Page 73 of Cursed Lifeline

Leaning forward, I capture his face tenderly between my palms and insist, “Not everything between us is fantasy.” He swallows hard but doesn’t avert his stare. “Not everything we feel is destined to fail.”

Though my memory is slowly coming back to me, it's obvious to both of us there are still pieces that are missing. A misfortune in my previous life, perhaps. One I’m doomed to repeat if I’m not careful.

He stands, and my legs widen as he steps between them. His heated gaze causes my body to tremble. His violet eyes flash up to meet mine. “I failed you once, Esme. In your absence, I promised never to fail you again.”

His voice cracks on the last word, and his forehead falls against mine. Biting my lip, I close my eyes and try to think best how to respond. Pulling him closer by his lapels, I whisper the only thing that comes to mind. “Even if you do, even if the ill-fated winds of destiny pull us apart, I’d still choose you.”

His lips crash against mine with so much fervor that I don’t have time to breathe. He kisses me like a man who was dead and is finally being brought back to life. Wholeheartedly, I give him the air he needs. I let him take, without reservation, without thought of any past or impending future, and open up to him willingly.

Giving into him feels like more than heaven.

It feels like home.

“If only we could stay like this,” he whispers, breaking our kiss. “Locked away where I could always protect you. Keep you safe.”

His lips quickly find purchase of mine before I can respond. This time, his kiss is slow. Seductive. Hypnotic. He takes his time as if we’ve been granted eternity to spend in each other’s arms. I savor the caress of his tongue against my own and the addictive brush of his lips across mine as he easily steals my breath away.

The music hovering around us soars, builds to a breathtaking crest of powerful climatic melody. He deepens the kiss and a tear falls from my eyes. Tenderly, his lips graze mine one last time before he pulls away and softly kisses the fallen tear from my cheek.

“But we can’t stay here, can we?” I cry.

His hands rise and affectionately grip the sides of my face just before the stained-glass windows burst. Their shards of glass violently punch through the air, reminding me of a dreadful memory I’ve yet to place until now, and then suddenly, they stop. Suspended, dangling in space, time pauses. The air around us becomes charged with tense energy as I stare deeply into his violet eyes, and he grins, “If I knew the answer to that question was yes, I’d build endless dreams for us to escape to.”

The room starts to spin. The shards delicately, sluggishly, move in a circle. Felix pulls back and regards me with a sad frown.

“But there’s a calling, a curse,” I whisper as my mind begins piecing the puzzle together.

His brow furrows.

His eyes darken with heartache.

Eventually, he sighs, “Even if I could keep you here safe with me for eternity, running from it will never make either of us happy because it will always be there waiting, threatening to steal anything we’ve built away once we get the courage to finally face the inevitable.”

The shards of glass start to spin faster.

With sadness hanging in his eyes, he whispers, “No, we can’t stay here. If I have even the slightest chance to love you honorably, I’m going to take it. I have a responsibility. One that will be waiting for me. For us.”

The piercing sound of glass colliding sends a jolt of panic down my spine.

Quickly, I beg, “What responsibility?”

Before he can respond, the glass from the windows thunders to the ground, and the dream shatters completely. My eyes open to a pounding on my door as Felix’s voice trails softly through my mind.

To break a curse.

The pounding on the door increases. Wincing, I glance at the note sitting next to me on the couch in my private roomette and make quick work of hiding it, and the rose behind a pillow. Rising, I straighten my attire, rub the sleep from my eyes, and brush a few stray strands of hair into place as I walk towards the door and bark out, “Coming!”

Swinging the door open, I’m met with Caelum’s mischievous grin and Alfred’s impatient glare.

“It’s time we havethatchat,” Alfred smugly suggests.

“Chat?” I question innocently, still trying to clear my mind from the dream I was having.

“Remember when I said, ‘Alfred will fill you in on where we’re headed and why on the first leg of the trip?’” Caelum cheekily responds.

My gaze swings anxiously between my cousins as they enter my room and sit on my couch. Nervously, I close the door and sit opposite them in my quarters.

“If you’re intent on dining with the enemy tonight, there are things you need to know.”

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