Page 131 of At the Mercy of Midnight
Amelia sucked in a small breath. Her hand flinched again, desperate to reach out. “You are…” She paused to steady herself. Her heart. Her breath. She felt uneven and untethered as she considered the words that had been so ready to fall from her mouth. But after the pause, she realised they were true, and she wanted to say them. “You are the only person that I trust implicitly, Finley. I think—no, Iknow—thatI trust you with my life.”
He blinked. Once. Twice. Then he turned his head, meeting her eyes. His chest rose and fell, the tattooed tree breathing in time with him as she waited for him to respond.
Amelia’s heart dropped when his head shook imperceptibly, before dropping his gaze again.
Her eyes lingered on him for a beat too long, and then she slowly turned and faced the fire, letting out a long breath. Disappointment settled heavily on her heart. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself, chewing at her bottom lip andwondering what that small shake of his head had meant. Amelia was afraid to ask and find out.
Perhaps, he didn’t believe her. Their history was an uneasy one.
She swallowed her fear and prayed for strength.
“The runes can only be activated if you’re touching me, my skin,” Amelia said, her heart thundering so loudly that it beat in her ears, almost blocking out the sound of her own voice. Silas’ head shot up, eyes searching hers with brows pressed together. “Only my parents have ever known the activation word. I’ve never trusted anyone else in my life with that, knowing what it could mean. But Idotrust you and I want to prove that to you. The word is—”
“Amelia—” Silas said quickly, hand shooting out to grasp at the top of her blanket-covered leg.
“Domare,” Amelia finished, the word like acid on her tongue.
Silence descended between them as they stared at one another. His eyes were wide with shock while her chest squeezed from having said the word aloud for the first time in her entire life. A word that had meant nothing but desperate pain and bitter desolation.
He shook his head again, keeping her gaze this time. “You didn’t need to do that,” he whispered.
“I…I wanted you to have no doubt. That I trust you.”
He swallowed visibly again, his fingers biting into her knee. “That’s, uh…” He stopped to sigh. “Amelia…”
She let the blanket drop away from one shoulder, releasing her hand to set it on top of his own, his fingers warm despite the lingering nip of the chill from their unscheduled ocean dip. “What is it? Why are you being like this? Is it because I left this afternoon without you? I knew you didn’t want me to go, but we got the ring, and I’m sorry—”
“No.” He shook his head, eyes falling shut briefly. “No, I’m not angry or upset. Not with you. I just…” He met her eyes, a fierceness there. “I want nothing more than to protect you, to be the one you can rely on, to trust. But Amelia, you have to know…I won’t be around much longer. This feels so futile, and I don’t want this to be more painful than it needs to be for you. For both of us.”
Amelia pulled away from him then, hand letting go of his as her body reared back like she had been pushed. His words settled like a stone in the pit of her stomach.
His shoulders sagged at her retreat, and he slowly looked away from her.
She felt the emotion clogging in her throat, felt tears threatening in the corners of her eyes.
“We don’t know that yet,” Amelia said, voice wobbling. “But I do know something. Thatthisis painful. You pulling away from me.”
Silas clenched his eyes shut, keeping his face turned away. He stood, hiking the blanket higher around his shoulders as he moved away from the couch and the hearth.
“It’s for the best,” he said resolutely, and Amelia narrowed her eyes as she watched him stalk to the corner, sitting himself in a rickety wooden chair, the thing creaking threateningly as his weight sank onto it. “Let’s just get through tonight so we can figure out where we are in the morning and how to get to Ivory City. Hopefully we only got flung a little off course. Could be walkable.”
Amelia felt a surge of exasperation and impatience, glaring at him as he continued to ignore her. She stood as well, shifting around the edge of the couch, holding the blanket firmly around her body.
“Finley, I’m supposed to be the stubborn ass, not you,” Amelia said, letting some of her anger leech into her tone.
His jaw tightened, eyes fixed on the darkened corner of the cottage. “Well, perhaps we’ve spent far too much time together and your traits are rubbing off on me.”
Her mouth dropped open and then she scoffed. “Please, Finley, you are so transparent.”
He rolled his eyes and finally looked at her, keeping his expression bland. “Am I?”
“Exceptionally so.”
Silas raised a brow at her, and it was so much like how they used to be, back when they were uneasy rivals, always trying to one-up each other. Amelia pursed her lips, hating it.
“You’re purposefully being a dick,” Amelia said, “in some futile attempt to anger me so that…what? It’ll suck less if you disappear?”
His eye twitched and he stood back up, taking two angry steps towards her. “Perhaps I’m just finally tired of your company. It’s been close to a month of your non-stop chatter and demands, and frankly, it’s getting to the point where the Midnight Realm sounds like a lovely little vacation.”
