Page 46 of Dominion

Sebastian kept laughing and I couldn’t help but notice the way the rest of them were looking at me. As if I would fall apart. As if I would shatter right in front of their eyes.

It was my fault for worrying them this much. It was my fault for making it seem like I was a fragile girl who needed saving. It was my duty to show them that I wasn’t going to destroy myself while trying to survive. The time for running away was long gone, and while I knew that we still had more obstacles in front of us than we could count, I also knew that we could survive this.

If we could survive what was thrown at us so far, we could overcome this.

For the past couple of years, all I’d wanted was to be free of Judah, to be my own person, to make my own decisions whether they were good or bad. I was finally free, finally out of his clutches, and what did I do? I was still allowing him to control me—to control us.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked, turning toward the little crowd in the room, earning a quiet chuckle from Casimir. My hand came up to my face, rubbing at my cheeks, even though we all knew that there was nothing on me. My eyes flickered toward the entrance to the living room where Dylan had stopped, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his front pockets.

Shadows danced in his eyes, the trauma he went through still so very obvious, but he was smiling. Dylan was smiling, and simply by seeing it, my own lips pulled into a wide smile, cracking the last iceberg around my heart.

Without thinking, without shame, I strode toward him and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his head down to me. We’d been tiptoeing around each other long enough, and it had to stop. Him, Ash, and me, we were a team, and it was about time that I showed it to them.

Dylan’s eyes widened in surprise just as my lips pressed against his—tasting, taking, and teasing. The small gasp that erupted from him could only be heard by me, but it felt as if it was the loudest sound in the room. His body gradually relaxed, molding with mine. His arms wrapped around my back, holding me to him, and I didn’t miss the tremble that rocked through his body when my teeth bit down on his bottom lip, earning a tiny growl as a reward.

I knew we had an audience. I knew Ash was standing somewhere behind me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care if all of them looked because I wanted them to see. I wanted them all to see that I was choosing Dylan as one of my partners. Withouthim, our little team wouldn’t work. Without him, my heart couldn’t be whole.

Without him, none of this would make sense.

The path we walked wasn’t a normal one by the norms of society, but it was ours. Our entire relationship could be frowned upon, but I didn’t give a damn.

“Sky,” he whispered between the kisses—half a plea and half a warning. But I didn’t care.

He should’ve known by now that I wouldn’t let him go.

The shuffle of feet and murmurs of our friends in the hallway went through one ear and exited out the other one.

Dylan’s pain was as palpable as his relief, mixed with the excitement lingering on his soft lips as he kissed me and gave everything he had. There was no rushing this time. There was no craziness surrounding us or urgency. It was just us and the world around us.

A hand pressed between my shoulder blades, and I knew that Ash had finally come to us. I could almost feel my heart expanding in my chest, pressing against the cage made of my ribs and hitting with a violent force, almost bursting from happiness.

Lips nibbled at my neck, teeth pressing between my shoulder and neck, eliciting shudders all over my body. My body was completely wired to the two of them—to Dylan’s lips on mine and Ash’s soft touches all over my body.

My forehead pressed against Dylan’s, all three of us breathing heavily. I couldn’t hide the small smile on my face when Ash nestled his head in the crook of my neck, burying his face in my hair.

“I chose you,” I said, looking at Dylan. “Both of you.” I pressed my head against Ash’s, as if to drive the point. “I don’t care what happened in the past. I don’t care how this started or where we were months ago. I. Choose. You. And I willkeep choosing you every single day. We’ve been through things most people couldn’t even dream about, and we survived them.” My eyes clashed with Dylan’s, fighting against the uncertainty shining through his. “And we will survive everything else, as long as we’re together.”

I almost missed the wince on Dylan’s face, but it was there. Maybe I wasn’t the hand that tortured him in the Red Manor, but I didn’t do anything to try and bring him back to us. Not how he used to be. I was floating between nightmares and reality, letting my mind dictate everything.

“I’m sorry,” Dylan mumbled, pressing his head against the wall. “I know I haven’t exactly been here. At least not mentally.”

“It’s okay,” Ash said. “The past should stay in the past. I don’t care if I have to drag both of you kicking and screaming, but you’re not giving up on this. You’re not giving up on us.”

If it could’ve, my heart would’ve grown more, filled with the giddiness caused by Ash’s words. I could’ve stayed here forever, standing with the two of them, squashed between the two bodies I wanted to worship, but we had things to do. We had things to discuss. As much as I hated it, we needed Casimir for all these next steps.

I wanted to say that Casimir lied, that everything he said was just a carefully concocted lie, made to lure me in, but he wasn’t lying. My memories didn’t lie. That happy childlike laughter still echoed in my head, and for better or for worse, I wanted it back. I wanted that kind of happiness back.

“Casimir is right, you know?” I said suddenly, breaking the little spell weaved around us. Both Dylan and Ash tensed, and I couldn’t blame them. But they had to hear this. They had to know.

“I remember him, or well…” I smiled. “I remember what it was like, being happy. Being free. I remember the kidnapping and the day Judah brought me to you,” I told Dylan. “And Iremember how gentle you were, how kind and compassionate. I remember you telling me your name and I remember the screaming from your mother when she first saw me.”

“Sky—”

“No, no,” I stopped Dylan before he could apologize. “I’m not blaming you, Dy. I’m not even trying to bring back the bad memories. I’m just trying to tell you that Casimir could help us. He’s telling the truth.”

Ash wrapped his arm around my middle, tightening his hold. “I still don’t like him,” he grumbled. “I don’t like the way he looks at you. Like he owns you. Like?—”

“He doesn’t own me. He will never own me. I was owned once by Judah, and I will never allow another person to do the same to me, or to you. But he has the connections we need. He knows people we don’t. He knows how to take Judah down. Whether we like him or not, the fact is that we should listen to him. We should hear what he has to say.”

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