“Okay.” I was a zombie on my feet.
His eyes searched my face with such stark relief that I gripped the sink. “Don’t hog all the hot water, all right?” he said.
That brought a small smile to my lips. As soon as he left, I turned slowly to the shower and twisted the faucets. Pulling off my ruined clothing was a painful experience. Every muscle ached and it took a few minutes. By the time I stepped into the stall, steam filled the bathroom.
I was probably going to use a week’s worth of hot water while Aiden most likely was rallying the troops and convincing them that I wasn’t a sociopath anymore.
I shivered under the stream, pressing my face to my hands. They shook. I shook. I moved them to the chain around my neck, slid my fingers to the rose. Something so small had been the one thing to break the connection.
But it wasn’t the rose itself, but what it symbolized—Aiden’s love for me and how I felt for him—something pure and natural, an emotion not forced. Seeing that had broken the bond between Seth and me.
Bringing the crystal to my lips, I pressed a kiss against the rose.
The bond was broken, but Seth was still there… at the end of the cord slumbering in the pit of my stomach. Gods, he’d been so furious, murderous really, but shock had rippled through our bond the second before it had ended. And then again, when Thanatos had hit me with the god bolt, he had been there like a creepy stalker with a one-way ticket to my brain.
Seth hadn’t believed I’d be capable of breaking the bond. And how far would this have gone if I hadn’t?
They’ll come to kill you. And although Thanatos didn’t have the juice to carry it out, he sure as hell didn’t have a problem putting a hurting on me—or anyone who defended me. People could’ve died today because of me.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
And why had Aiden blocked Apollo from the cabin? What happened to that love-fest?
Gods, there were so many questions, and I was too weary for this right now. I needed a moment to regroup. I needed a bed after this shower.
Water streamed over my body, over skin that was as bruised as my insides, and plastered my hair to my back. Closing my eyes, I lifted my chin and let the showerhead do its thing, erasing the tears that had clung to my lashes with a death grip, clearing my mind of everything.
There would be time to ask those questions, to plan Seth’s very painful death, and to find my father, but right now, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t think about anything other than right now, right this moment, because everything was too raw and too fresh to delve into.
I heard the bathroom door close and I kept my eyes screwed shut, but my heart rate skyrocketed into uncharted territories. I folded my arms around me and held my breath.
There was the slightest movement behind me. Skin brushed against mine. A fine shiver rolled up my spine. An infinite spark transferred between us, something that couldn’t be replicated or forced. How could I’ve forgotten that when connected with Seth? My heart turned over heavily.
Aiden brushed the mass of thick hair over one shoulder and his lips met the space between my neck and shoulder. His hands slid down the slick skin of my arms, cupping over my elbows and then to my wrists. Gently, slowly, he eased my arms to my sides.
I bit down on my lip and my legs started trembling. But he was there. Like always, holding me up when I couldn’t stand and letting me go when he knew I needed him to. He was more than just a shelter. Aiden was my other half, my equal. And he needed no weird Apollyon connection.
Aiden waited, still as a statue, patient as ever, until my muscles unlocked, one by one. Then his hands dropped to my waist and he turned me toward him. A heartbeat passed and he placed his fingers on my chin, tipping my head back.
I opened my eyes, blinking the wetness off my lashes, and the air hitched in my throat. Faint, purplish bruises shadowed his jaw. There was a cut over the bridge of his nose. No doubt injuries I had given him.
“I’m so sorry, Aiden.” My voice cracked. “I can’t say it enough. I know, but I’m so—”
He dipped his head and his mouth brushed mine, silencing my words. My lips opened to his, as did my heart and everything else. The sweet and tender kiss, well, it lessened the heaviness, eased some of the guilt and shame. My skin—my insides—were scraped and aching, but his touch soothed the frayed edges. I imagined it was the same for Aiden. Gods, it was probably worse for him, considering everything I had done and said. What he’d had to do, to sacrifice, to keep me safe.
The kiss deepened, flipping and twisting my insides into a pleasant mess, and it was like the very first time we’d kissed. Sensations raced over my skin, my heart sang, and the feeling unfurling in the pit of my stomach was better than tapping into akasha, stronger and more addicting. He kissed me like he’d never expected to do so again, as if he could somehow kiss away the weeks.
I placed my hands on his upper arms. His muscles coiled under them as he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him. Desire wasn’t the only thing between us. There was so much more: forgiveness, acceptance, relief, and most importantly, love.
Not the kind of love that was fueled by need and that destroyed cities and entire civilizations, but the kind that rebuilt them, that much I knew.
Keeping an arm around my waist, his other hand tangled in my wet hair. And we didn’t stop kissing, because this was right and that was all that mattered. My heart was pounding way too fast, but it was perfect, it was like coming home after never believing I’d be able to.
I don’t know how we made it to the bed or if the water was ever turned off in the shower. But we were together, our bodies slippery, our wet hair soaking the sheets we were tangled in. And then we were tangled, our legs and arms. His hands were everywhere, paying reverence to the many scars on my body. His lips followed, and I grew reacquainted with the hard muscles of his stomach, the feel of him.
I glanced down at my body, surprised to see the marks of the Apollyon glowing faintly as they swirled across my skin, forming one rare symbol and then another.
“What?” Aiden cupped my cheek, drawing my eyes back to his. “Is this too fast? I should—”
“No. No, it’s… it’s the marks of the Apollyon. They’re kind of doing their thing right now.”
“Should I be worried?”
I laughed self-consciously, feeling like one of those venomous snakes that warned of its poison in its vibrant colors. “I think they like you.”
Aiden’s hand slid off my cheek, down my throat, to right below my chest. The marks slid toward his hand, as if drawn to him. Maybe they were. I wasn’t sure how the marks worked. The answer probably lay in the thousands of years of memories, but that was like digging for a needle in a pile of needles.
“I saw them,” he said, his voice raw and deep and his eyes like pools of liquid silver. “When you Awakened, and when you went on the Elixir.” His brows drew tight as he smoothed his hand over my hip. “They were beautiful.”
“Really?” I felt beautiful when he looked at me, even all tattooed up.
“Yes. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”
A long, agonizing moment passed as he hovered above me, his eyes locked onto mine, his body coiled tight like a rope ready to snap. And when he did, his lips found mine and there was a sound that came from the back of his throat that seared me. Our bodies met and for a few moments, neither of us moved, and then we did, our voices soft whispers in the dark room.
Sometime later, we lay facing each other, his hand wrapped around my smaller one. Our bodies were pressed close. Exhaustion dogged me now, and Aiden, too—had been for weeks. The fighting and everything else had tipped us over the edge. Sleep claimed me first. I only knew this because I could feel Aiden’s gaze on my face, and seconds before I slipped away I felt his lips on my forehead.