Page 70 of Evermore (The Never Sky #3)

“I know everything about you. I know you push away anyone who gets too close.” I caught her wrist as she tried to pull away.

“I know the way you dance when you think no one’s watching.

I know the sound of your laugh when you’re truly happy.

And I know you’re terrified right now, not of the voices, but of letting someone see the real you.

You’re afraid of being abandoned. You know what it feels like and you’re afraid.

So you keep everything to yourself, battle your own wars in your mind and you fucking crumble.

Alone. Every godsdamn night. I’m done watching it.

I will not stand here and let you fall to pieces again. Now. Let. Go.”

She yanked free. “You want to see the real me? Fine.” The Remnants exploded outward, a storm of shadows and fury that would have sent a lesser being running.

The ground shook, and I thought for a moment even the sun blinked out.

But I stood my ground, drinking in the sight of her unleashed power.

“This is what I am. Chaos and darkness and?—”

“Beautiful,” I breathed, watching her glow with raw energy. “Absolutely fucking beautiful.”

Her steps faltered. “What?”

“You heard me.” I moved closer, my own power rising to meet hers. “You think I want you to be anything other than exactly what you are? The woman who defies gods? Who builds families from broken pieces? Who dances in thunderstorms? You fucking own me. When will you finally figure that out?”

“Stop,” she whispered, but there was less conviction in her voice.

“Why? Because I’m right? Because it’s easier to push me away than admit you want this as much as I do? You said you were done fighting it on the rooftop and still you push back.”

The Remnants writhed across the ground, responding to the electricity crackling between us. Her eyes met mine, and for once, she didn’t look away.

“I see you, Paesha Vox,” I said, closing the distance. “All of you. The light and the dark. The strength and the fear. And I’m still here.”

“You’re a fool,” she breathed, but her hands came up to grip my shirt.

“Probably.” My fingers traced the markings on her arm, slow and reverent, feeling the way she trembled beneath my touch. “But I’m your fool. I have been since the beginning.”

I cradled her face in my hands, my thumbs sweeping over her cheekbones as I let her see everything, every fractured, unshakable piece of me that belonged to her before I placed my forehead on hers.

“I love you. Not for who you were or who you might become, but for exactly who you are at this moment.

The woman who makes a god question his own existence.

Who tears apart everything I thought I knew and makes me want to build something new, something reckless, something real, just to keep pace with you.

“I love the way you fight, like your soul is made of starlight and you were born from lightning. The way you look at me, gods, the way you look at me. I love the sharp edges you use to keep the world at bay, and the quiet kindness you don’t even realize is there.

I love that you drive me absolutely mad.

That you argue with me, challenge me, make me better by merely existing.

Fates help me, I even love the way you infuriate me, because it means I feel this, us, with every fucking part of me. ”

She trembled, and I knew she felt it too. But I wasn’t finished.

“I don’t want perfection, Paesha. I don’t want easy.

I want you. Exactly as you are, wild and stubborn and impossible.

Because that woman? That beautiful, maddening, extraordinary woman who has unraveled me piece by piece?

” I brushed my lips against hers, a promise, a vow.

“She’s the only thing I have ever wanted.

The only thing I will ever want. You, Paesha.

Exactly as you are. You are not broken. You are fucking perfect. ”

“That silver tongue of yours will be the death of me,” she breathed.

I traced her lower lip with my thumb. “Darling, you have no idea.”

The confession hung between us, but the Remnants were still a problem, still smothering the field with shadows and racing over her skin.

I knew there was truly nothing I could do to help her control them other than coax her into trying.

This was her battle, but I would be her shield for as long as she would let me.

“Focus,” I said, stepping back to give her space. “Don’t fight against them. They’re part of you. Command them.”

She closed her eyes, her jaw clenching as she reached for control. The shadows twisted violently, resisting her will. “They don’t?—”

“They will. You’re stronger than their hatred. Than their vengeance. Show them. I know Levanya is in there. She was a fallen queen of peace, Paesha. Find her peace and use it against them.”

Her eyes snapped open, burning with determination as she pushed back against the darkness as if she and Levanya had already made a pact between each other. The Remnants surged, trying to overwhelm her, but she held firm. Step by step, breath by breath, she fought for dominance over her own power.

“That’s it,” I murmured, watching her find her way. “Don’t cage them. Make them yours.”

Sweat beaded on her forehead as she wrestled with the shadows. They responded to her command but sluggishly, like reluctant children testing their boundaries. A tremor ran through her body as she forced them to obey.

“I can’t hold it,” she gasped. “I was doing so well with them two days ago. And now this.”

“Yes, you can. This is your power, Paesha. Your birthright. This is your fate.”

The shadows along the field stretched to the treeline as they tried to run from her. She winced as if they burned. They turned, racing back through the field, surging for her in licks of black flame. They came for her.

I sent a burst of power forward. Not for them, but her. Shielding her from the destruction of her own power. She had far more than a mortal ever should but she wasn’t weak.

“Remember who you are,” I said quietly. “Not what they want you to be. Not what anyone wants you to be. Just you.”

Something shifted in her expression, understanding, acceptance, determination. The Remnants surged one final time, a last desperate attempt to break her will. But Paesha stood unmoved, unflinching, absolute in her power, even if it was only temporary.

The field fell quiet as the shadows settled around her feet like obedient pets.

She drew a shaky breath, rolling her shoulders as if testing the weight of her control.

Even exhausted, she was a vision that made my blood burn, hair wild from the wind, chest rising with each breath, that damned dress clinging to every curve.

“Not bad for a mortal,” she said with a hint of her usual sass.

“Not bad for anyone. How do they feel now?”

She flexed her fingers, and the Remnants rippled in response. “Like they’re sulking.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “They’ll get over it.”

A wicked gleam entered her eyes as one shadow tendril snaked out, wrapping playfully around my wrist. The touch sent electricity through my veins. “I wonder what else they will do.”

“Careful, darling.” My voice dropped lower. “I’m not as well-behaved as your shadows.”

“No?” Another tendril traced up my arm, deliberate and teasing. “You seem perfectly controlled to me. Always so… proper. Studious. Annoying.”

Fates help me. No. Fuck the Fates. But the way she moved was pure temptation. Each shift of her body made that dress reveal another glimpse of thigh through those godsdamn slits. “I’m beginning to think you enjoy testing my restraint.”

“Beginning to?” She circled me slowly, letting her power brush against mine like a caress. “I thought you knew everything about me.”

My jaw clenched as she passed behind me, close enough that I could feel her, but not quite touching. “You’re playing with fire.”

“Am I?” Her breath ghosted across my neck. “You don’t seem very dangerous to me. All bark, no bite is such a disappointment, Thorne darling.”

I turned, catching her wrist before she could complete another circle. “Would you like me to prove you wrong?”

Her eyes sparkled with challenge as she pressed closer, knowing exactly what that silk dress was doing to my sanity. “I’d like to see you try.”

“The things you do to me,” I growled, my free hand sliding to her hip. “You have no idea how fucking beautiful you are like this. Wild. Powerful.” My fingers found bare skin through one of those damned slits. “Mine.”

“Yours?” She tilted her face up, lips nearly brushing mine. “That’s awfully presumptuous.”

“Is it?” I traced patterns on her thigh, feeling her shiver. “Tell me to stop then.”

Instead of answering, she sent another wave of power washing over me, as dark and seductive as her smile.

My control snapped. Her gasp of surprise turned to a moan as I claimed her mouth in a bruising kiss, all teeth and tongue and desperate hunger.

She met me with equal ferocity though, her nails digging into my shoulders as she arched into my touch.

“Is this what you wanted?” I growled against her lips. “To push me until I showed you exactly how much I want you?”

“Yes. I came out here thinking to myself?—”

I kissed her again. Brutally. Selfishly. Fucking possessively. I knew where she was going with that. I had no patience for it.