Page 20 of A Harmony of Procellarum

“You!” Sister Mary snarls as she grabs Shereen’s shoulder. “I know you did this!” Her nails dig into the shirt, but Shereen barely flinches as she looks the nun in the face with a nonchalant expression.

“Did what?” Her bored tone only rubs salt in the wound as Sister Mary shoves her forward toward the exit, promising her a world of pain.

Shereen looks over her shoulder at us, her mouth slipping into a mischievous smile.

“What did she do?” I croak out, my body tense with worry. “Where’s Victor?”

Chapter seven

Tiny

Myeyesopensuddenly,hauling me out of my sleep and dropping me back inside my dark prison.

“You have one hour, Squall, and then you get back outside to your car and drive away. Do not come back here.”

I sit up in bed at the sound of his name and come face to face with Squall Andersson. He’s standing in the doorway, watching me with a worried expression as a woman pushes him the rest of the way in.

“One hour. Do not try anything or I will kill you both. Am I understood?”

I recognize the woman as Sky’s aunt, and I know I should be screaming at her to let me go, but I can’t seem to pull my eyes away from the man who’s haunted me since the first night I saw him.

“Yeah, I promise,” he whispers as she quickly shuts the door.

“Please tell me you’re here with Raiden and Hail,” I beg as I move to the end of the bed. “Squall, please tell me you’re here to get me out.”

“I’m working on it, I swear.” His deep voice hits me in the chest and a low whine escapes me. “I don’t think you’re in danger. I just needed to make sure you were safe and—”

“Alive?” I cut him off. “Did you come to make sure I was alive, but to reassure me I’m not in danger?” I snap and stand. I want to cave, to run into his arms and feel his warmth envelop me, but I know if I do that, he’ll think this is okay. Me being in here in this room because of him and his bandmates will be okay.

“Luciphia has assured me that as soon as Torrent is done with what he has to do, then you will go home.” His eyes scan over me once, searching for injuries, but when he notices what I’m wearing, the second perusal is slow and heated. I’m wearing a t-shirt and boy-cut underwear and they’re hugging me in all the right places.

“I have to share this room with him. Did you know that? They’re holding us here together.” His face drops and his eyes take on a dangerous glint. “Why am I here, Squall? Why am I being used as leverage for Torrent?”

“Because…” His voice breaks and he clears his throat. I know the answer, but I need to hear him say it. “They know what you mean to me, and equally how much he means to me, too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about that?” I ask, my words ending in a whisper. “Why would you keep something so important from me? You guys have the same mate symbols as Sky and Tempest.”

“Yeah…” He swallows as his eyes drop to the floor. “We did it a few years after escaping the orphanage. He was seventeen and I was nineteen, and we felt like there was no one else who would love us like we loved each other.”

My heart nearly explodes with his confession and even though each word is like a punch to the stomach, I want to hear it all. “Tell me.”

“The things we had been through and the fact that we made it out alive…” He shakes his head. “He saved me. I saved him.”

I can see his face is wrought in agony the more he forces himself to remember and tell me about his past. “Where does that leave me?” I can hear how small I sound. There’s no way to hide the devastation I’m feeling.

“You are everything to me.” He steps forward, his eyes shining with sincerity. “You have always been everything to me.”

“But Torrent is everything too, right?” I wring my hands in front of me as he grabs them in his.

“I will never disrespect you by lying. Yes, Torrent also means everything to me. I never understood the meaning of my other half until I meant you, but for me it’s different. Torrent has always grasped my heart in both hands, the organ completely belonging to him. But you, you completed my soul, showed me what it was like to be human.” His eyes swim with tears as his nostrils flare. My hands shake as they’re engulfed by his.

“I don’t understand.” I shake my head.

“Both of you mean the same to me…” Then he shakes his head. “But different.” I can see his internal struggle, but I know he’s being genuine. So, with little thought, I press myself to him, needing his warmth and scent. “Tiny, I can’t lose you, but I can’t lose him either.”

This dynamic between the three of us is muddied and convoluted, and when I envision a future, it’s filled with blood and turmoil. Despite that, I want him. I always have. Clearly, I have no thought of my own future and of living a normal life. Squall is who I long for.

He releases my hands to cradle my face, bringing his mouth within an inch of mine. “I need to taste you, Tiny,” he whispers. “The way we ended, when you left, I thought I would never have you again.”

---