She tucked her lips into a tight line, giving me only her profile.
“Asteria,” I growled. Still, she refused to look at me. Gently, I cupped her chin and turned her face until her gaze met mine. “Need I remind you? I’d go to the depths of the Nether Void to find you.” Her chin wobbled under my touch. “But I’d sooner face the Ancient of Nightmares than hunt you for any other purpose than your rescue.”
A whimper fell from her lips, and her eyelids fluttered close. Ileaned into her and slanted my mouth against hers, my fingers resting against her jaw. She breathed deeply and pressed her warm lips into mine.
Her pulse scampered under my fingertips. Our tongues danced and caressed each other’s for a few moments as I poured all my unspoken vows into our kiss.
A reluctant moan vibrated in my chest as I pulled away and rubbed my thumb along the underside of her jawline. I gazed into the glacial blue of her eyes, hoping everything I felt was sinking into their depths.
Intoher.
Softly, I placed one more kiss on her lips before sinking down to the bed, my back melting into the mattress.
Within a few moments, she rotated in my arms and placed one hand on my chest. Her thumb stroked over the fabric of my tunic—over the thick scar above my heart.
“I know you’d never hurt me. I … I just want to understand what you went through. Why you had to do herbidding. And I’m … I’m scared.” She swallowed as if the word was repugnant and stuck on her tongue. “So damnedscared.”
A tiny fissure splintered within me. Warily, Seryn looked up, and a stray tendril drifted over her cheek. I tucked it behind her ear and then covered her hand with mine as she snuggled her face into the crook of my shoulder.
My heartbeat thundered so violently that it pulsed through both our palms. I wanted her to know.Neededher to understand. Even if it meant exposing all the revolting, weak parts of me.
Even if it unveiled my failures.
My thumb brushed over her hand, back and forth like the pendulum of a ticking clock. My nostrils flared as I dug into the darkest recesses of my mind. Unearthing the buried nightmares I kept so tightly packed down.
Briefly, my lips rubbed together before my story tumbled from me. “When I joined the Order, I was looking for something I could never have. Something I was …” I glanced at the top of Seryn’s head, and then back to the splintered ceiling panels. “… I was missing. But then my mother was culled, and Pa died. Honestly, the first couple of turns are a blur. Early on, Melina took an interest in me. She claims we were lovers during the Dormancies, before my rune, and I … I can’t say that we weren’t …”
Seryn’s fingers flinched against my chest. Crushing my eyes together, I gulped. “The thought of it repulses me even now. To think I was that weak.” My molars ground together as a memory from five turns ago played across the backs of my eyelids.
“Aren’t you appealing?” Melina purred, running her pointed nails over my new rune tattoo. “It’ll be much more enjoyable now that you remember our time together, Commander. Don’t I deserve a thank you for such a priceless gift? You used tothank meall the time, in any way I saw fit.” She cupped my jaw, her nails like lancets when I tried to jerk from her hold. “You were always my favorite playmate. Don’t you realize? You’re the only one—alive—I can’t get inside. I need to pick you apart, bit by bit, until I break into that thick, beautiful skull of yours.”
