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Strong arms wrapped around me, hands wiping the tears from my cheeks I hadn’t even realized had fallen. Looking up, I found Knox’s kind gaze on me, and more tears began to fall, the sobs wracking my body.
“I don’t know how much more I can take.” I whispered and Knox’s arms squeezed tighter around me. “I’m fucking falling apart at the seams.”
“You’re allowed to fall apart Halley. You have so much on your shoulders, it’s okay to set it down for a bit.”
His words, the depth in his voice when he spoke them, broke me further and I allowed myself this moment of weakness, to fall apart in the arms of the man who was always strong, who deserved to relieve himself of the burdens he carried, but instead took mine instead.
After several moments, I felt my tears wane, my breaths becoming longer and deeper, as a calm settled in my soul. Knox’s hands grasped my cheeks, caressing them in such a gentle way that I knew Eli and Madden weren’t the only men to claim my heart.
“When you’re upset, Eli will be your shoulder to cry on. When you’re full of life, Madden will always be there by your side. And I think, if you ever needed to accept your pain and loss, Wilder would understand better than any of us. But me? Whenever you feel weak, I’ll be your strength until you can take it back for yourself.”
Not able to hold back my feelings any longer, I touched my mouth to Knox’s. Immediately, he reciprocated my need, molding his lips with mine. Exploring each other’s mouths, I turned in his arms, wrapping mine around his thick shoulders. He was one of the physically strongest men I knew, but his inner endurance spoke to my soul. Without him, none of us would have ended up here.
Knox bit down on my lip, bringing me back to the moment and causing me to moan. Shifting my weight once again, I felt his hardness pressing into my core. Grinding down, he continued to nip and lick at my mouth before moving lower, trailing up my neck deliciously.
Moaning again, I shifted against his cock. Knox groaned at my movement before tearing his mouth from my skin.
“Make no mistake Halley Jameson, I want every inch of you.” I knew there was a but coming as Knox continued. “But I’m not going to take your body in this library when I know there’s listening ears. When I have your body under mine, I’m going to take hours and we don’t have the time right now. But we will.”
His eyes stared into my soul and I knew that was a promise he was making. We would be together and he would give me everything he had.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Wilder
After Halley left the room, the rest of us began searching the library for other information that may be important. Madden, Kalani, and Maeve were on the third floor, browsing a section that seemed to have detailed information on each kind of Shifter. They were hoping to find more information about Kalani’s creature that had led us here. Obviously, it was a creature that was born from Agrum Di Vinum.
Eli and I were on the first floor, searching through large texts, hoping to decipher the prophecy. It was clear that the five of us were vital, the Heirs that had been foretold, and yet, we weren’t sure what to do. I looked up from the book I was reading on the architecture of Agrum Di Vinum, seeing Eli waving me over.
Striding towards him, I eyed the book in his palms. Every book in the library had been enchanted to last centuries, each cover similar to Halley’s Enchanter book back at Willow Grove. Eli was flipped to a specific page and I glanced down, reading the text.
The words detailed the end of Agrum Di Vinum, when the Darkness had almost taken complete control of the land and the leaders had decided to leave. According to the book, it was assumed that once they were gone, the Darkness would blanket the entire land, taking it as their own.
An illustration on the page detailed the land, covered in shadows, creatures peaking through with cruel eyes. Standing above the shadows, a large castle stood, similar build to the library we currently stood in. The castle was absent of shadows, standing strong against the destruction of its world.
Beneath the detailed pictures, words described Willow’s, the last Enchantress leader of the realm, final attempt at giving the future Divines a chance. She had used the last of her powers to erect a shield around the castle, hoping to keep out the Darkness, so when the Heirs opened the portal, there would be a safe haven for our people.
“What are you thinking?” I asked Eli, knowing my own thoughts on the matter.
“Clearly, when we open that portal, it won’t be a warm welcome. The Darkness will be everywhere, but we need to make it to the castle.” Eli explained and I nodded my head, thinking the same thing.
Reciting the prophecy in my head, I reasoned I knew two of our duties.
“The Darkness will try to keep us out and not everyone will enter the destruction willingly. But according to the prophecy, we only have one chance. Everyone has to make it through.”
Thinking through our options, I figured I knew what job I would have as well. The creatures staring back at me from the illustration seemed to mock my plan, and I wondered if I would be strong enough to heed them off until all the Divines could make it to the castle.
Eli nodded solemnly at my words, adding his own input. “You’re the strength, you’ll have to hold the Dark creatures back.” Pausing, he thought to himself, before continuing. “I’ve been working on using my powers to alter people’s actions. With the influx of power, I think that’s what I’ll have to do. Make sure every Divine crosses the portal.”
“Two down, three to go.” I murmured, wondering if the five of us would be strong enough to perform our duties.
Putting the book back in its place, Eli called out to the rest of the group. Everyone came ambling down the stairs to the first floor, Halley and Knox both looking more relaxed than prior, the other three laden down with armfuls of books.
“There’s so much information here. I can’t believe we haven’t had access to it.” Kalani said as the group gathered, bouncing on her feet with excitement. “We didn’t read much, but there’s definitely something about my creature in here and so many more that were alive on Agrum Di Vinum.”
As she spoke, Maeve and Halley smiled widely at her, even Madden’s lips twitching upward in his own form of a smile. Kalani had been fighting a silent battle since her death and with everything else going on, it had been pushed aside, but even I could be happy that she would finally find some answers.
“What did the rest of you find?” Knox asked, looking to Eli and I.
