Page 134 of The Trials of Ophelia

And she was still here, gazing up at me with that stunning smile as she tangled her legs with mine and nestled against me.

We stayed like that for a while, talking about nothing and everything. The room was no longer cold, air heavy with steam. We should have been trying to dig ourselves out of here, but something between us shifted while trapped, and we’d been forced to unveil our demons. I wasn’t ready to face the real world yet. For what could have been hours, we laid there. I twirled strands of her silky hair around my fingers, happiest I’d been in memory.

Eventually, we fell into a comfortable silence, and I went over everything we’d poured out to each other.

Her confession about how she’d viewed sex with Malakai hadn’t shocked me. I’d known for a while they were using it to avoid their problems. What had surprised me was that she’d feared that was even a possibility for us. I understood it was all she knew and why she was afraid of the past repeating itself, but I would never allow that to happen.

I’d always been the one to push her, and that didn’t stop now. If she fell back on those bad habits, I’d challenge her to heal them, not feed them.

I thought she might have been sleeping until she turned so she was on her stomach, chin on my chest. “I’ve never considered how the Bind would affect you, Tolek. I’m sorry for that.”

“I didn’t tell you that to make you feel guilty. I only said it so you would know I’m scared, too. That all of this still feels a little too good to be true.”

“What do you mean?” She pushed onto her elbows, head tilting.

I propped myself up, too, running fingers lightly down her spine. “I mean that I’ve loved you since I was young and had accepted you would never be mine. That I was second place.” I shrugged one shoulder. “Sometimes it’s not believable that I get you to myself.”

She frowned at her tattoo. “And this makes that worse? Because you think since I’m still technically tied to him I may wake up one day and feel that pull back.” She didn’t sound hurt—she was only trying to understand how I felt.

I nodded.

Ophelia brushed her thumb back and forth over the North Star. “I once thought these traditions were the pillars of my life. The Undertaking, the Bind…I’d framed my entire existence around them, letting them be my only purpose. Milestones.” Those magenta eyes lifted to mine, seeming to glow. “A lot has changed since then. Not only Malakai and me, but in all of our lives. So many secrets have been exposed; so many things have been tarnished.

“The Undertaking is not as infallible as we thought,” she continued, and I nodded in agreement, not quite sure where she was going with this. The ritual had tortured me, yes, and allowed Lucidius to succeed despite his motives, but it still had been transformative for her and our friends. “The Angels are not only reverent beings, but they’re pulling strings in our lives. Ever since the Curse first appeared on me, I’ve felt like everything I know is being turned on its head.”

She had a point.

“I don’t regret receiving the Bind with Malakai, because I did love him. I wish I’d known the whole truth before making that decision, but I refuse to regret what I once wanted.” She swallowed, fingers tightening over her tattoo for a moment before she released it. “I’ve felt so out of control of my future for years now, but you’ve always made me feel steadier. You are the one thing I’ve been able to freely choose, Tol. I don’t need a tattoo to know I’m tied to you for life. I’d be honored to receive the Bind with you one day, but it doesn’t change anything if we never do. I am infinitely yours, Tolek Vincienzo, as you are mine.”

My heart lit up like damn Angellight igniting in my chest. “Infinitely,” I echoed, leaning forward to kiss her.

When I took her this time it was slow and reverent, expressing every desire we’d hidden and fought for so long, and when we came together one thing echoed through my mind: perhaps I could be enough for her.

We didn’t allow ourselves to continue wasting time after that one, quickly dressing.

I’d protested we could stay in this cave.

“What if someone finds us while we’re still naked?” Ophelia had taunted, and the idea of another man seeing her had me throwing her tunic back over her head and strapping those leathers tight enough she was slapping my hands away.

“So, you think Thorn’s crown is his emblem?” I asked as we hauled rocks and dirt to try to reach the doorway. Progress was slow.

“I think either the crown itself or something hidden within it. A jewel maybe?” She stretched out her back after moving a particularly heavy rock. “The other emblems have all either been something forged or mined. The shard from Angelborn, the pearl, and the gilded petal were all created while the stone in Barrett’s ring was likely from Engrossian territory somewhere.”

“He never said where that’s from, has he?” I asked.

“I’ve never asked about the gem. Only where the ring was found.” She stopped, brows scrunching.

“What is it?” I asked, smoothing out the crease and accidentally brushing dirt across her face. I laughed and wiped it away with my sleeve.

“Nothing. It’s a good question. How were the emblems created? How did the Angels select their items?”

“And why?” I tacked on, groaning as I got back to work. “That’s the most important one.”

“And who, I suppose.” I raised my brows at her, assuming that was one question we knew the answer to. She continued. “Not who they’re for or who they’re connected to, but who hid them. I don’t think the Angels themselves did it. If they want me to find these tokens, why would they make it so difficult?”

“To prove your worth?” I offered.

“I don’t think they’d give the task to someone they found to be of questionable worth.” She shook her head. “That seems proven in the fact that I’m the only one who can feel them. There’s some reason they need these emblems and some reason they can’t get them themselves that requires the Angelcurse.” She said the words as if she was realizing them for the first time.

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