Page 40 of The Curse of Ophelia

I turned my back on it.

Chapter Sixteen

“Malakai?” I whispered. Hope budded inside me, like a flame threatening to fade into embers. He turned, an easy smile—that smile that made the stars seem dim—already on his face.

“Ophelia.” My name fell off his tongue as if he had been expecting me. It was full of pleasure and promises, but none of the utter disbelief that tumbled through my heart.

With long strides, he crossed the space between us, and as his boots swept over crumbling rock, I noticed where we were—or where we weren’t. Every inch of our surroundings was dark, like a veil had been dropped, leaving one small ring of illumination around us. Shadowed outlines wavered in the distance, but of buildings or nature or people, I couldn’t be sure.

Malakai stopped feet from me, and I wanted to close that gap between us desperately, but something prevented me.

“Where are we?” I asked.

Malakai shrugged. “Perhaps nowhere.” His voice echoed with chilling power, the eerie undertone of his words and the spark in his eyes unsettling.

“How can we be nowhere?”

“Or maybe it’s everywhere.” He tilted his head, the dim light outlining the lines of his jaw and nose.

The undertone of his words was familiar, and I wracked my brain for the vague connection. It came to me slowly, hazily, as if from a distance: It is about everything that will be nothing if you do not act. But how could Malakai know the Angel’s words?

“Malakai, what—” I stepped toward him but was thrown backward. A barrier had sprung up between us.

“It is all right, Phel.” That smile that had once been my favorite moment of every day turned haunting. “It has to be this way.”

“What has to? What’s going on?” I beat my fists against the invisible wall. Each bruising hit rocked through my body, shaking my bones. It hurt deeper than that though—it hurt in my heart and soul. The Bind burned fiercely, and my heart sped with it.

“Malakai!” I screeched, but his name bounced off the barrier and swarmed around me, my own voice a taunting echo of what I could not have. We were in the same place, but we were not. My breathing turned into hysterical gasps as I planted my palms against the wall.

Malakai mimicked the movement, and I could almost feel his touch. Skin on skin, searing everywhere it would have connected. I imagined the warmth of his strong fingers lacing through mine. How his rough palm would feel pressed against my own, dragging down my body. His feather-soft kiss if he were to lift my hand to his lips. I wanted that—needed that. The fated connection we had built through years of childhood friendship that eventually budded into the innocence of young love. One so powerful that we’d tied our souls together for eternity.

Frantically, I searched his forest eyes for a sign of how he felt. His lips parted as little puffs of breath escaped in time with the gentle heaving of his chest, like he shared the desperation I felt.

But his wide eyes buzzed with an electric excitement. I realized it wasn’t desperation from him—it was eagerness. One I did not understand. He gave me a knowing smile that spoke of secrets, and it twisted my heart.

“What do you want me to do?” The sound echoed around me.

His lips moved in what I assumed was encouragement, but I couldn’t hear his words.

A tugging sensation wrapped around my waist. It pulled me backward—inch by painful inch as the Bind burned.

“NO!” I struggled against it, flinging my body forward. Carnal need and a refusal to believe drove me toward my North Star. A cursed instinct told me that if I did not fight, I would never again lose myself in his intoxicating presence.

Malakai’s expression didn’t falter, though. He watched me be pulled away with that same look of eager awe dashing through his eyes, an understanding smile puncturing his cheeks. He nodded as if to say it was okay, the bob of his head drawing his long hair into his eyes. I watched the swish of his dark bangs as if in slow motion, until the tugging against my gut was so forceful, I couldn’t resist.

I shouted the only thing I could think to say, “I love you.”

And I saw his lips form five words in response, Until the stars stop shining.

Then, I tumbled back, head over heels and into darkness with Malakai’s green eyes burning an imprint in my mind.

I stumbled as the tugging sensation swooped through my gut. I couldn’t see anything, but a series of sharp clicks met my ears, each one growing louder. A rattle joined them, more subtle than the clicks, but never ceasing. My teeth dug into my lip as I spun around, searching for the source, but only cold, dark air surrounded me.

The noises felt foreign, like they did not belong in this dream I was floating through.

I realized with a jolt—it was because they were real.

Cool night air kissed my sweat-damp skin and the stars shone down on me as I rocketed upward, back to the real world. And to the herd of small rodents tearing through our rations of food.

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