Page 114 of Where Darkness Falls

Was that all that it was—just an extremely vivid dream brought on from the stress of the ball and the nightmare?

I bury my face into his neck. “She looked so real,” I whisper.

“I know, Rosey, but it couldn’t have been her. Only the worst of Siorai’s creations are tormented by becoming a haunting spirit. From how you described her, she’s kind and compassionate. She has to be in Eternity now—not here,” he replies in a hushed tone.

“How do you know?” I ask.

“I don’t,” he answers honestly. “But that’s the story my mother always told me as a child. She made sure to remind me to be kind, so that way I’d have the chance to join others in Eternity one day. If only she could’ve seen what I’d become.” His voice catches on the last word.

Emyr’s eyes are glassy as he stares across the domed chamber. Moved by compassion for this warrior, I place a hand on his face and stroke his cheek with my thumb. I fully expect him to shrink away from me, to return to the stoic man I’ve seen him be countless times, yet he leans into my touch, capturing my hand in his.

“She’d say that it isn’t by your choice or fault,” I say.

Emyr releases a heavy sigh and nods once. “Perhaps one day I’ll know that for sure,” he whispers.

“I know you will,” I reply.

Emyr clears his throat and gently places my hand back in my lap. “I’m sorry for what happened to Aria, Maeva,” he says, changing the subject. “I came here to tell you that. I need you to know that I didn’t want to hurt her. I couldn’t fight the oath I made to him.”

“I know,” I reply. “I watched you struggle to resist it, Emyr. I saw the sorrow in your eyes when you coiled your shadows around her body.I found the apology in your stare as you took her life. I don’t hold her death against you, and you shouldn’t either.”

That’s the simplest truth I can offer him. While I hadn’t known Aria well, she was invaluable to Cara—which makes her special to me. There is so much more to my sister’s life that I don’t know, but that I plan to uncover. I thought I knew my sister, but perhaps the only thing I didn’t know were her secrets.

However, for right now, I need Emyr to not put any more shame on his shoulders than what’s already there.

“I can still hear her scream like I do all the other lives that I’ve been forced to take,” he croaks. “They echo in my mind, Maeva. It haunts me because regardless of whether I wanted to, I’m their executioner and judge. I’m the abomination—the demon—that listens to his master’s summons?—”

“Shhhhh,” I interrupt. I know how quickly the darkness can overwhelm the one that’s surrounded by such deep sorrow, and I refuse to allow the despair to swallow him. “I need you to listen to me, Prince Emyreus Alistair II. Can you do that?”

Emyr sits up straighter, nodding once.

“We all have torments that we endure, Emyr,” I begin. “Yours are tainted with your regret for the atrocities you are forced to commit, while mine come in the form of a nightmare where the guilt over my family’s deaths suffocates me. If we allow the melancholy to swallow us whole, the evil in this realm wins. There’s kindness and goodness in you, as there is in every creation of Siorai. We aren’t our mistakes, nor are we the demons that haunt us. Don’t you see? The darkness only wins if we allow it the power to do so, and I know for a bloody fact that the High General of Zulgalros doesn’t cower.”

Emyr sighs deeply. “But, what if?—”

“We can’t remain in the what ifs, Emyr,” I interrupt. “We can only take one step away from where darkness falls around us and find our way back into the light.”

Emyr pulls me into a tight hug, a warmth spreading through me at the contact. “Perhaps we can find our way to the light together,” he whispers against my head.

“We will,” I say.

Emyr leans back. Our eyes connect, and I see a mirror of my soul in this beautiful man. I swallow thickly, and my heart flutters as if there are thousands of tiny faeries zipping around within it. His eyes glance down at my mouth, and he slowly leans in. My breath hitches as he draws near. His mouth is just inches from mine, and I can see the rapid pulse in his neck. I close my eyes, preparing to kiss him, even though every alarm bell in my head is warning me against such things.

However, his lips don’t meet mine as I anticipated. Instead, the feel of his warm lips meets my cheek with a gentle peck. His breath lingers along my skin for only a moment before he pulls away again.

He stands promptly. “Thank you,” he whispers.

He extends one of his large, calloused hands to me. My brows furrow as I glance from his hand back to his handsome face. Emyr laughs, and I swear it’s melodic enough to make any woman blush with its tender sound. Picking up one of my hands in his own, he guides me carefully off the bed to stand in front of him.

“I believe I owe you a proper dance,” he says in a gravelly voice.

“We danced at the ball,” I laugh.

“No,” he whispers in that deep timbre. “You danced with the Crowned Prince and High General of Zulgalros… not Emyr.” He wraps his arms around me much tighter than he did earlier, causing heat to warm my ears. “I want this to be considered our first true dance,” he continues as he sways. “Besides, I want to erase that disgusting display of my father dancing with you from memory. Help me replace it with a better one.”

I lay my hands along his biceps, since I can’t possibly reach his neck with his looming height. “Then help you, I shall,” I say with a smile. His own smile deepens, revealing the most perfect set of dimples I’ve everseen. I’m afraid that I’ll pass out if I continue to look at him, so I instead lean my head against his chest, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat.

“We don’t have an orchestra in here,” I tease.