Page 81 of Beyond the Storm
He said nothing. He didn’t look at me either. Instead, he stared at the fallen leaf.
“Kallias.” I reached for his hands.
Gently, he pulled them free.
“By the gods,look at me.” I took hold of his jaw and forced his face closer to mine. Tears surfaced in his dark eyes, and his chin quivered. I felt that same quivering in my chest. “I haven’t given you my answer, so why have you already assumed the worst? Have you so little faith in my feelings for you?”
“I don’t need you to answer me,” he responded. “I already know what it will be. You are happy here. This is your home.”
What Nikandros said returned to me.“You stare off in the distance because, deep inside your heart, you know you belong somewhere else.”
That special place he mentioned, the one he’d said I needed to seize if I ever found it… was right in front of me.
“I have devoted my life to Sparta,” I said, retaking his hands and not allowing him to break free. That desperation in his eyes begged me not to let go even if his actions tried to convince me otherwise. “I’ve trained, fought, and killed to fulfill my duty. Violence is all I’ve known. Brutality and warfare. I never imagined anything more for myself. But the moment I met you?” His face blurred as my eyes burned. “Kallias, you are where I belong.”
“Stop. Please.” Kallias pushed away from me, his expression crumpling. “My heart can’t bear to hear you say those words. Because I know it changes nothing.”
I realized then that his curse might’ve been partly to blame for his doubt. Did his sin convince him he was unworthy of happiness? Did it prevent him from believing that I would ever choose him? Anger stabbed at my heart.
“Melancholy,” I said, tone hard.
His dejected gaze darted back to mine. And then his eyes, which were already so dark, darkened even further. Kallias stopped backing away from me and straightened his stance, his shoulders rolling back.
“You spoke my name,” he said in a voice much deeper than his own. He stepped toward me. Everything about him was different—his mannerisms, voice, and the way he carried himself. Although the thought was perplexing, I knew it was no longer Kallias in front of me.
“I did.” I held his gaze, feeling both anger and confusion.
“Tell me.” He tilted his head as his black eyes regarded me. “Would you abandon your people? For him?”
Him? So my suspicion was correct. This being truly wasn’t Kallias, but rather, the one who dwelled within him. The curse that caused him so much grief. His question gave me pause. My mind and heart were at war, both pulling me in different directions. Saying goodbye to Nikandros and leaving my syssition or saying goodbye to the man I loved?
Both decisions would hurt… but only one would destroy me.
“Kallias said he and his brothers fight for all of humankind,” I finally answered. “Leaving Laconia would not be abandoning them. It would mean choosing to fight for a cause much greater than myself. Defending those in this land and all of those beyond it.”
“Such honorable words.” Almost hesitantly, he then reached for my face. His fingers lightly grazed my jawline. “My home.”
If this truly was the sin that plagued Kallias, I should’ve hated him. Yet… just like when Kallias touched me, his touch warmed me too. And his voice, though different than the one I’d come to know, soothed me.
I placed my hand over his, my response catching in my throat.
Suddenly, he blinked and stumbled back a step, his hand falling from my face. When our gazes locked again, his eyes had returned to their dark brown shade, like the soil after a heavy rain. “E-Elasus?”
I drew him to my chest. My mind struggled to understand what had just happened, but my heart? It felt whole. “You’ve returned to me.”
Kallias shuddered against me. “He spoke to you. That… that has never happened. He’s never taken control of my body before.”
“Perhaps it was due to the fated mate bond? Melancholy is part of you. He feels what you do.”
“It’s possible.” He returned my hold. “He adores you, you know. I don’t understand how he brings me such misery yet melts in your presence.”
“My home.”
Those two words had sunk into my heart. Much like the male I currently held in my arms. “I have an answer. I wish to stay with you, wherever that may be.”
Kallias placed his palms on my chest and pushed away from me. “I will give you more time to think. It’s not a decision you should make in haste.”
“Kallias—”
