Page 75 of A Sweet Destruction

Her nose scrunched first, a little wiggle as her body started to come back to life. Then her eyes blinked open sleepily.

For a long moment, I could tell the Bond was still in control. She was entirely content, a serene glint to her sweet brown eyes that made something deep inside my chest clench painfully.

In reality, the moment where our eyes locked and held was no more than a few seconds. It felt like hours, time slipping by while we just existed, not moving until the sun had fully risen.

I saw the moment Esme came back to herself, her eyes widening then settling, that sheen chased away.

By what? I was still sorting that out, but I was leaning towards a misguided sense of self-preservation. She genuinely, to her core, thought I would hurt her. That maybe I didn’t want her.

How ridiculous.

To you, maybe, the Bond snapped.

That correction was an important reminder, especially as Esme pushed up and away from me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sorry,” she murmured.

If I reacted like I wanted, some way to express how abhorrent I found that apology, she probably wouldn’t believe me.

“Turns out you’re a human sleeping pill,” I said, the gravel in my voice nearly betraying me. “No apologies for that.”

The small smile that graced Esme’s mouth made me feel like I could taken down an army a thousand strong without a weapon. “I did sleep really well.”

“This bed certainly helped.” Lie. If she was text to me, the floor would feel comfortable.

Esme’s smile widened. A ray of sun broke through the window, highlighting her face, and I nearly passed out. “I can’t tell if I’m surprised or not. I half expected Caspian to shove us into a cell with just a pillow.”

"My back would not be able to handle that again.”

I hate you, the Bond promptly snapped. I agreed.

Watching Esme’s face fall, her smile disappear as my words brought back old memories…

I’d voluntarily walk back into that cell if it meant I didn’t have to see that expression ever again.

She pushed away, turning her back to me as she got up to stand.

“Esme,” I called after her, hating that I’d so stupidly shattered the moment.

“We need to get ready,” she said dismissively, disappearing into the bathroom with a firm click of the lock.

I didn’t get up for several minutes, only did after I’d let the Bond mercilessly beat me down.

✦

The first meeting of the day was, incidentally, a highly public lunch.

I couldn’t tell whether the location was intentional or not. We’d done well enough last night in that bar, but things always seemed a little different in the daylight.

Esme was the one to ask, as we all took our seats at the large table tucked in the corner of the room.

“As you can imagine, outside of Pax, my people are not very used to seeing Virterrans,” Caspian said, calmly folding his napkin over his crossed legs. He was in a simpler outfit today, a tailored shirt and pants. Both that near-impossible black fabric that Esme had found when we checked on Roger.

“The same goes on our end,” Bellamy responded. “In fact, save for those who have Crossed, no one has seen anyone from Muli.”

Caspian’s face lightened with something close to humor. “And how have they filled in the blanks? I’m curious what exaggerated form we take on your world.”

Ah, so the young prince wasn’t as naive as I’d initially thought. A little green, certainly. Maybe hadn’t been out in the world long enough to think on his feet perfectly, but he had a brain.

Bellamy smiled elegantly. “I think you’d be quite flattered. Most depictions focus on the fact that Muli tends to be stronger and taller.”