The Dark God's Bride Trilogy, #3 (5 page)

“You have been sitting here for quite a while. It should have gotten better by now.”

“Just let me be, Gaila. There is no need for you to keep me company.”

“I am not keeping you company. I am afraid of leaving my daughters alone with you,”
Gaila corrected him.

“Put your fear to rest, goddess. Your daughters are the last thing on my mind.”

“
You seem genuinely troubled.
”

“I am troubled. This damn headache won’t go away.”

“From the look of it, it will not go away anytime soon. Your troubles run deeper than just a mere headache. What is truly on your mind?”

“Just let me sit here for a little longer.”

“You have been sitting at that very spot by yourself for days with little progress. Perhaps I shall lend you my wisdom and send you on your way.”

Noctis sighed. “Have I overstayed my welcome?”

“It appears that you are only sitting here because you do not want to return home. What are you trying to avoid, Summit?”

“I am not avoiding anything.”

“You cannot fool me, Summit. I cannot help you if I do not know how to help you.”

“I am living the consequences of relentlessly trying to keep something that was never meant to be mine. And now I am facing the reality of what I must live without. I am beyond help. Just let me sit here a while longer.”

Noctis cracked the door
and peered into his bedroom. If his bride was still awake, he did not wish to be seen. The room was dark and his bed was empty. He heard running water so she must be taking a bath. As he was turning from the door, he noticed something wasn’t quite right. He peered into the room again and saw a large amount of water seeping into the bedroom floor from the bathroom door.

He panicked. His body responded quicker than this train of thought. He swept into his bedroom like a full pledge tornado and unintentionally broke the doorknob on the bathroom door as he entered. His bride was dosing in the overflowing bathtub with her head barely sticking out of the water. He spat out a vulgar curse in his native language as he turned off the faucets. He lifted her from the overflowing tub and carried her to the bed.

She was still breathing. He was tapping on her cheek to wake her up after many failed attempt at calling her name. Lifting her dark eyelashes, sleepy grey eyes looked back at him.

“Hmm?” She responded.

“What were you trying to do?” he exploded.

The intense volume of his voice shocked her awake. She blinked like a confused child who was being scolded and didn’t know the reason why. 

He readjusted his voice to a reasonable indoor tone. “What were you thinking falling asleep in the bathtub?”

“Falling asleep…?” It took a moment to jot her memories. “Oh, it must be the cold medicine. It was so warm and comfortable that I didn’t realize that I’d fallen asleep. I haven’t had a goodnight sleep in a while. I’ll be more careful next time, I promise.”

He frowned at her promise, deepening the expression line between his brows. “There will be a next time?”

“I don’t mean…” she paused mid-sentence and shied away from his eyes. Her right arm extended to reach the edge of the comforter and swept it across her naked body. Her lean, tone legs were still exposed to him. She was trying to be subtle in her quest to cover her nudity, but it couldn’t be more obvious.

“What is this I hear about incidents following you?” Noctis inquired.

Rounded grey eyes met his again, but only very briefly. “You mustn’t listen to
—”

“I know how to differentiate,” he interrupted. “That being said, I want to hear it from your own lips.”

She took her time in formulating an answer. When she looked up to speak, he lifted an impatient brow at what she was about to tell him. She read the sign and swallowed.

“What do you want me to say? Do you think that I am somehow in control of my own fate? I’m mortal, and that’s what mortals do. We die. Some sooner than others, but we’d all die in good time.”

“You do not appear to be disturbed in the slightest.”

“It’s not like I have unfinished business or tons of regrets that I need to amend.”

“You have ‘unfinished business’ with me,” he reminded her in a low, all-too masculine voice. “You are not permitted to die before it is dissolved.”

“Maybe it’s difficult for you to accept this fact, but there are things that even you can’t prevent.”

“We shall see, wont we?”

“I didn’t mean to make it sound like a challenge,” she spoke softly. “I really didn’t mean to.”

He knew.

“I know there are a lot of misunderstandings between us that I couldn’t explain even if I wanted to, but you must know that it was never my intention to… what I meant is… everything is circumstantial and I’ve done the best I could with the hand I was dealt. Choices had to be made.”

“Indeed,” he said coldly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “Get some rest,” he said to her as he rose to his feet.

“You’re not going away again, are you?”

He heard a trace of disappointment in her voice. That had been his intention, but he realized it may not be a good idea to leave the property. It would be wiser of him to be somewhere he could keep an eye on her. “I will be in the study.”

He lowered his gaze upon her when she reached out for him. Slender fingers were lightly tugging on the sleeve of his shirt to prevent him from departing. He waited for her to speak, but she simply looked up at him. Her lucid grey eyes were questioning him with unspoken words. It seemed she was asking if he would stay.

Her shy gesture made him feel warmer on the inside. Even if it could not melt the ice that was progressively encasing his dark soul, it was slowing down the process. Despite their time apart, his desire for her was stronger now than it had ever been. She appealed to his male needs like no other woman ever did, and if he had stayed like she had requested, she would know exactly what that meant. Nevertheless, he was a man who could weigh what he should and should not do.

He couldn’t deny that at some level, he was angry with her
, although he had no solid reason to be. His head was running on suspicions that he couldn’t get rid of, but he didn’t have the heart or the courage to ask her. He was afraid that the truth would irreversibly change what little bond was left between them.

He had made an oath to himself that he would never again take her to his bed while he was emotionally unfit to control his anger. He had made that mistake once before and he would never have a repeat of that complete disaster.

“I have work to do,” he said solemnly. “Dry your hair before you retire to bed. I shall be in the study should you need me.”

“You must be thinking the wors
t of me…” she spoke softly and slowly.

Her grey eyes were capturing the light like they always
did. He could see them so clearly even when there was little lighting in the room. His hand involuntarily reached for her face like a fool trying to capture the reflection of the moon. She always seemed to be within his reach, but perpetually unobtainable. Realizing this, he withdrew and returned his hand to his side.

Once there was a time when it was habitual of him to give up the things that he wanted for the good of others because it was demanded of a man of his stature and it was the right thing to do. None of it mattered to anyone when he was left in a dungeon cell to rot. He no longer
gave a damn about anyone anymore and he could not care less about doing the right thing. He decided that he would live for himself in the pursuit of the things that he wanted from life.

And he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted this woman looking up at him.

It was wrong of him to try to obtain something that was never meant to be his; he had known that. He had done her wrong by keeping her against her will; he had known that too. Even so, he would not and could not let her go even if he had to sacrifice everything he had to live without.

He thought he had turned to stone when he saw the look of guilt in her eyes again. Of all the things, why guilt? She never had any obligations toward him to feel guilty in the first place.

“I expect nothing from you,” he said.

“You never ha
ve,” she replied softly with trace sadness in her voice. “You don’t need to remind me. I still remember.”

He went on to finish the sentence she had severed, “…because I am very clear on where you and I stand in our covenant. I cannot give you back your freedom, but I will give you back your peace of mind. You needn’t worry about conceiving another child that you have no intention of mothering.”

She looked on speechless as he closed the door on his way out. That was that.

Amara remembered
that there was a night like this not so long ago. It was a night of numerous shining stars hanging from a cerulean sky. The stars had appeared so close that she had once foolishly thought she could pick one out of the sky if she would just reach up. But she didn’t. She had been clinging on to his broad shoulders as he made love to her amidst the tall blue grass. It had felt so incredible that even all of the beauty of the cosmos couldn’t tempt her to let go. She had caught a glimpse of his face when he lifted his head to look upon her. It was the first time she had seen the warmth of a lover in his eyes and she had seen shadows of it every time they made eye contact since.

A moment ago, the cold look in his eyes had solidified her. Only when it was taken away did she realized it had been there in the first place. Even if she hadn’t frozen up, what was
she to say? Was there even a right way to respond to him? Perhaps she had really done it this time. And perhaps he was fed up with her, with everything with her name on it.  

She was torn between what she was feeling and what she should be feeling. She should be content with the way that things were going. She should be glad that she had gotten away with her deception. She should be happy that he hadn’t turned his wrath against Raya and the baby. And she should be ecstatic that he had given her back her ‘peace of mind’. Instead of all of those things, she felt guilt tearing at her conscience. She felt hurt. She felt abandoned.

Amara purposely distracted herself from all of those negative emotions to the puddle of water that was further invading the bedroom. If she failed to see to it now, the water would leek down and damage the structural integrity of the already aged mansion. It had been kept in good condition up until now and she intended on keeping it that way for a long while.

She wrapped herself in a bathrobe and then ran out to the closet in the hallway for a mop. She returned to the bathroom to clean up the mess. As she was mopping up the floor and draining the water into the bathtub, she heard a light knock on the door. She looked and saw the Necromancer standing there. He was wearing a frown.

“What happened here?” he asked.

“I uh…
left the water running.” She didn’t feel like explaining the whole evening to him so she summarized.

“I was referring to the redness of your eyes and the tearstains on your cheeks.”

Amara pressed her free hand against her cheek and turned away from his gaze. “It’s nothing.”

She heard him inhale
deeply. “Did that man hurt you? Did he force you?”

“What?” Amara sharply turned to him and gave him a stunned look. “No, of course not! Why would you…
?” Amara followed his worried gaze to the bathrobe loosely tied at her waist. She pulled it properly together and secured it once again. “He’s not that kind of person!” She found herself defending Noctis.

“Amara…”

“I was just trying to shove out some negative thoughts. I’m not used to dealing with them.”

“Okay then,” he said softly even though he didn’t believe her entirely. “Know that I’m here for you. You just need to say the word, Amara.”

It was so unlike him to say something like that so seriously. She was touched by his concern, but she also felt slightly awkward about it. They were like two guy friends who would rather jump in front of a car than to say anything sentimental to each other. “Don’t you give Lizzie any wrong impressions,” she warned him. “She would worry needlessly and right now, she needs to concentrate on getting better.”

“I know.”

“Are you heading off again?”

“Yes.”

“Couldn’t you stay for a few more days?”

“I’m so close to collecting all ten thousand souls, Amara, and Death knows it. What I’m doing is against the natural order of things and Death will do everything in his powers to stop me. I can’t slow down now and I can’t stay in one place for too long or risk being caught. Besides, the solar eclipse is approaching. If I haven’t collected all ten thousand souls by then, I would have to wait another 360 years for the next one.”

“Can it only be done during a solar eclipse?”

“A total solar eclipse,” he corrected her. “That is where all of my predecessors before me failed. Necromancy has a lot more to do with location and timing than with talent or skills. It’s ritualistic. If I am to succeed, I need three critical elements. The first and obvious is the ten thousand souls that I must gather. The second element is the location directly on top of the earth’s power veins.”