Page 35 of These Eternal Bones
“Then why bring me here?! Why show me this!?”
My tendril keeps him pinned while I stride toward him, thoughtfully weaving through the horde. “So you know the lengths I will go to, that I will stop at nothing. You are new to this, Nephilim. I have had centuries to grieve her. Centuries of madness to bring me here. If you step in my way again, I will open you up and bond her in a pool of your blood. She may have been yourfriend, but hersoulbelongs tome.”
His body thuds against the floor. I ignore the tinge of feeling in my chest when he makes no move to stand. Looking like a man defeated,another thing I recognize all too well. It’s his words that halt my exit, that make the blackened blood in my veins run just a fraction colder. “When we first met, I had thought the rumors were wrong. I had watched her smiles and laughs mingle with yours. Served you both, happily, even imprisoned… I had found a fraction of peace with it. I was wrong. You are everything they said. She simply makes us all forget from time to time.”
My chest heaves, that darkness that swirls in my mind, prodding the edges again.
“Tell me, will you forgive yourself this time? Will you sleep at night if she dies in a–”
I blur to him, my actions like liquid venom as I snap his neck, my tendrils dragging him from the room before I lock it behind me, leaving him to collect dust until he rises.
How is it that you can feel guilty for crimes not yet committed?
18
Jealousy & Reading Lessons
As it Was - Hozier
Molly
The next month passes, not quite like a dream, but as close as one can get to it while awake. My days are spent at his side, learning to read and write. My nights are filled with stories and glances that turn me inside out. Soft passing touches and lips that come too close but still too far. Elric is brilliant, as much as his mind shows the wear of his years. He’s weary, on edge, more and more so as the days pass. Like he’s always holding his breath, waiting for something he anticipates, but dreading it all the same.
I’d nearly fallen down the stairs in my haste to find Tien the first time he’d started mumbling to himself. The pacing had come next, hisclaws goring his own skin. Cartiel had escorted me home that night, but I hadn’t dared lay down to sleep, worry eating at my gut.
“Perhaps next time we could venture out of Port Clyde, there must be more to see inland,” I comment, trying not to sound too eager. As much as I’ve come to love the cottage, for all its drafts and the estate even more so, I’ve been dying to see more. That’s why we’re here, I would assume. His sudden interest in personally going to gather supplies for the coming winter storm had confirmed that he had gotten the hint that I was going a bit stir-crazy. According to his ledgers and to the whisperings of Péal, he never leaves his estate by the lighthouse. Any business dealings that need handling are done when a human ventures up, or he sends someone down. I suppose that would drive anyone a little mad.
“Perhaps syringa.”
I bite back a huff at the noncommittal response, my eyes going to the window of the coach. It looks so much different from the last time I was here with him, feels different too. For the first time in forever, my muscles aren’t tense with the urge to bolt. There's no unease pressing in on my chest.
Tears spring to my eyes, a thick lump forming in my throat.
I made it.
I truly made it out.
The fabric of my gown is thick and satin soft in my hands as I fist them. My breath comes in a little quicker as I keep my eyes peeled wide, trying to resist the urge to blink, knowing it’ll only send over the tears welling there. Where his attention drifted before, it’s on me now. Alert and intense as always. My cheeks flush as a choked sound works up my throat.
I escaped New Eden.
The thought hadn’t occurred to me before.
But I did it.
I’m… safe.
With that, something inside me crumbles, something held taut like the trigger on a gun. Always watching, waiting…tense and unbreathing. My head snaps to his wide, dark eyes, both of us equally confused, but as always, Elric recovers quickly. His cool hand on the side of my face is my undoing.
I sob.
Guttural and heavy, the words that leave my lips are choked and gasping. “I amsafe.”
“Of course, syringa, always.”
“Oh, mygod.”
The relief is consuming. The first few breaths without that weight on my chest are so crisp they feel like my very first ones.
