Theo got close, watching her visibly crawl out of her skin at the sight of his pale-winged counterpart. He did her a courtesy and changed into the form she was willing to get close to.
“Hate me for what I am, hate me for pushing you. Hate me for the monster I harbor. But don’t you ever,everclaim me to be heartless. I may not be mortal, but my heart is alive and beating, and it will go to every hell realm and back for the ones who offer it the same.”
Helaina looked at him with deep reverence, then dropped her gaze to her trembling hands, the same ones that had conjured so much power just moments ago.
“I would have looked for you,” he repeated, because he meant it. Even if she hated him, he meant it. “Lesson’s over for today.”
CHAPTERFIFTY-ONE
From dawn until dusk, Helaina filled her days. The fae still took the early mornings to practice her swordplay. Afternoons were spent on that miserable hike with Callum. And after the sunset, she was Theo’s, as he helped her unravel her curse. She wanted so badly to wield it as her own, to stop being scared of it.
Every day, his training techniques frustrated her. Every day, she found herself wanting to walk out on his harsh words. But every time that feeling bloomed to the surface, she replayed the sincerity in his eyes in her head. She recalled the devotion in his words.
My heart is alive and beating, and it will go to every hell realm and back for the ones who offer it the same.
That kind of loyalty... it reminded her of the people she loved the most. The ones she had to say goodbye to all too soon. The kind of grief she had been navigating, Theo had done it for lifetimes. Theo had loved and lost. Past his power, past the gruff exterior, below all of that was a heart of pure gold.
She didn’t bring up the words he had said, the things he had voiced when they had warred with each other down here, but she thought of them often.
I would have looked for you.
He didn’t go after her anger anymore. He had said things not with the intention to hurt but so she would see that her power was untamed when she let her emotions run rampant. It was stronger that way, that was certain, but less controlled.
He focused on small tasks at first, to help fine-tune her focus and control. They were obnoxiously simple, so it angered her to find them so challenging.
“Move that bowl from this side to that side.”
“Stack these three rocks atop one another.”
“Dump that pail of water onto the fire.”
The tasks proved to be harder than anticipated. It took her hours to focus that deeply, to finesse her shadow into completing these minuscule actions. She cast out feathers of shadow until her chest felt raw.
The first time he had brought her here, he had remained close, kept contact with her. He couldn’t really keep his hands to himself when she was close. But these past weeks, his touch wasn’t drawn out. His appraisals weren’t relaxed. He simply gave the order of tasks and she accomplished them.
And shewasaccomplishing them.
Every so often, a faint smile or glitter in his eye appeared, giving some semblance of pride in her successes.
“Did you make it to the top today?” Theo asked one day as he set up her next challenge. He was tying a rope to one of the rock formations, putting all of his weight against the knots to ensure they held.
“Almost, and we ran a good part of the trail.”
“You kept up with Callum?” Theo asked in surprise.
“I wouldn’t call it keeping up as much as not losing sight of his back through the trees.”
She took note of the raise in his eyebrows. “Well done.”
“Finally, a compliment.”
Maybe he was just as exhausted as she was today, because his words had no bite; his praise was genuine.
He worked against the rope again, putting his large frame nearly horizontal, ensuring it wouldn’t break. “I compliment you plenty, you just choose not to hear it.”
She rolled her eyes, her knuckles resting under her chin. “What are we doing today?”
He walked over to her, holding the other end of the rope, and began tying loops around her waist.
