Page 82 of Skyshade
Isla understood now, more than ever, why Grim had been ready to go through the portal for her.
She was all he had.
Slowly, her fingers settled between his, and a chill swept up her arm at the contact. He looked at her like he had so much to say, but not enough words and not enough time. His thumb brushed across her knuckles, scraping them just slightly, and she shivered. He reached her wrist and swept the inside, across her pulse. Frowned. His gaze slid down to her bare wrists. He raised his brow slightly in question.
She hadn’t seen him since she had gone to the blacksmith. “I decided to stop hiding.”
“Good,” he said. “I married all of you, Isla. Not just the good parts. Not just the good days. Don’t hide from me.”
It was in that moment that she realized she had been hiding from herself. She wanted so much, and it shamed her.
Half of her loved Oro—always would.
The other half loved Grim. Unconditionally. The same way he loved her. Theirs was not a gentle love, it was a bleeding love. And she was done pretending she didn’t want it.
If she was going to save Nightshade, and change her fate, she needed to work with Grim—not against him.
Tears swept down her face again.
His eyes widened. He looked like he wished he could kill anything that had made her upset. “What is it, heart?”
She shook her head. “I trusted them. The people I killed the other day, when I was covered in blood. I—I thought they had become my friends.” It sounded so stupid, saying it aloud. She sounded so pathetic. But Grim only listened. He did not judge her. “And...my guardians. They—they—”
He held her as she cried. This was what she deserved, she knew. She had betrayed countless people as well.
“I want to go somewhere,” she said, her chest rattling with sobs. “Just with you. Like before.”
They didn’t have much time. They were well into winter now. The augur had been clear—her fate and lifespan were somehow tied to the portal. They needed to find it. All of their lives depended on it.
She watched Grim hesitate.
“There’s another palace,” he said, his large hand sweeping down her spine, gathering her closer to her chest. “We can go there, for a few days. I think—I think you’ll like it.”
She nodded against him. Perfect.
It was exactly what she had been hoping he would say. Exactly the place Aurora had described. The skyre on her arm, made invisible by Nightshade shadows, seemed to pulse.
It was an excuse, but it was also the truth. With so short a time left, she wanted to enjoy part of it for just a few days. Give in to the desires she could no longer ignore.
She and Grim...as much as she had tried to fight it, as much as part of her hated herself for it, they were more alike than they were different. They understood each other.
She was done pretending she didn’t love him. She was done burying her feelings down, hoping they would die.
It might have made her a villain. It might have been wrong.
But she wanted him.
Isla found her original wedding dress in the wardrobe. It was pristine. Perfect. Hung in a way that made it look like art on a wall, a piece Grim might have often looked at.
Her fingers swept down the silk, across the ties of the bodice, and she remembered standing while the dress was created around her. She remembered the look on Grim’s face when he first saw her. She remembered when he went to his knees and pressed his forehead against her legs and whispered something into the fabric like a prayer.
She slowly took it off its hanger.
The buttons down the back were difficult to hook herself, but she bent her arms, and with every latch there was another memory, another moment. He had imprinted himself upon her life, and she wasn’t sure if there was any way around it.
Before she could think better of it, she was in front of his door. She didn’t need to knock.
The door swung open, and Grim’s eyes widened, just slightly. She hadn’t often surprised him, but when she did, she cherished it.
