Page 128 of The Star's Sword

It was so like him, to wait until today.

“Those camps, we have liberated as many as we can, but I know there are more in the dark. The things that happen there, they can’t go on.”

“No,” I agreed.

“Those in the ninth realm have had power for so long that happiness is a distant memory if they ever understood it at all. But they feed on the pain of others until there is nothing left. They deplete their own souls and substance by sadistically torturing anything that could feel joy.”

“We will stop them,” I reassured him. “I won’t hesitate.”

“No one even knows what they are like up there,” Samael said. “I know the forms they take when they come to the camps with their victims. But their true forms? I’m not sure anyone knows. I thought you should know that.”

“Thank you.”

“Be ready for anything,” he said. “They won’t be as they appear. Their illusions are sure to be the strongest. Don’t take anything to be as it seems.” He put a hand over mine. “And don’t falter.”

“I’ll do my very best, Samael.”

“If you love me, don’t falter,” he said somberly.

I turned over to lay on his chest, looking up into his dark eyes, ringed with gold. The curls falling over his forehead. His chest, bare and warm and gorgeous.

I ran a hand over one pec and then down over one shoulder, memorizing the shape of his arm and hand.

Loving everything about him.

I met his gaze, squeezing his hand gently. “I do love you. I won’t falter.”

“If I’m gone, I want you to explore other bonds,” he said, despair flickering in his eyes.

I hated this sense I got sometimes that he had already given up.

“The unicorn serum might work,” I said. “Or Cayne has some plans with lasers.”

“I need to talk to you about the worst-case scenario, Cleo. Please.”

I nodded.

“Your bond with Zadis is good,” Sam said. “He is there for you emotionally; in ways I can’t even be. And Simon is now bonded to you as well.”

“Sam, I hate this subject.”

He grinned. “Fine, here’s another one. Last night was hot. I loved seeing you take all that pleasure. Your inner demon was glowing today.”

I laughed. “I’m beginning to think you only went along with it because you want me to have a bunch of bonds in case something happens to you.”

His expression went somber, and he nodded. “You’re my mate. My twin flame. How could I not want you to be happy? I want you to be safe, protected.” Tears welled in his eyes but his expression didn’t change, as he was clearly trying to hold any emotion back. “I wish I could promise to be the one there to do it. It isn’t fair that we’ve been forced into this position. But Cleo, we both love this world, don’t we? And we both want justice.”

I nodded, blinking back tears myself, my heart in so much pain it was hard not to crumple inward.

“So forgive me for trying to see you cared for, but it sets my heart on fire. It’s the worst kind of pain imaginable, to think of you without me. It’s all I can do to try and see you safe if I’m ever gone.”

I hugged him tight. “Oh Sam, you’re the best man I’ll ever meet. Everything you do just makes me love you more.”

“Good,” he said. “I’ll set a standard no other guy can meet, so everyone you’re with from here on out will have to be incredible.” He ran a hand through my hair, each of his fingertips setting me alight. That unique bond we’d always had glowing between us. “But remember, you do already have bonds, and friends. Lean on them.”

“Stop talking like you’re already gone,” I said.

“I just never know when,” he said. “And I regret never telling you about the fact I could be gone. So now I won’t hold back. I want you to know everything I feel, everything I know, because we might not get another moment.”

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