Page 68 of Heir Of Sun And Moon
I shrug, leaning into him. “I don’t know. According to Alexi, this tower was already built like this—books and all—when I was put here as a baby.”
He turns towards me, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I say, tilting my head up to catch his dark gaze.
“But I was one of those people,” he mutters, guilt thick with every word. “I was one of the people who knew you were here and just assumed that the king wasn’t lying about why.” It’s quiet for a breath before he adds, “I meant what I said, you know.”
My brows draw together in confusion as I survey him, my body drawing closer to his and my magic humming its pleasure at our proximity. His kind eyes and luscious mouth and the way he feels under my hands— I clear my throat to stop that train of thought. “What part?”
“All of it,” he states, leaning down to kiss me. Even the gentlest of touches from him causes a wave of desire to completely consume me. I’m sure he is referencing how he promised to keep me safe and kill the king if need be, but all I can focus on is how he said that he wanted to explore every part of me. Gods, do I want to do the same with him. A wicked smirk tilts his lips as he leans in closer, my eyes closing on instinct. “I can tell what you are thinking, Sunshine,” he whispers. “And it’s going to distract me too much.” I smile, a shiver rolling though me as he kisses the shell of my ear before taking a step back and shouts, “Come on, Bella!”
Flynn opens the door and pulls me through, my world still unbelievably off its axis from his touch, his words, hismouth. Focus, Rhea.Despite moving down the stone steps quickly, it still feels like an eternity until we reach the small platform that leads out to the bridge. We stop, mostly because I need to catch my breath.
“I probably should have asked this earlier, but what is the plan?” I huff out, looking down at the few spirals of the stairs remaining until the bottom of the tower.
“We will head all the way down to the lowest level that opens out into the meadow,” Flynn answers, taking a deep breath of his own. “Then, all we have to do is cross the wildflowers and get to the forest.”
“And then we head east, to your home?”
“Is that where you want to go?” There’s apprehension in his voice as he studies me, his black waves tumbling over his forehead.
“Yes.” I exhale, examining him as I lay one of my own truths at his feet. “I want to be wherever you are.”
His answering smile is breathtaking—as always. He’s the manifestation of a dream I never knew I had. Perfection brought to life in the form of sweet smiles and gentle touches and kind words.There is only you.That’s what he said to me as we sat together in the sunlight surrounded by books. I thought men like him might only exist in the worlds I read about, but he’s real and he’s here… and I think he might be mine. And a growing part of me hopes that he realizes that all the shattered pieces of me are his. Only his.
“I swear to the gods, Rhea. You cannot look at me like that, or this trip is going to take twice as long,” he groans, his voice echoing in the stairwell of the tower.
“Why would the way I look at you make our trip longer?” He quirks a brow, that provocative grin growing. It takes an embarrassingly long time for me to understand what he’s referencing. “Oh. Oh, I—” I stammer, knowing that my cheeks are pinker than the sky at sunset.
Flynn laughs, leaning in to kiss the top of my head as Bella whines and works her way in between us. “Okay, okay. Bella’s right. We need to go.” Flynn holds my hand and guides me down the darkened steps until we finally reach the true bottom of the tower. “Remember, we run through the wildflowers and straight to the forest. Do not stop until we reach the trees.”
“Alright,” I say, fear and determination intermingling inside me. My magic begins humming more intensely, as if also showing its agreement with Flynn’s plan. Suddenly a deep moan startles me, my hand reaching out to grip Flynn’s forearm. “What was that?”
“Shit,” Flynn says with a sigh. The bottom of the tower is nearly pitch black, just a small amount of light shining in from a cutout above. He lets go of my hand and walks over to a darker corner of the space. I hear the sound of something dragging across the stones, and then a bloodied face comes into view.
“You left him down here?” I rasp, bringing my hands to my chest.
“I couldn’t exactly let him go.” He drops his hold on the guard—Xander—as he points out what should be obvious to me. His wrists and ankles are bound, and a piece of fabric that must be covering some sort of gag is tied across his mouth. “They’ll find him here, Rhea. I promise. But we have to go.”
I keep my eyes on Xander until Flynn steps into my line of sight. My head tilts up to meet his gaze, a slice of golden light illuminating just one eye and a part of his forehead.
“I know you don’t like leaving him here, but I need you to understand,” he says softly, a hand gently cupping the side of my face. His calloused palm lightly scrapes against the smoothness of my cheek, his thumb tracing my bottom lip. “When it comes to your safety, I don’t fucking care who is standing in my way. We are leaving this place behind, and no one—absolutely no one—will lock you up or force you to do anything you don’t want to do ever again. And he”—his voice rises as he points to the guard laying on the ground—“would turn us over to the king the moment he was free.”
My breath hitches, my hands somehow finding their way to Flynn’s tunic and gripping the front of it. His words press into me. They force their way into the space of my mind not already occupied by boxed-up emotions.
“Tell me you understand,” he demands.
All I can do is nod. Because while I do understand, I can’t help but feel like everyone who comes into contact with me—one way or another—gets hurt. And even though I don’t have fond feelings for this guard and I remember in excruciating detail how he held Alexi as he was killed, I don’t want to be the one responsible for causing his discomfort. But Flynn is right, we need to leave and this guard would stop that. “I understand,” I finally whisper.
Flynn drops his forehead to mine for just a moment before placing a kiss there and turning towards the door, Bella waiting behind us. With another deep breath, he pushes the door open and we move. Flynn is the first one through, my hand still firmly gripped in his. I see the flowers just ahead, beckoning us with each step we take to freedom, when Flynn suddenly tenses—his grip on my hand tightening. I don’t have any time to react as I see a flash of gold swing through the air.
In horror, I watch as a King’s Guardsman steps in front of me and drives his sword into Flynn’s torso, the force of it so strong that it spins Flynn around to face me. A blood-curdling scream cleaves through the air as the guard yanks the sword back out, crimson dripping from the blade. Time slows down as I witness Flynn drop to his knees, his hands immediately going to his stomach and putting pressure on the wound. He looks up at me—eyes widening as his face contorts in pain. Silence rings in my ears as we stare at each other and my world implodes around me, crushing me in its destruction. The warmth of my magic begins to rise inside of me, but so does that primitive, lingering darkness. They twist and coil together, and I start to call on it so that I can heal him when I notice peripheral gold glints on both sides, temporarily distracting me. Flynn throws a bloody hand out to me right as a strong arm wraps around my waist and yanks me back into something hard.
“Going somewhere, my darling?” His rough voice scratches down my spine, but I keep my eyes pinned on Flynn.
He’s bent over his knees, holding his wound, and his jaw is clenched in pain. Another scream leaves me as I struggle to get away from King Dolian, but his arms just band tighter around my waist. Two guards flank Flynn on either side, their swords drawn—but only one dripping blood. We were so close to the meadow; just a few more steps and we would have been encased in flowers of all colors.Just a few more steps.
“Well, isn’t thisinteresting,” King Dolian declares, holding me tightly to him as I watch Flynn lift his head.
