Page 114 of At the Mercy of Midnight
“So, what?” she pushed, her exhaustion making her tone sharper than intended. “You expect me to just…let them have you? Use you for some experiment to fit their own agenda?”
He ran his tongue along his teeth, his hands tightening into fists on his knees. “It’s not just their agenda, it’s everyone—” He broke off, exhaling roughly. “You know, I felt you coming. I knew you were close before you even stepped foot inside that room. I could feel your anger, and I…” He clenched his jaw. “…I was awed but also terrified. You shouldn’t have put yourself at risk for me.”
She stared at him, heart beating a little faster. “Finley…”
He shook his head, looking away. “We barely got out of there. He said we have until the full moon comes again, that if we don’t complete this sacrifice…this ritual, that we’ll run out of time. There’re so many answers we still don’t have. We don’t know what we’re doing.”
Amelia inhaled slowly, letting the moment settle before nodding. “No. But we know more than we did before, and we can use that.”
Silas’ gaze moved back to her.
She straightened, voice steadying. “Every pair bonded before us failed. The last ones had tried to make the sacrifice, and it didn’t work—so perhaps that’s the wrong answer. We need to find out what went wrong for them. They were missing something crucial, and we need to figure out what that is, or…” She trailed off, but they both knew how the sentence ended.We’ll be lost to the Midnight Realm, just like them.
Silas dragged a hand through his hair again. “No pressure.”
A dry laugh escaped her. “None at all.”
He sighed, tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Midnight drew closer. She could feel it, that faint hum beneath her skin, the bond like a wire stretched too tight.
Silas felt it too. She could see it in the way his fingers tapped idly against his thigh, restless. Finally, he looked at her again, softer this time.
“You should sleep. I’ll stay awake and come to you before the pull, hopefully you sleep through it.”
Her heart squeezed at the offer, her throat tightening as she nodded, trying to convince herself it was her tiredness making her want to cry. Silas hadn’t moved, so she reached out, hesitated, then lightly covered his hand with hers. He went very still.
They had not had time to discuss what happened before they had been ambushed. The promise of…something. Amelia didn’t know what he wanted anymore, after all that had happened afterwards.
It seemed unnatural, to concern herself with such things considering the ordeal that had followed.
Yet she had to admit, she was finding it difficult not to glance at his mouth and daydream about what those moments would turn into if they were not running on borrowed time. The echoes of their heated moments already felt like a lifetime ago, like it had happened in a dream rather than real life. She wanted to know what it would be like. To be with him without barriers, without fear…without the bond.
Amelia blinked, realising she was blushing, body warming. She looked resolutely away.
“You’re not alone in this,” she murmured. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Silas’ fingers curled slightly under hers, holding on for just a moment before he nodded. “Together.”
Then, with what seemed like great reluctance, he pulled away, standing. “I’ll be down the hall. Try to get some rest.”
She watched him go, chest feeling heavier than before.
After everything, she wasn’t sure if they were any closer to saving themselves, or if they were only falling deeper into something they would never escape.
TWENTY-SIX
Darkness pressed against her like a living thing, wrapping around her limbs, pulling her deeper. Cold seeped into her bones, a biting, unnatural chill that gnawed at her skin, at her very being.
Amelia tried to move, but the shadows curled tighter, their touch whispering against her flesh like ghostly fingers. Shapes flickered in the abyss, half-formed figures, faces stretched in silent screams.
She knew where she was.
Amelia was back in the Midnight Realm.
The air was thick, heavy with something that wasn’t quite mist, wasn’t quite smoke. It clung to her, sinking into her lungs,turning every breath into a struggle. A whisper brushed against her ear.
"You don’t belong here."
She turned sharply, but there was nothing, only the void, only the endless dark.
