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His hands tighten on my skin, drawing my eyes to his. He smiles painfully at me, like seeing me in this state hurts him more than it does me. It’s the first genuine smile he’s given me and I’ll never forget the way his beautiful lips curve so perfectly and the light that dances in his eyes.
It ruins me.
I hum a little louder, tears spilling and crashing on my arms, and smile back at him. He leans his head against mine and we just exist like this for a while. A beautiful, dark while.
My kind, brooding, and sweet Dreadius.
Rune.
10
Arulius
The walk back to my manor is fucking desolate.
I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I can’t focus on my duty and my bond with Elodie is constantly sending me gut-wrenching pain. Nights are the worst… I don’t want to know what plagues her dreams and I’ll never ask. I’m certain it’s what I’ve done to her and the thought of that kills me.
I fly the rest of the way to my manor. The winter air bites me far worse when I’m in a shitty mood and fuck… the look in her eyes when I was going to just hold her. She thought I was going to hurt her again…
“Fuck!” I grit my teeth and fist my hair.
I land on the balcony of my room and don’t waste a second walking in and throwing myself on my bed. I don’t have the energy to even take my clothes off.
I stare at the ceiling and take in the silence.
I miss her so much. I know Violet moved her and put the blood repulsion in place for a good reason, but fuck… this feels like more a punishment for me than anything. I know it is. She has that prick Dreadius as her guard and she seems as enthralled with him as he does her. The way he looks at her… I press my hands into my hair, gripping tightly.
The way he stares at her is nothing short of Kastian all over again.
Violet’s been furious with me for showing Elodie so much kindness. She’s worried the past will repeat itself, but that’s laughable.
Inevermake the same mistake twice.
I clench my jaw and release my hair. My face fucking hurts. That Dreadius can hit like a motherfucker. If I wasn’t so tired I would have whooped his ass and thrown him in a cell… but that would break Elodie’s heart, and I refuse make her feel any more of that pain and rage toward me.
Even if I hate Rune, I know he makes her feel things I’ve been yearning for her to have again. I let out a sigh and rub my cheek.
“Busy night?”
I flinch at Kol’s voice and sit up to search the room. He drops his invisibility and the asshole is smiling at my bloody clothes. He’s leaning in his usual spot against the glass doors leading to the balcony. His dark hair and brown eyes are hard to make out at night. Even his horns are midnight black.
I walk by him every fucking time and never notice he’s there. Invisibility or not, I should sense his aura—I’m getting sloppy.
“What do you want?” I mumble and tug my shirt off, opening my dresser and finding a clean one.
He pushes off the wall and starts to mess with my medals atop the dresser. I swat his hands and growl. He’s always been handsy when it comes to other people’s things. I still think he’s a thief.
He raises his hands. “Easy. Shit,you’rein a mood. What happened?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.” I raise my hand to my cheek and heal it. The sting instantly fades and I take a breath to try and relax. I wanted to keep it a little longer to remind myself to stop being an overbearing dickhead, but I’d rather heal it myself than have Kol try to do it for me.
Kol crosses his arms. “Whatever. Did you find anything on Lucius in the glades?”
My wings hurt from flying to those fucking glades every day. The search for the High Lady’s long-lost love is a burden on all of Tomorrow. “No—of course not. No sign of the Death God there either. How about your search in the southlands?” I lie back down in my bed and put my arms behind my head, spreading my wings out to hopefully help them relax to prepare for tomorrow’s flight.
“Nah, nothing down there either. Though I did see a fella riding on a Pine Hollow down by the coast.” Kol thrums his fingers along the dresser and the sound annoys the living shit out of me, but the Hollow rider bit catches my interest.
“What did he look like?”
