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Asmo follows suit, standing up and dusting his pants off. “I’ll let the people downstairs go, and tell the nobility to meet in the morning. Maybe by then we’ll have something to tell them of this.” With the snap of his fingers, he’s gone, leaving me and Kai alone in the empty foyer.
A room has never been quieter or morestaticy. The crackle of electricity hums in the air as power floats around the room, mingling in ways that’d make God blush. Kai stops his pacing in front of where I sit on one of the concrete benches.
“Come with me tonight. Sleep in our bed. We’ll come back first thing in the morning, I promise,” he says, offering his hand. “We have things to discuss. Things that should only be heard by each other, but we’ll get to that only after you’re clean and in fresh clothes…fed.”
It does sound nice… Sleeping in a real bed after slumming it on the ground. Nodding, I take his hand and in moments, we’re in our room. This time, it’s been cleaned. Everything is back in its spot and not tossed around. It’s as if I never left. Even though I’ve only been gone a few weeks at most, it feels like a century has passed–like this room stood still even as the Earth kept turning.
His hands land on my arms as he steps behind me and I jump at the subtle contact. Glaring over my shoulder, he steps back. “Have I hurt you? Is there a reason you’re scared of me when you’ve never been?”
“No. Not like that. I’ve been in the woods surrounded by creatures who would like to use me as a chew toy. The only company I was blessed with after losing Luri was Asmo’s surly attitude. I don’t mean to be jumpy.” Turning around, I cock my head. “Where is Luri, anyway? I know you said the healers helped her, but she should be good as new by now.”
“She is.” His gaze drops, roaming down my neck and across my collarbone, leaving a heated trail in its wake. “She’s free, roaming about somewhere. We’ll find her. I promise.”
My mouth presses into a fine line before I pop my lips. “It’s probably for the best. She doesn’t need to get swooped up into this madness just yet. Before I bring her into that city, I want to make sure it’ll be safe for her. Right now, she’s on the Solarian’s most wanted list. At least her kind is.”
He reaches forward again, brushing his fingers down my arm, until his hand can wrap around my wrist.
“We should get you in the bath. I’ll call the maids to get food brought up.” Giving my hand a quick squeeze, he lets go and leaves the room.
Gnawing on my lip a moment, I stare at the door, still off about being back here. This place was my world. It’s where I spent every waking second unless Finn or someone escorted me outside. Yet, it feels so…unfamiliareven with everything looking exactly how I left it. It’s as if I’ve somehow outgrown it, like I did my unicorn bedsheets when I was six.
My hand skims over the black velvet comforter that’s been wrapped around my skin hundreds of times, remembering how simple things were back then. With a sigh, I head into the washroom, getting a glimpse of myself in the mirror for the first time. My red hair sticks to itself in random places. Blood splatter looks like freckles across my face, and completely coats my skin from the neck down.
Removing my lightweight armor I summoned, I lay each piece on the counter, until all that’s left is a loose shirt and my dark jeans. The door shuts to the bathroom, the noise drawing my eye.
“I thought you’d want company. I don’t have to get in with you or anything if you don’t want me to, but I thought for sure you’d need help with your armor. Clearly, I was wrong.” He holds up the bottle and two glasses in his hand like a peace offering. “I did bring wine, though.”
“You’re speaking my language already.” He grins like a villain, closing the distance between us.
“I thought that’d make you happy.”
“It shows how well you know me,” I hop onto the counter as he nears, taking the empty glass from his hand.
Kai doesn’t say much more, just pops the cork and fills my glass. We sit in silence, soaking up the peace for a moment and just enjoying the company. It’s not until I finish my first glass that he moves, slowly drifting closer.
“Are you going to get in?” he says, placing his hands on my knees.
“Yes…” I swallow, and he catches the motion.
“Would you prefer me to leave?”
“No… I don’t, but I do have a question.” He crosses his wrists in his lap, holding onto the stem of his wine glass. “Are you scared about the deal? That the obsession–you called it–will come back?”
“Of course I am.” His free hand lifts to run down the bottom half of his face, as if he wasn’t supposed to say that out loud. “The last year was… hard, to say the least. Not because you were in my life, but because every time you stepped out of my sight, I became someone else. Losing you was the last straw. It broke me. I’d never felt pain like that, not even when my mom died. The only thought that got me through it was at least the fates will leave me alone. I held onto that with everything I had and finally, I could breathe again, even though my heart felt like it forgot how to beat. Then, right as I started to piece myself back together, there you were. Whole without a fucking scratch, standing in this room. It kicked the only crutch I had to stand on out from underneath me.”
“If the deal made things that unbearable, that you would hope it wasn’t me that day, then why do it to yourself again? All I want is your happiness, even if it’s not with me.” I take another sip of my wine, letting the smooth, sweet liquid slip down my throat.
“Because I love you, and even when I thought you were gone, I never stopped.” He smirks, as if remembering a memory. “I mean, I slept with your pillow every night just because it smelled like you, Alice. If anyone is completely smitten, it’s me, and I don’t think there’s anyone out there that could compare. You’re my soulmate.”
I remember a time when Charlie, my roommate, put her boyfriend’s t-shirt over her pillow just because it smelled like him. It let her pretend he was close, even when he was halfway across the country. It’s hard to imagine Kai snuggling up to it. “You did not.”
“I did. I even read a few of your books just to find your little notes written in the margins, complete with your perfectly spaced handwriting. I still don’t know how you do that.” Hearing the amusement in his tone makes it hard not to smile. “I missed you so much it hurt, and fate be damned, I would walk through Hell if it meant a single moment with you.”
Heat rises to my cheeks as I peer at him over the rim of my glass, and just as I gulp down the last of it and open my mouth to speak, he beats me to it. “There is something you should know…”
“About?” I ask, arching a brow.
“You might be my soulmate, but I’m not your only.”
