Page 22

“She’s uh, ” He clears his throat. “Really warm. Like, just so warm.”
I lift my head, glaring.
His grip tightens, his brain imploding. “It’s like holding a fever,” he continues, not stopping, because of course he doesn’t stop. “Or like one of those nice heated blankets. You know, the expensive ones. The kind that makes you question if you should ever get out of bed again.”
My patience is thinning.
“Elias.”
“She smells good, too,” he adds instantly, like he wants to die. “Which is completely irrelevant. But, like, it’s worth noting. In a scientific way.”
I stare at him.
He stares at the sky, desperately avoiding my gaze.
"I will murder you."
“Please do,” he mutters. “End me right now.”
Luna shifts against him, whimpering, and all humor vanishes. Elias goes dead still, inhaling sharply, his entire body tensing beneath her weight.
I step closer, voice lower. “Put her under. Now.”
He doesn’t argue this time. He exhales, his hand sliding carefully against the back of her neck, fingers splaying across her skin. His power stirs, a subtle hum in the air, and his voice, when he speaks, is different. Softer. Lower.
"Go deeper, little star."
Luna stills. The tremors in her limbs ease, her body melting into him, her breath evening out. I don’t look at Elias, but I can feel the way he shifts, the way his fingers flex slightly before settling again.
I should make him put her down.
I don’t.
Because for the first time since this nightmare began, Luna is finally calm. She’s stable now, her body no longer wracked with pain, her breath slow and even, her muscles relaxed into sleep. There’s no reason for him to keep holding her, no reason for his grip to stay so firm, for his fingers to remain where they are, splayed across her back, curled at her waist, one arm cradling her legs like she’s something precious.
And yet, he doesn’t let go. I watch him, watch the way his mouth presses into something unreadable, the way his silver eyes flicker with something wrong for him, something serious.
Elias doesn’t look at people like that. Not with hesitation. Not with wanting. But he’s looking at her like that. Like he doesn’t know what to do with her. And he doesn’t trust himself not to do something stupid.
I exhale, slow and sharp. Of course it’s him next. The bond with Luna doesn’t follow logic. It doesn’t care for hierarchy, doesn’t wait for what should be orderly. It’s unpredictable, erratic, and consuming.
He’s already falling. He knows it, too. It’s in the way he shifts, restless, like his skin is betraying him. It’s in the way he watches her, the way his grip tightens instead of loosens.
And I know, without a single fucking doubt, that when it happens, when the bond snaps into place, Elias is going to lose his mind over it.
I lean back, arms folding across my chest, voice low. “Put her down, Elias.”
He hesitates. Then, too slow, he exhales and finally, finally eases her onto the ground, onto the makeshift bedroll we set up before she started convulsing. His movements aren’t careful.
They’re reluctant.
I smirk. “Took you long enough.”
Elias glares. “I will kill you.”
I arch a brow. “Bold words from a man who just cradled her like she was a goddess descending from the heavens.”
He makes a sound, offended, deeply suffering, and drags a hand down his face. “I’m going to walk into the void. Just straight into it. Forever. Good luck with literally everything.”