His thumb traced the edge of my jaw, the gesture almost… affectionate.
My gut twisted. Affection was just another weapon in his arsenal.
“Do you think I want to lose you?” Beric’s voice dipped, softening in a way that made my teeth clench. “We have history, Gael. I don’t want you to stray from me.”
The weight of that history, those centuries of loyalty and servitude, pressed on my chest.
I’d once thought it was a bond unbreakable. Now, it felt like a chain.
“I won’t,” I promised, the lie curling bitter on my tongue. “I’ll return to the nest. With Gabriel. Dead or alive.”
Beric’s eyes flickered, satisfaction simmering beneath the surface. “Good.”
The shadows surged, swallowing his form, but the burn of his touch lingered long after he faded.
I jolted awake, my body snapping upright as if a wire had been cut.
The cold concrete floor beneath me bit through my clothes, grounding me back in reality.
I counted silently to ten in my head, forcing myself to calm down.
Beric was in my head. He saw me. Felt me. Almost unraveled me.
My hands shook as I raked them through my hair. But that wasn’t what terrified me the most. No, what gnawed at my insides was that I’d held something back.
I’d hidden Asher from Beric, deliberately severing the connection I’d once kept open without question.
What the hell was I doing?
My eyes darted around, mind scrambling to catch up. The grimy warehouse walls closed in, graffiti smudged by time and neglect.
Weak light seeped through broken windows, casting everything in sickly gray.
I shouldn’t have slept. Shouldn’t have let my guard down. Not here. Not now. I should be dead.
Why aren’t I dead?
A shadow moved to my left. Narrowing my eyes, I twisted my body, ready to lunge, but it was Asher. He paced near the entrance, the faint light illuminating his silhouette.
His broad shoulders were tense, muscles coiled beneath his jacket.
His fingers brushed absently against the hilt of his knife, the motion almost comforting. Protective.
Was he patrolling? Watching over me while I slept?
No. That couldn’t be right. My mind rebelled against the idea, but there he was, alive and restless, his gaze flicking to me, then away.
I should have been ashes by now. A blade through the heart, a head separated from my neck. Yet I was still here, unscathed.
Why hadn’t he left? Why was I still alive?
I pushed myself up, limbs stiff, a smirk tugging at my lips to hide the storm behind my eyes.
“So, what’s the deal, hunter? Decide I’m not worth the effort to kill?” I teased.
He stopped pacing, turning to face me. The way his jaw tightened, the flare of his nostrils, I could almost taste his frustration.
“Don’t tempt me.” His voice was a low growl.
