Page 31 of Until the Heart Stops
Twisting the braid into a knot at the back of her head,I held my hand out over her shoulder for the golden pin she almost always wore. But instead of giving me the pin, she grabbed my wrist, tugged me around until I was standing in front of her, one hip pressed against the counter of the stall.
“Talk to me.” The request was quiet, but there was still a pleading note to the words.
Twisting my mouth to the side, I swallowed back the lump in my throat, looking down at her hand wrapped around mine. She wore a new ring on her index finger, a sapphire inlaid in silver, and it reminded me of the ring Callum wore. Everything reminded me of him, which was so strange because I barely knew the male. Yet from the moment I’d seen him, I’d wanted him, yearned for him as Amayah had Deimos.
But instinct had me choosing my words carefully, regardless of how much I wanted to tell Adrienne everything I knew. Callum had said“we can’t do this”and there had been such fear in the bond warring with his desire. To admit he was the male who had been sending me gifts, who had sent me his blood, would put him in danger. So instead I shrugged, flipping my hand over to grab hers, and managed a small smile. “I have not heard from my patron in days…I suppose I’m worried he’s grown tired of me.”
Her head tilted to the side, making the braid unravel behind her. “But what of the connection?”
We hadn’t spoken of it since that first night and even now she dropped her voice to a whisper. This time my smile was bitter. “He’s shutting me out for long stretches.”
“That doesn’t make much sense.”
I managed another shrug, lifted our hands to press a kiss to her knuckles before letting go and returning to her hair. “Perhaps he regrets the connection and is biding his time until it wanes.”
The words were ash in my mouth. Adrienne made a splutter of argument.
“Please, Adrienne, I can’t bear to discuss it any more.”
She sighed but I knew her silence was not acquiescence—merely a pause in her questioning for the time being. I took advantage all the same, braiding her hair again and twisting it up. When she offered me the pin I turned it in my fingertips.
“This is new.”
Her shoulders tensed before dropping. “I lost the other. Eamon gifted me a new one.”
I slid it into the bun and smoothed back any loose tendrils. “Well, there—perfect for your ownpatron.”
Adrienne hopped off my stool, turning around to press a smacking kiss to my cheek. “Thank you, Lils.”
I managed another smile, wrapped her tightly in a hug and rested my head on her shoulder. The bond in my chest throbbed, another pang of longing stinging my eyes, and I gave a heavy sigh. Adrienne held me just as tightly, stroking back my hair from my neck. She offered me no platitudes and I wished I could put into words how grateful I was for her and for Noah. But I thought she knew. Even as she pulled away and dipped behind the velvet, I was sure she did.
Only an hour or so later did Eamon appear, his wavy black hair free and curling around his chin, giving him a boyish sort of charm. He smiled at me but it didn’t quite touch his eyes.
“Serang lan nauth,”I greeted, pressing three fingers to my lips. “How are you tonight?”
Eamon returned the gesture before reaching inside his black waistcoat and removing a folded parchment sealed with wax. “I will be better once I lay eyes upon my heart. But I have a note for you from our mutual friend.”
I stared at the letter he placed in front of me on the counter. “Why…why could he not come himself?”
When I looked up, Eamon’s kind face had darkened and I saw just a whisper of the predator he truly was—an immortal many feared to cross.
“I am afraid all I can do is encourage you to read this.” He tapped a finger to the parchment. “But know every word he writes is truth, Lilith.”
He gave me an encouraging smile, touching a knuckle beneath my chin before stepping toward the velvet curtain. In a daze, I pulled it back, not even noticing that Eamon did not boom with his usual exuberant greeting for Adrienne before I let it go. With trembling hands, I broke the seal, and it took me a few tries to focus on Callum’s immaculate script.
My dearest Lilith,
Not a single waking moment has passed that I have not thought of you.
I wish I could tell you what has prompted this absence, but it is safer if I say only this: I am desperate for you, my darling, and all I do now is in the hope of one day being the male who might be worthy of possessing your heart, as you possess mine. You hold in your hands all my greatest hopes, greatest fears, and greatest dreams. Within you the sun sets and the moon rises. You are the flame to which I light the candle of my immortality.
Each night I pray to Amayah that soon you will be in my arms and that it will be for all time—but only if you wish it. Until that glorious time, I take solace in this bond, in the memory of my name on your lips and the taste of your blood on my tongue.
Dream of me, my darling.
Your Deimos
Chapter 16
