Page 101 of Unraveled
Distantly, my mind registers steps fading away as Finley leaves the room, allowing us some privacy.
“What were you thinking?” Ash whispers against my lips. “What happened in there, Mia?”
There is so much to tell, so I start at the beginning, when I saw the shadow around Nera’s body in Eponde. Then I tell him about the night we escaped Hedrum, when his curse leaped at me.
Ash only lets go once he seems sure I won’t drop to the ground. Then he pulls away from me and studies my face. “I didn’t think about the reflection in the window...”
“I didn’t mention it because I thought it might be a dark creature, like you said when I went to Eponde. But it attacked me, and my instinct was to ask my amulet to suck the creature in.”
“Is that why your amulet stopped working?”
I nod. “When I saw Nera, how she looked when she arrived, I had to do something.”
“I thought I was going to lose you.” His eyes grow wide, and he gently caresses the side of my face. “No human or hybrid that’s seen my reflection has survived the curse for long.”
I swallow, feeling a prick of worry in the back of my mind. Shifting my gaze to Naheli, I find her lying by the foot of the bed. She barely glances up at me when she feels my attention and huffs before closing her eyes and going back to sleep. So helpful.
“I’m not sorry for trying to save Nera, but I am sorry I didn’t tell you my plan. And that I hid the mirror from you. I thought you wouldn’t let me do it if I told you my intentions.”
“I was so enraged about what Marlena did, I almost burned my manor to the ground. Then I promised the stars that if you came back to me, I wouldn’t go back to Hedrum and show her what it means to stare at my reflection.”
A chill breaks over my body at the menace in his voice, and distantly, I make a mental note to not involve anyone else in my schemes. Ash reaches for my black hand, lifting it before pressing a gentle kiss to my knuckles.
“Mia, why do you think your life is worth less than those around you?”
“I don’t believe that,” I say, pulling my hand away from his just enough to clear my thoughts. “It wasn’t about believing Nera’s life is more important than mine, but that I knew how to help her, and that if I waited, it could cost her everything.”
“And what if the curse killed you? Would that have been alright because Nera survived?” He presses on. “This seems like something you do often. Didn’t you go to that scientist building—or whatever you call it—to save your sister, even though it meant risking your life? Did you ever consider that you’re important? That those who love you want you tolive?”
I open my mouth to tell him that, if the tables were turned, Irene would have done the same, but close it as doubt creeps in. Would she?
“Nera tried to stop me. She didn’t want me to get hurt.” It’s hard to breathe around the pain that settles in my heart. “Irenedidn’t. She never asked me to stop, even though you were clearly dangerous.”
Was I so lonely in Penumbra that risking my life for her approval was worth it? I blink at the prickling in my eyes, and I can’t speak—not for a while.
I’d foolishly gone to the scientist quarters to make sure she wasn’t hurt, but I was manipulated into doing what Skylar wanted. And now that I know hybrids exist and stole the grimoires, I can’t help but wonder if Irene is a strix—like our father.
I don’t regret trying to prevent my sister from being eaten by a beast, even if she wouldn’t do the same for me. Nor do I regret saving Nera. But the haunted expression on Ash’s face makes me want to be better. I should be careful about my self-sacrificing ways, because while trying to help others might feel right in the moment, it may also hurt those I love.
“It’s easy to see why you don’t know your worth when your family treats you like you’re disposable.” Ash struggles to hide the anger flaring in his eyes. He steps closer, eating up the distance that separates us. “But you aren’t in Penumbra anymore, Monster. You’re here, and you matter to me.”
Tears spring to my eyes, and before I can get a word out, he’s kissing me again. He cradles the back of my head like I’m something fragile. And right now, that’s exactly what I need.
He keeps me close as his soft lips glide over mine in a dance that makes my toes curl. When we part for air, my mind is swirling with emotions I’m too scared to voice, even to myself.
“I haven’t been entirely truthful with you,” he whispers, and his expression tightens with something akin to nerves. “The night we met, when you met my gaze, I took a part of your soul?—”
“I know . . .”
“The thing is, when I stared into your eyes, you took a part of mine too.”
“Of your soul?” My heart fumbles as I search his face for a sign that this might be a joke and I’m falling for it. “I-I don’t understand?”
“When fae meet their mate, there’s a sensation as the bond sets in. It’s hard for us to find each other, especially in a world where so many of us are spread apart. It’s even rarer to find one in a human or a hybrid.”
My blood rushes to my face, and I can barely hear him with the loud thumping of my heart.
“When I broke through the veil, I was drawn to you even before you attacked me on that rooftop. I talked myself out of it, because I wanted nothing to do with Penumbra or a human. I told myself it wasn’t the right time to find you.” He takes a shaky breath and lowers his eyes to the ground.
