AllFreeNovel
Share Us
We are two souls bound to be enemies who were fated to meet, but unable to hate one another.
“Why?” she whispers. “I don’t understand why you saved me then.”
“Because I didn’t know better. I didn’t understand I was supposed to hate you,” I admit. “When I found out as I got older, all I could think about was that little human girl who put her trust in me, who placed her hand in mine, and then when I saw you again, it was like my world stopped. How could I hate you so much when I could barely breathe when I watched you? When you shined so brightly, like the sun I never get to see, with life and joy?”
“Akuji,” she whispers. “I am human.”
“And I’m a monster.” I shrug. “I’m not saying I don’t hate your kind. I do for what they have done. I hate them all—all except you, Aria.”
She watches me, and I watch her right back, unsure where this leaves us. We both know our roles in this world, yet she’s changing that, because I couldn’t kill her. No, I would die to protect her.
To protect the child who trusted me and the woman who protected me.
I don’t know what the future will bring. We are so different and worlds apart, yet in this moment, I don’t care. All I care about is that she makes me laugh and smile, and watching her explore my world with wonder makes me realise how truly blessed my people are.
She brings me to life, the one person I have taken for myself, the only thing I have since leading my people, and I can’t give her up, I won’t.
NINETEEN
ARIA
Unsure what to say after that, I curl up and feign sleep. Eventually, he settles before me, protecting me like always. I watch him through slitted eyelids as he finally falls asleep, and then I open my eyes fully.
I memorise the graceful arches of his cheeks, the spiralling smoothness of his horns, and every minute detail about him, the monster, the man before me—the one who saved me and took a chance on a human.
I took the coward’s way out, but there is no way I can sleep, too lost in the memories and my own twisted feelings. He saved me. That’s what it boils down to. He watched me and saved me every time I was here, never asking for anything or telling his people.
All this time, I thought I was coming back here to explore, but was I really coming back here for him? For the safety I felt over the wall, because I knew, somewhere deep inside me, that my monster was watching? I don’t know, and I’m so confused about it all.
But he’s wrong—we aren’t enemies.
How could we be?
Not when I’ve seen past the snarling red beasts to the laughter, love, and joy beyond. What started out as a simple mission has twisted upside down and grown a lot more complicated, because if I find Talia and somehow escape, I have to leave him behind.
Nothing will be the same, because his people know about me now, so I couldn’t come back under the radar. My life is beyond the wall anyway, and his is here, leading his people…
Right?
The chasm widens between us until I can barely breathe.
Part of me wants to stay in his arms, stay with the one person in this world who ever gave a shit about me. Despite what it will mean, despite the war it will start within his own tribe and mine, I want to say fuck it all and just give in.
That’s selfish, however, because he would have to fight every day to protect me. I hear his people, and I know he would get tired of me after a while and I would be alone.
So completely alone.
I slide my hand across the space between us, reaching for his face. I stop centimetres away and stroke his face. It’s the closest I will allow myself to get, because I know this man, this monster, has the power to destroy me just as easily as he saved me.
* * *
I must eventually fall asleep, because when I wake, it’s to a tongue dragging along my face. Groaning, I flip to see my tiger upside down, grinning at me. “Hey, buddy.” I rub his face before sitting. “Where have you been?”
“He forced his way back down here to get to you,” Akuji calls. I spot him tightening a harness across his back without looking at me. “Come, it’s time to eat.”
“Okay.” I hold out my hand for the food, but he turns and jerks his head.
“Out there, with my people,” he explains.
