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“Is it bringing your father pain?”
“Naturally. He’s connected to Mother and cares for her deeply.”
I worried my lip. “And I’ve placed you in a similar position. Because you’re so closely tied to me, I’ve entangled you in the same mess I still have no idea how to escape. I don’t want to hurt you for caring about me.”
“Our situation is entirely different,” he assured me. “Mother is digging her grave, whereas you’re trying to crawl out of yours. Even if you weren’t, I’d still need you.”
I traced his cheek as I stared up into his emerald-green eyes, seeing that need reflected there. I nestled closer and sighed as he hugged me once more. I felt so alive enfolded in his embrace, as if my heart had finally returned right where it belonged.
Darius nestled against my hair. “You’re trembling.”
“Because I’m frightened.” It felt wonderful to allow myself to admit it.
“I know you are, but it’ll be alright. We’ll make sure of that together.”
And despite the storm currently raging around me, I believed him. “What are we going to do?”
“You can’t be reliant on your mother anymore.”
He was right...and yet did I have any choice? “What should I do? All my magic now comes from her.”
“Not all of it.” Darius entwined our hands and held mine securely in his. “You know you can turn to me whenever you’re in trouble.”
I swallowed and tore my gaze away. “I’ve already stolen so much...”
“That’s in the past. All that’s mine is yours; after all, you mean everything me. Please Eden, turn to me.”
I slowly raised my gaze to meet his, radiating with such caring I felt caressed. His soft, earnest plea helped me find the words to make my request. “I need magic.”
Darius smiled and immediately tugged his own locket from beneath his collar, still only half full. He caressed my neck to cradle my own locket in his palm and pressed his against mine to empty over half of his magic into my locket. I watched as it transformed from olive green to lilac.
He gently tucked my locket back beneath my collar, but his fingers didn’t immediately leave my glittered skin. He caressed my neck as tears trickled down my cheeks. “Everything I am will forever be yours. All you need to do is ask.”
“Then I need—” I stopped, afraid to voice what I desperately wanted most out loud.
“What is it, Eden? Whatever you need from me is yours.”
All the yearning filling my heart overcame me. There was only one thing in this Universe that would fill the void I felt, the one I’d created when I’d allowed my heart to harden. I needed the only one who could not only soften my heart, but the one to whom it belonged to completely.
I tipped my head back and stared deeply into Darius’s eyes. “You.”
I’d never forget the look that filled his expression in that moment—such light, love, tenderness, and fierce joy. “Oh, Eden.”
He embraced me and held me so close our heartbeats touched, as if he was trying to pull me into his very being. I clung to him fiercely, my life preserver in this tumultuous ocean surrounding me. Everything felt safe with Darius and his firm arms cradling me.
“Can I have you, then?” I asked. “Are you mine?”
“I’ve always been yours,” he said. “Even before we met, even after you pushed me away, even during the moments you felt alone or feared you were lost forever. We belong together.”
His soft gaze caressed me as his stroking fingers trailed down my cheek to cup my chin. He leaned down and I stood on tiptoe to meet his lips with my own, allowing myself to melt into him.
Kissing him was sweeter and more wonderful than I remembered, and with this kiss all the months of pain and darkness washed away until there was only him and this moment, the way it was always meant to be. My arms looped around his neck to pull him closer while his hand wove through my hair and the other pressed against the base of my back, a surge of heat sending a flutter to my heart.
I never wanted this moment to end, so when he started to pull away I released a small sob. “Stay with me.”
I kissed him again, this one more earnest and desperate in my fierce need to keep him close forever. He gently returned our kiss, cradling my lips with his as if protecting me from breaking further. I knew that no matter how broken I felt he’d always treat me with such tenderness and love, not only cherishing me exactly as I was but helping me mend every broken piece of my heart until I was whole once more. Me and my brokenness would always be completely safe with him.
Darius pulled away and kissed first one corner of my mouth, then the other, before placing one more soft kiss on my lips.
