Page 47 of Rising Out of the Darkness
Wide eyes turned thin as she glared at the iron shackles within my hands.
“Please…” Her lips trembled as she pleaded with me. “Please just let me leave, Dec.”
The way her eyes clouded once more ripped me wide open. It made me want to tell her everything I had sworn to her father I wouldn’t.
“I just don’t want to hurt anyone any m-more.” She sniffled into the rough blanket clutched between her fingertips. “I’m tired of feeling like I can’t control anything in my life.”
Her confession shook my soul. If only she knew how much we shared that in common. Elena swallowed deeply, closing hereyes. “My weakness, one way or another, always finds a way to bring everything around me to ruin.”
Just as another tear fell from her lids, my thumb brushed against her cheeks and swept it away. “Lena.” Her cloudy eyes opened and met mine. “It’s in our fears and our weaknesses that we reveal our strengths.” Her brows furrowed as I spoke. “Let me put it this way, if we were never knocked down, how would we ever learn the strength we have inside us to get back up and try again?”
She chewed on her lip as she pondered my words. “But every time I get back up, those fears and weaknesses just knock me right back down. Declan, I’m exhausted from fighting a battle I’m never going to win.”
She grabbed the shackles and locked one around her wrist before I could stop her. Before she latched the other, I swiped it from her hands and latched it around my own. “I’ll help you fight the battle. You don’t have to do this alone, Elena.”
“Why—”
When I silenced her with my palm, her eyes grew wide. I lifted our wrists, causing the heavy links of the chains to clink together. A grin spread across my lips. “This is just so you don’t try to run away from me again, Wildfire.”
Releasing my hand from her lips, I pulled the sheets over her shoulders and began to comb my fingers through her hair. “Like I said, we’re in this together now. Rest, and I promise you in the morning we’ll begin to figure out your dynamis.” This time, I was the one who pleaded. “Please, let me help you.”
With a heavy sigh, she nodded against her pillow as she closed her eyes. I stroked her hair for a few more moments until her breath became slow and even. Only then did I allow myself to sleep as well.
Morning rays cascaded over the wavy locks of the woman lying peacefully beside me, making them look alive with fire. I’d been staring at the ceiling for hours. The mess I’d thrown myself into weighed heavily on my mind. The beats of my heart tripled in pace, just like the intrusive thoughts that flooded my mind.
All the while I felt a steady throb inside my chest, an unmistakable pull towards the woman tucked snugly underneath the sheets. Everything about my building attraction towards Elena was forbidden.
The more I learned about Elena, the greater the need had grown for me to keep her away from my father and his advisor. Unfortunately, if I didn’t deliver the Light Phoenix to the capital, there was no doubt in my mind that both men would use every resource they had to hunt her down.
Warren had persuaded me that Elena would be the perfect distraction inside the castle while we continued to get closer to finding the mole. He was positive my father would gather all the dignitaries together to show off the dynamis of the Light Phoenix. It would give us a chance to reassess their roles in this kingdom and uncover any leads that might help us. There was also the possibility that the strength of her dynamis would be enough of a lure to entice someone to slip their cover.
Another reason why Warren trusted me to take Elena. He believed I was the most capable of teaching her how to embrace her dynamis, and the most capable of keeping her safe.
The pressure of these tasks threatened to cave in my chest. Every muscle tightened, creating a cage over the upper half of my body. The more I thought about it, the tighter it constricted.My mind flashed back to when I had told her I would protect her in the first town, and she had replied, “What if that’s not enough?”
Those words had ruptured through the secure hold I’d had on my intrusive thoughts. Now, they roamed freely inside my mind, and that was never a good thing.
Anger lashed its way through me. That last thing we all needed was for me to doubt myself, but here I was worrying about not being able to protect the Light Phoenix.
My head began to feel hazy, the breaths flowing faster than they should have. Closing my eyes, I began to count the stars the way my mother had taught me during the first time panic invaded my body as a child.
“One… two…three,” I whispered between shallow breaths. “Four…five…six…”
While I focused on the counting, the claws that dug into my chest began to lift. Licking my lips, I steadied myself to keep counting when I felt the unfamiliar warmth of fingers interlocking within my own.
Elena hovered over me. Concern creased her brow as she placed her other palm over my chest and rubbed soothing circles with her thumb. Lena’s aqua eyes glistened in the morning sun, as they rippled over me like a tranquil river. Her delicate lips moved, and I realized she had begun counting where I had left off.
“Seven…eight…nine…ten.” She paused, raising one eyebrow. “Keep up Shadow Lord.”
My lips curled up as she gave me a playful tap across my chest, and I counted alongside of her. When Elena had interlocked her fingers within mine, it had jolted me out of my spiral. However, pure selfishness took over and I continued to count along with her until we reached twenty. I savored a few more moments of her peaceful gaze before it vanished.
Once my breaths had steadied, her thumb stopped its circles as she asked, “How long?”
“I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.”
Her head dipped. “Me too.”
There had been several signs I’d picked up through our journey that had made me wonder if she was afflicted with the same burden. Now I had my answer. It appeared that Lena and I had a lot more in common than either of us thought.
