Chapter 45

Elena

The clock showed it was midnight and I still couldn’t get to sleep.

Even after I turned out the lamps in my bedroom, I was still clutching and staring at the picture Jaxon had given me.

Natalie. Alive.

She looked different, like she was wearing a costume of some other version of herself. That was an amusing thought, given that I felt I had been doing the same since I had been reborn.

Was that her child? Who was the father? Was she there by choice, or a captive concubine praying for the day when she might be rescued and brought home?

These questions swirled in my brain, keeping the sleep I craved just out of reach. I got out of bed and paced the floor, thinking I could walk off the jitters and jolts of my internal electrical system. A fuse was faulty somewhere.

The more agitated I became the smaller my room felt to me, so I threw on a silk kimono and crept out the door into the hallway. I thought maybe a trip to the kitchen while the house was asleep might be just enough adventure to prepare me for rest.

At the top of the stairs I stopped. The staircase was in the center of the second floor landing, rooms running out on either side. The room I’d claimed was on one side, and Killian’s room was on the other.

The light was on under his door.

I was barefoot, another perk of exploring the house when everyone else was asleep. My steps were light and soft on the carpet in the hallway. My heartbeat quickened as my body reacted to the skulking in the darkness. There was a thrill in knowing that no one knew what I was doing. I was free and unobserved and unbothered by the system that confined me.

And then I walked into a wall.

Not a wall, but a barrier a foot from the door to Killian’s door. He had fortified his room.

I had never encountered it before since I had never tried to get this close to his door at night, not since I chose my own room to live in. It was odd not to know that he was doing this every night just down the hall from me.

As strong as the surface was when my face contacted, that invisible wall dissolved into nothing. I lost my balance and caught myself before falling onto the floor. At the same time, the door opened.

Killian stood, firelight behind him, shirtless in a pair of loose silk pants. I was suddenly very aware of the fabric of my robe as is rubbed across my sensitive skin. My chest swelled upwards as I inhaled smoke and pheromones.

“Elena.”

He reached out telepathically, keeping our interaction private.

“It’s so late.”

“I couldn’t sleep either,” I shrugged off my ailment and focused on it being his as well. “I was going to the kitchen…”

“I’ll come with you.”

He put on his own robe— to my dismay— and followed me down the hall. We both felt shy as we crept down the stairs and to the private kitchen, giving each other space so as not to creak on haunted floorboards.

“Ice cream?”

His eyes were like a child’s as he pulled out a mint chocolate chip and a black raspberry from the freezer. Laughter like a snort was my response, and he came over to me with two large spoons. We scooped and enjoyed and avoided the reality of each other for a blessed moment.

“Elena…”

His voice sounded so loud as it echoed against the tiled walls. I swallowed my spoonful and stood up a little straighter at the counter. My eyes still just came to the top of his chest.

“I’ve been thinking,” he began, “about out marriage, about Natalie.”

I gulped down the last taste of mint in my throat.

“I suppose being around Alice would naturally bring some of this out,” he clarified, “but I have also appreciated you taking a more honest approach to our relationship. I still don’t know what prompt this change, but I am hoping to at least keep learning how to take care of you. Not that you need someone to…”

I smiled, genuinely, just because he did look quite handsome when he was trying to be vulnerable. The boy I knew growing up was still in there, underneath all the arrogance and cunning that he thought made him a great leader.

“And I thought I could start by, well, righting a wrong I made long ago.”

He took the spoon from my hand and put it on the countertop with his own. With one hand he lifted my left hand into the air between us, flipping my palm to the ceiling. His other hand reached into the pocket of his robe.

Holding my hand steady, he placed a gold ring in the center of my palm. It was a simple, thin, braided band, and it was stunning. In the dim lamplight of the kitchen, I could see etching on the interior rim. There in delicate script, were my initials next to his.

“I know it’s not about the material thing,” Killian said softly, picking up the ring and flipping over my hand, “but the symbol is a strong one. The goddess would be pleased to see the ritual sealed correctly.”

He slid the ring down my fourth finger, and my insides turned into a puddle. Luckily I had one arm on the counter next to me so I didn’t go completely weak at the knees.

“Killian, I— it’s beautiful,” I was truly flustered, not knowing how or why this was happening in this moment. “You didn’t have to—“

“I did.”

He picked up my hand and pressed it to his lips, closing his eyes in reverence as he did. I wanted to lose myself in this version of him, of us. I wanted us to give into the desire of our wolves and be tougher again. I wanted him to tear of my clothes and take me on the kitchen counter.

But all I did was look at him and let him flip over my hand again, this time place a kiss in the center of my palm. He then carried it up to his cheek, his eyes saucers as the met mine.

“We should go away,” he said, a wish in the quiet room. “There is still time before the campaign ramps up fully, and the public expects us to lay low amidst all this scandal lately. Let’s take at trip.”

He had the same goody smile as when he found the ice cream.

“Where would we even go?” I asked, a deep part of me wanting to leave immediately. The larger part was checking the blindspots of my defense.

“Wherever you want,” he said enthusiastically. “Think of it like a second honeymoon. Not that we had much of a first…”

I shook my head, thinking of that one night in a resort barely twenty minutes from home. A lovely spot, but not exactly the romantic getaway one might picture growing up.

And then the pieces started to come together.

“Could we go the Redstone Mountain area?” I tried to sound nonchalant. “I’ve heard it’s breathtaking this time of year, and I could use some fresh mountain air.”

Killian smiled. “That sounds perfect. We can leave tomorrow, if you’d like.”

I returned his grin, my heart fluttering at the plan we were making.

The plan would take us to a very specific area, away in the north.

We were going to find Natalie.