Page 215 of The Eye of the Fifth
‘One day there will be,’ he said quietly. ‘I promise.’
‘Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Gedeon.’
‘I never do.’
She believed him.
‘I will see you when this is all over,’ Gedeon said. Kyra felt the words unsaid:If we survive.
Despite what she had said before about wanting control of her own destiny (and every word had been the absolute truth), she found herself suddenly reluctant to say goodbye to him. She was sure that the pacifier within her had only emerged from his influence. Without him around… she didn’t know if that newfound peace would endure.
Despite the fire in his veins, he was more grounded than she could ever be.
Her opposite, in so many ways.
As though he had read her mind, Gedeon said, ‘I do not want to say goodbye to you.’
‘Is that the bond talking or are you actually going to miss me?’ The lightness of her tone surprised even her.
He gave a true, soft smile. Those were scarce on his face. ‘The latter.’
Kyra doubted it, but she didn’t contest it. ‘Where do you think Naal will send you?’
‘Back in the ice cell, maybe, as punishment for following you to Zarynth.’
‘Did you come with me because the bond was telling you to?’
‘It was telling me to do the opposite. To keep you here in Phaenon. To keep you safe.’
‘Then… why did you change your mind?’
He took some time before replying. ‘Because I didn’t doubt for a second that you would go to the ends of the earth to save Rosary, even if it meant forfeiting your own life. When I saw that truth in your eyes, I knew I could never let you go alone. That desire to help you overrode what the bond was telling me to do. And despite what happened, despite falling right into the trap my mother laid for us, I regret none of it. Because for once in my life, I truly feel I chose the right path. One that wasnotrigged by fate.’
Tears lined Kyra’s eyes for an entirely different reason.
‘Kyra, will you promise me something?’
‘That depends on what it is. I also don’t make promises I can’t keep.’
Gedeon reached over and took her hand. He ran a thumb over the raw skin on her forefinger. The gentle touch sent a shiver running up her spine. ‘When you want to do this, when you feel like you need to hurt yourself to stop feeling, I want you to project to me. I do not care what time of day it is. Project to me.’
Kyra wanted to remind him that they were supposed to be staying away from each other, lest they begin to act on the bond that tethered them. But having someone, afriendat least, that she could rely on whenever, wherever, was too tempting. She didn’t know where Naal might send her now, what she’d be required to do, whether or not she’d be alone or with a whole entourage.
Having someone she could rely on, who understood the extent of her hurting, who’d been there when Rosary had… when she’d…
She needed it. She needed him. In this small, seemingly insignificant way.
‘I promise,’ Kyra whispered.
Gedeon’s thumb moved over her fingers one last time as he studied her face as though committing it to memory. Then he removed his hand from hers and stood. Starlight twinkled in his onyx eyes. ‘For what it’s worth, no matter what happens next, no matter what has already come to pass, I am eternally grateful to have had the chance to know you. Not as my mate… but asyou.As Kyra.’
Kyra’s tongue seemed to tie itself in her mouth. She didn’t know what to say. Gedeon, apparently, did not need a response. His parting smile was small, and she watched him leave with a knot of guilt in her heart.
She should have told him.
She should have told him what the Black Throne had shown her.
When the time was right, she would. This she promised herself now.
