Page 105 of Cloak of Night
Everyone else nodded.
“Besides,” Daemon said, “I promised to do everything I could to save you from an eternity in the hells, and I meant it.”
Sora bit her lip.
“All right, then,” she said. “I guess we have a plan.”
“Yes, we do,” Daemon said, “but could I talk to you privately?”
She frowned. “Uh, sure.” She turned to the rest of the group. “Why don’t you all get a little rest? Hana, watch over Tidepool. Daemon and I will be right back.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
They walked a short way to a thicket of banyans—trees that grew one on top of another, their seeds landing on a branch of one tree and casting down roots, such that dozens of trees could fuse together, their long roots draping over one another and hardening into a forest of interwoven trunks.
“What’s going on?” Sora asked.
Daemon spun and faced her. “I actually hate the idea of splitting up again.”
“Sorry,” she said, confused. “But didn’t your part of the plan—going to Celestae—also involve dividing up? It makes sense, and we’ve been doing it this whole time.”
“Yes, but I don’t want... Ugh, I don’t know how to explain it without...” Daemon closed his eyes as if it was suddenly all too overwhelming, and he rested his head against a banyan tree without finishing what he was saying.
She went over and touched his shoulder. “What don’t you want?”
He mumbled something, but it disappeared into the tree.
“I’m sorry.... I couldn’t hear you,” Sora said.
Daemon paused, then pulled himself away from the branches. “I don’t want to lose you,” he said.
At first she thought he meant he was afraid she would die damned. But when Daemon turned back around, his eyes met Sora’s, and their gemina bond buzzed as loudly as if his electricity was at its fullest. Sora gasped as her entire body vibrated with the charge between them.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he repeated, except this time, their bond also filled with rose—both the color and the sensation of blooms unfurling.
Sora’s mouth parted. Did this mean...?
Almost immediately, though, he raised his mental ramparts and cut her off. “I shouldn’t have... You know what? Don’t say anything. You’re my gemina. I’ve probably ruined everything—”
She stepped closer, so there were only inches between them. She put her finger on his lips, and the warmth of his breath on that little sliver of her skin was enough to make her light-headed.
“You like me?” she dared to ask. “I mean, as more than just a gemina?”
Daemon cast his gaze downward but nodded, almost guiltily. “I know I’m not supposed to. I tried to fight it, but Fairy was right. I just can’t.... I’m sorry.”
Sora laughed softly to herself. “Don’t be sorry.” She traced the curve of his mouth with her finger.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and he looked at her again, his gaze intense, waiting, hoping. Actual sparks flickered off his skin.
Sora could barely breathe.
And yet she held back. There was a reason the Society forbade geminas from getting involved. If it didn’t work out, you were still stuck with them as your partner for life. You’d have to see them with someone else and feel their love for that other person. There was no escape. She pulled her finger away from his mouth.
“You’re scared,” Daemon said.
“What if we mess everything up?” she asked. “You’re my best friend. You’re my favorite person in the entire world.”
“And what if we don’t try?” he said. “What if we miss out on the most amazing experience of our lives?”
