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“You’re not crazy,” I murmur.
His head snaps up, his eyes widening, and for a moment, he just stares at me, so I crack a grin.
“Is the bondage get-up confusing you? Do you really not recognize your best—” I grunt as he tackles me against the wall. Wrapping my arms around him, I bury my face in his neck, and he holds me tight as he cries.
“You’re here; you’re alive. I knew you were. Oh gods, Thea, I thought I felt you die. It felt like everything in me stopped,” he sobs before pulling back and cupping my face. “You’re . . . You’re okay. How?”
“I—” I lick my lips and look back. I can see my guys, who are shielded.
It is your choice, Nathair promises.We will support you no matter what. If I still had family left, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself either.
“It’s a long story,” I finish as he runs his eyes over me. I do the same to him, drinking him in greedily.
He seems shorter, but I realize he’s hunched as if he’s in pain. His eyes are sunken in, and he has a scar on his cheek that he didn’t have before. For it to leave a scar, it must have been bad. I reach out, and he jerks back as I trace it, smiling guiltily.
“Simon, how did this happen?”
“A long story,” he retorts and then seems to remember and steps away from me. “You left.”
“I had to—”
“With nothing but a fucking note!” he yells. I feel the guys tense, but I hold them back. He has a right to be angry.
“To save you—”
“Did you not think that my life without you wouldn’t be worth saving?” he roars and then deflates. “You were—are my family, Althea, all I had. My dreams, my future, were wrapped up in you, and you just disappeared. I didn’t know if you were alive or dead. I couldn’t function, couldn’t think about what to do next when you weren’t there. We had always done it together.” His breath hiccups, and when his eyes meet mine, they are filled with so much agony, I stagger. “How could you leave me? Do you not think that I would have stood at your side? Did you not think that I would have fought every single one of them for you?”
“I didn’t want that for you,” I tell him. “Don’t you see? I left to give you a chance. Simon, I started to die because I was rejected by my mate, and I didn’t want you to watch that.”
“So you thought me not knowing was better? I constantly wondered what happened to you!” he spits bitterly. “Althea, you broke my heart.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I hurry closer, but he yanks his hands away, and I wrap my arms around my waist. “I couldn’t bear to destroy your life, Simon. You’re the only family I have, the person I love with every inch of my being. I was doomed to die, to be lost without that bond. I didn’t want that for you. You can be angry at me, but you have to know I did it because I love you, and I felt like it was my only way out.”
“I cannot forgive you,” he snarls.
“Okay.” I step back. I don’t blame him. Despite my excuses or apologies, I hurt him, and he’s allowed to be angry. I have no say in that, just like he had no say in me leaving. “I’m sorry, Simon. I hope you know that. I love you.” I wrap the shadows around me, unable to take his hurt and anger anymore. I never wanted that.
He spins. “Althea, no!” he pleads. “Wait, I’m sorry, please! Please, don’t leave me again!” He falls to his knees as he shatters. “Not again, please, please.” His head bows.
Conall unwraps the shadows.Go to him, I can feel his pain.
We all can.
I drop to my knees before him and pull him into my arms. “I will never leave you. I’m always with you.”
“Promise?” he whispers brokenly.
“I promise,” I murmur as I hold him close, relishing the familiar comfort. “But I need to go. We can’t be seen. It will raise too many questions—”
“No!” he exclaims. “I just found you. I’m not letting you go again.”
“It’s not forever.” I cup his face, imploring him to trust me, though I don’t deserve it. “I promise, it’s just for now. Do you trust me?”
He hesitates, and that breaks my heart. “Yes,” he finally says.
“Then tell no one. I will find you again,” I vow, and then I press my lips to his forehead, and when his eyes close, I let them take me away.
I fall to my knees once we are in our court, and they huddle around me, holding me as I cry for everything that went wrong.
