Page 136 of Daughter of the Serpent

His gaze darkened. His fingers found their way into her hair, brushing back the damp strands behind her shoulder.

She shivered.

Without a word he moved closer, each second passing unbearably as he consumed the space between them. His lips hovered only inches from hers, his eyes curling flames that ate away all thought, all reason entirely. There was only him. Only his warmth. Only the frantic rhythm of her own heart pounding against her chest.

His lips came to her ear.

“Liar.”

Embarrassment thrummed through her belly, and she instinctively took another step back.

“The things you speak of, are only permitted when we are matched with our divine counterpart.” She said, the words coming out frantic, exposing her jumbled nerves.

His gaze cut through her. “And who shall be your divine counterpart?”He asked,“Haldor?”His name seemed bitter in his mouth, a poison he would be quick to be rid of.

“If the gods deem it so.” She said quietly.

How many nights had she dreamt of that reality?

Haldor being her destined partner.

Them facing the world together, always.

Yet, it was not Haldor who was before her now.

It was not Haldor that had her heart running wild inside her chest.

It was not Haldor who had heat still coiling in her core.

And it was not Haldor who saw her through and through like no one else ever had.

“And pray tell, what has Haldor done to deserve you?”

His voice was a low rumble in his chest, curling around her like smoke.

She swallowed, taken aback.

“He… he has been with me since the beginning.” The words stumbled from her lips, her voice barely above a whisper. “He has protected me. Tried to keep me safe - ”

“Yet he fails to take you for his own.”

His words sliced through her defenses, swift and final. Peeling back the layers to reveal all the doubt she had wished to keep buried. The water lapped gently between them, but she felt like she was suddenly drowning.

“I do not doubt his devotion,” he murmured as he began to encircle her. “I do not doubt that he would give his life for yours.” His voice seemed to carry straight through her.“But is that enough?”

The words pressed against her, heavy, undeniable.

Sylvie swallowed, but the response she sought was lost on her tongue, stolen by the space between them. He had moved behind her, the shift of water sending small waves rippling against her waist. “A soulmate. A divine counterpart.” His voice was lower now, nearly brushing the shell of her ear. “Have you ever known such a bond, Sylvie? Have you ever felt it? Touched it?”

She hesitated.

His fingers trailed over the bare skin of her arm, a touch so light it sent a tremor rippling down her spine. And he didn’t stop. If anything, his touch grew bolder, a slow, deliberate drag of his fingers against her damp skin, as if savoring the shivers he coaxed to the surface.

“That sort of love, it is enduring. Like an endless ember, unwilling to go out. It is a connection, not found in books or stories, nor in life - it is found in the stars, in the divine, for even they know and speak your names.”

She quivered under his touch, his words.

“It is a bond that can never be broken.”