CHAPTER 6: THE AFTERMATH
Elara's POV
I woke up to the feeling of someone watching me and when I opened my eyes Kael was sitting at the edge of my bed with his head in his hands and his shoulders shaking and through the bond I felt his terror so sharp it made my chest ache.
"Kael?" I whispered and his head snapped up and the relief that crashed through the bond nearly knocked the air from my lungs and then he was pulling me into his arms so tight I could barely breathe but I didn't care because through the bond I felt how scared he'd been.
"Three hours," he said against my hair and his voice cracked. "You were unconscious for three hours and I couldn't wake you and the bond was screaming that you were in pain and I just had to sit here and watch you and do nothing."
My fingers found his hair and I held him back just as tight and felt his heart racing against mine. "I'm here and I'm okay and you can stop being scared now."
He pulled back enough to cup my face and his thumbs brushed my cheeks so gently and his eyes searched mine like he was making sure I was real. "The court is calling you the bravest thing they've ever seen and the most foolish and they can't decide if you're going to be the best thing that ever happened to this place or the death of us all."
"What do you think?" I asked and held my breath.
"I think you're mine and I'm terrified of how much that means," he said and through the bond I felt the weight of eight hundred years of loneliness and his desperate relief that he wasn't alone anymore. "I think watching you almost die taught me that I'm not capable of surviving losing you."
The confession made my eyes burn and I touched his face and felt him lean into my palm like he was starving for gentleness. "Then it's a good thing I'm apparently too stubborn to die."
His laugh was broken and beautiful and he pressed his forehead to mine and just breathed and through the bond everything he felt poured into me and I felt everything I felt pour into him and there was nowhere left to hide from this thing growing between us.
"I need to feed from you," he whispered and I felt his hunger spike through the bond. "The bond needs to know you're healing and I've been trying to wait but I can't anymore."
I tilted my head and offered my throat without hesitation and through the bond his surprise and gratitude made my chest warm. "Then don't wait."
His fangs pierced my skin and the bond sang and I gasped at feeling everything he felt and the relief flooding through him was so intense it brought tears to my eyes and through the bond I felt his love and his hunger and his absolute certainty that I was his and he was mine.
When he pulled back his eyes were crimson and soft and he looked at me like I was the only thing in his world worth saving. "You changed everything when you walked into my court."
"You changed everything when you decided to keep me," I whispered back.
His thumb traced my jaw and through the bond I felt his desire rising and my body answered with heat and the air between us went electric. "Elara," he said and my name sounded like a prayer. "Tell me to stop."
"What if I don't want you to stop?" I asked and watched his eyes darken.
"Then I'm going to kiss you and once I start I don't know if I'll be able to stop and you need to be sure."
Through the bond I felt his desperate need warring with his determination to give me a choice and I looked at this ancient beautiful creature who'd stolen me and changed me and somehow made me fall for him anyway. "I'm sure."
He kissed me slow and sweet and nothing like I expected and through the bond I felt his tenderness and his love and his promise that he would burn the world down before he let anything hurt me and I kissed him back and let myself fall completely.
The door burst open and we broke apart and Mira stood there with wild eyes and her face pale. "We have a problem."
Kael's arms tightened around me and his voice went cold. "What problem?"
"Seraphine's gone and she took three of Theron's inner circle with her and the guards found a message carved into her cell wall." Mira's voice shook. "It says she's going to the council above to tell them about the blood bond and petition for Elara's execution as an abomination."
Through the bond I felt Kael's fury explode and his fear spike and I grabbed his hand and held tight. "How long do we have?"
"Maybe two days before the council sends hunters," Mira said. "Maybe less."
Kael stood and pulled me up with him and his hand never left mine. "Then we have two days to make sure Elara is strong enough that no hunter in existence can touch her and prepare this court for war."
He looked down at me and through the bond I felt his determination and his fear and his absolute refusal to lose me when he'd only just found me. "Are you ready to become what you were always meant to be?"
I thought about the scared girl who'd been dragged here in chains and the creature I was becoming and the choice I had to make and through the bond I felt Kael's presence steady and sure beside me.
"I'm ready," I said and meant it.
His smile was fierce and proud and through the bond his love wrapped around me like armor. "Then let's show them exactly what happens when you try to take what's mine."
The war was coming and I was either going to rise to meet it or burn trying and through the bond Kael's certainty told me he believed I would rise and maybe that was enough to make me believe it too.