I’m Sorry It Took Me So Long
I wake beneath the silk sheets that have become so familiar, arms I find incredibly comforting, and a dark sky that fuels my nightmares.
I swallow. “Is it always night in Oriziah?”
“No, but the dark remains for…” He considers. “Months in Earth time.”
I shiver. Night is beautiful, but when it’s also filled with creatures who want to eat me—
“This world will not harm you,” Jarron mutters sleepily. “You are safe here.”
“What do you mean I am safe here? You’re not even safe.”
Jarron sighs and tucks me in closer. “That is true, but it’s temporary and it’s political. The beasts and the sahasika clans out in the wild wouldn’t even consider harming you with my mark on your skin. Ironically, inside the palace is one of the least safe places for us right now because there, we represent mistrust. Out here, the natural order would protect you. You are part of the land, an important part, now that you carry my magic. My heart.”
My chest flutters.
You are everything.
I shake my head, this new reality once again resettling in my mind. It wasn’t a dream. It’s real. I am Jarron’s chosen.
“It’s real.” He brushes a kiss against my forehead.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
His arms tighten around me. “What happened was not your fault. You were supposed to have as much time as you needed. You were supposed to choose me without outside influence. That was a privilege you and I did not get. You were challenging and stubborn, but I always knew you would be. The fact that it was difficult only makes this that much sweeter. I know how much it means that you are here in my arms and in my soul, the monster you despised.” His lips quirk.
“I quite like that monster now,” I admit.
“Believe me, I know.” His sultry tone sends a jolt through my body.
“Tell me something,” I say.
He nuzzles into my neck, lips grazing over the sensitive skin of my bite mark.
I squirm.
“What do you want to hear, Candice?”
A sudden urge takes over my body, and I turn, pushing him off of me and twisting so that I am over him instead, staring into his dark eyes. “When I first told you about Liz being dead, you reacted really strongly.” Ice crawled along the walls—something that happens when his emotions are strong enough that his demon comes to the surface. It’s one of the moments I’ve played through over and over since I learned about Orizian mates.
He sits up, holding my waist in place so that our chests are pressed together tightly, his lips on my cheek. “I did react, because she mattered to you. She mattered to me too, that is certainly true, but this was also the first time I’d talked to you in years and my demon was already restless for that reason alone. We could see that her death hurt you and there was also the implication that you were potentially unsafe. It was an intense moment all around.”
I let that truth settles around us, between us, as I work to process this new perspective.
“Besides, a little bit of demonic power slipping from my grasp is small compared to what could have happened if I’d lost control completely.” He leans back to examine my face. “Have you ever considered how I might have reacted if the opposite had happened? If Liz had come and told me that you—” He stops, like he’s unable to complete the thought.
“You hadn’t seen me in years by that point,” I remind him. It wouldn’t be like now.
“Not in person, other than the few glimpses from afar, but I’d dreamed about you nightly.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Every. Single. Night.”
I have many,many,questions about that, but I shake the thought from my mind or it’ll seriously derail me. “So, what would have happened if Liz had come to the school to tell you about my death?”
His eyes turn black and distant. His voice is hoarse. “Do you remember the day I saw the wolf bite on you?”
