Page 61

Chapter 56

Fallon

H ours had passed since we sat by Aaliyah's side, hours that had been filled with watching her, waiting for the moment when she'd open her eyes again, so I could take in the calming lavender of them.

I couldn't sleep, not until she was awake, not until I could talk to her. The fight we'd had left a sour taste in my mouth that was built on my own fears. This wasn't something I'd normally cave on, her safety something I held viciously close, but it seemed like the more I stepped back, the more I realized how stupid it'd been.

She was my everything. Her happiness was something I'd always been hunting to find, and this petty fight wasn't worth losing that. I trusted her, and she wanted to save him, this man who likely didn't deserve whatever the fuck it was Darius did to him. Would it be easier to find a way to kill him?

Absolutely.

But she thought there was another way, that resolution in her eyes strong even as she stared us all down, unwilling to let us dig ourselves into yet another grave, another rope around our necks, labeling us exactly what we'd been trying to avoid. Monsters .

She didn't want that for us. Who was I to tell her no?

Fuck, I'd been such an asshole. Such a controlling, bullheaded asshole .

My fight with my demons was my own, and while I was learning how to lean on people, that didn't make them any less mine.

I struggled with it as I brushed my knuckles over her cheek, checking again for warmth, to make sure her breathing was still steady. She didn't need someone who would tear her down; she needed someone to stand by her side.

Like she'd stood by mine. She deserved the best I could give her.

The room was silent, and I stewed in my thoughts, boiled alive by them. I was the only one still awake, the others exhausted to the point of collapse, leading up to the final hours before First Rights. Osiris had stayed the longest, but even he had faded to the call of sleep, sprawled across the floor, his hand touching hers. It was fine; they needed it for tonight.

We all did.

Her breathing hitched, and I sat up straight, my bones popping after hours of stagnancy. I waited, my entire body tense as Aaliyah's eyes opened slowly, her head dropping forward, a groan on her lips. Rich violet peeked through white lashes, and I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Welcome back, trouble," I whispered.

My fingers were still on her cheek when it flushed, the spark of her touch igniting there. When she beamed at me, it was with a look of pride telling me what I already knew. She'd done it, whatever she'd gone in there to do.

"Fallon—" she started.

"Wait, let me say something," I said, making sure her eyes stayed on mine so I couldn't hide myself behind the ice in my blood. I leaned in, pressing my forehead to hers. I wanted to kiss her, mindlessly, to remind myself that she was mine … but didn't want to push that on her now. Instead, I ran my nose across the tip of hers, sighing as she hummed. She sank into the touch, not pulling away like she damned well could have. I'd have deserved it.

"I want to apologize for the way I acted. Things got heated. I got scared. It's no excuse, and I want you to know I'm sorry," I whispered, making sure she heard every word. They were just words for now, but they had intent, and I'd do whatever I could to prove I meant them. "Your voice means just as much to this family as the rest, and you deserve to speak it. I never want to take that away from you."

She always seemed to know what to do, as she lifted her hand to my cheek, forcing me to look at her again. I hadn't even realized I'd looked away. The warmth of her reminded me I was alive … reminding me she was too.

"Thank you, Fallon," she said, her thumb running over the back of my hand before she placed soft lips against the back. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I gave a tug, pulling her into my arms, wrapping myself securely around her. The way she molded to me cooled the fear that still bubbled inside of me. And it was fear. This Eternium had bred nothing but fear, and right at the top of that was losing her. To Sebek, to the Eternals.

To my own selfish whims.

"Scare me every day, Ali. I don't care. Just don't stop being mine," I whispered.

That was the only thing I couldn't take. I'd stand by her, against any fucker that dared to get in her way.

But I could only do it by her side.

When I pulled back, she was still smiling. The soft expression brightened every bit of her face, her cheeks more filled out now, her eyes cradled by laugh lines. I reached into my pocket on instinct, searching for one of the chocolates I kept there.

I pulled out two pieces. One with a familiar foil, the soft smell of strawberry slipping past it, the other the little golden piece Grigen had given me.

I'd found mine in the wreck that had been Archon's home and promptly forgotten I'd even found it. They'd taken them all when we'd been caught, eaten most of the ones I'd had on me, I'd guess. This was the only one I'd found there, likely one of the last I had. The stock had been getting low for some time, more so now that I had someone to give them to.

Part of me still wanted to hoard it, this delicacy that had reminded me so much of home, but Aldovin chocolate was just that, a memory I wanted to live through again, one I wanted to share with the woman I loved.

Just like she had that first time I'd offered her a piece, she looked up at me, wide violet eyes enough to bring me to my knees, and just like then, they took my breath away. My heart sped up, my stomach fluttering. I took her hand, chuckling like a boy with a budding crush, before I set the chocolate pieces in it. "One from me, and one from Grigen."

Aaliyah was protesting, but I was already closing her hand. "Take them, trouble. They were meant for you."

She opened her fingers and picked up Grigen's piece like she was going to hand it back. "Share them with me? I don't want to eat them alone," she whispered, opening the golden foil.

A soft emotion slipped over her face as she took the first bite, savoring it with a smile, before bringing the other half up to me. I took it from her fingers, tongue sliding across the tips. It was sweet, a light milk chocolate with a caramel center. I licked my lips, picking up the Aldovin chocolate when she didn't move for a second, chuckling at the blush on her face.

I took a bite, closing my eyes at the subtle sweetness, before holding up the other half to her lips. Aaliyah's eyes misted before she opened her mouth. I set the strawberry sweetness on her tongue. Watching the remains of that part of my life fade into her memories, as well, always to be there.

My time as a human haunted me, always would, but she held it with me now, remembered the taste and reminisced on the memories of a life that was still mine. Just new, bright, and when I thought of that time, it wasn't the nightmare that I saw. It wasn't the bloodied sandy beach stained with the sins of my turn. It was a smile and kindness in dark eyes that would be proud of me, that wanted me to do this. To live .

Aislinn would be proud.

"I love you, Aaliyah." More than any treat, than any painting. More than anything in this world.

Aaliyah's lips pressed against mine in a sugary sweet kiss, one I'd spend the rest of my long life savoring.

"I love you, too, Fallon," she whispered.

A few breathless moments more of silence were all we got before a groan filled the air. Adrian chose the perfect moment to stir, his eyes opening and his gasp making Aaliyah jolt. "Sweetheart, you're awake!"

Her sudden dose of fear faded, and she smiled as he pulled her into his arms.

"I leave for bread and come back to a dumpster fire." He touched her everywhere he could, placing an obnoxious number of kisses on her face, only stopping when she pulled away to laugh. Even then, he didn't quite let go of her, running his nose along her neck. "How was your trip, love? Tell me everything."

"It was divine." The body still plastered to the floor groaned.

The fact that he spoke at all was in improvement, and Aaliyah beamed at the sound of it as the man, all seven feet of him, sat up. He stretched, showing ribs that poked a bit too close to the surface, his bones cracking, his still-open wounds oozing.

He looked like hell. His hair was a matted mess, his eyes dimmed with pain and a crazy that nothing would ever solve, but he was coherent, awake.

Fucking talking .

Aaliyah had worked a goddamned miracle.

"Well, you're already doing better than I expected. Not that I trust that as a measure of your sanity," I said.

He grunted, the sound half laugh, half gasp as he clutched his ribs.

"Easy, Atlas," Aaliyah said as she pulled out of Adrian's arms, going to the wounded man's side, checking over the lesions that had split back open. Jealousy bubbled in my chest, and had I sensed even a touch of attraction between them, I would have pulled her away.

Caveman accusations be fucking damned.

But there was only worry there, Aaliyah and her caring nature. I loved it about her, but Christ was it a danger to her. Eirik stirred, and Osiris was quick to follow, then Nero. Safety in numbers, knowing each of us were here settled me a bit.

At least she had a few of us to pay attention, to watch out for her.

"Fear not for my mind," Atlas hissed when Aaliyah pressed on a tender rib. His teeth flashed, the mark of a beast behind his eyes as his face contorted. "Aaliyah has already told me of your plight. I'll take the seat when Darius has been bested. Hopefully, sway the vote your way for Exilium. If Sebek is as rotten now as he was then, I imagine he deserves this."

Adrian snorted, seemingly at ease, as he inched closer to the two. He made a big show of slinging his arm over Aaliyah's shoulder, putting himself between her and Atlas. "Oh, he's about one wrong turn away from a full train wreck, friend. Pretty sure he plans to kill all the Eternals that oppose him."

Atlas nodded, unshaken by the words. He popped his jaw, a sick crack sounding in the air as he grunted. A tooth landed in his hand a second later, rotted and broken.

"Glad to see at least one thing hasn't changed. Hopefully, my word is still worth something," he said, looking down at himself for just long enough to grimace. "But that isn't the issue we need to focus on now."

He was rod thin, in absolutely no condition to fight, and wouldn't be this Eternium. I still wasn't sure it was worth keeping him alive, even like this …

Aaliyah looked at him with another worried hum, and I held my tongue.

"You're tied to him," Osiris voiced, stepping forward. "Darius."

"Right." Atlas's head dipped. He lifted his arm, showing a shallow vein of gold that traced it. "We have been since we were but boys. It was a way to foster a strong bond, common among my tribe to do with those born on the same day—brothers of one sun. Never could I have expected him to turn on me like this. We'll need to break it before we can take him down."

The gold veins flexed, and he hid them like I'd seen Osiris do so many times. The mark like a brand. Osiris watched it, but for once, he didn't cover his wrist. The marks there, the swirling, clashing bands of lavender and black, were displayed.

"You sure you're up to facing his Retaliation alone?" Nero asked, pointing his look at Osiris. "I'm sure we could find another way."

I'd never seen Osiris's eyes so viciously bright before, a determination in them that was typically reserved for Nero and I. That bloodthirsty need to fight .

"I will not lose." Was his unflinching answer.

"What about Sebek? You can't do it all," Aaliyah chimed in. "We still need to figure something out if Exilium fails."

There was silence, the room's tension amping up. Aaliyah noticed it, her eyes narrowing as she looked around the room. For once, I wished she couldn't read people like she could. Her perceptiveness meant you couldn't slide anything past her, not that this was something I'd want to keep from her.

But it made it difficult, and it meant giving her a pain she didn't deserve.

"I'll be Challenging him if it comes to it," Nero said quietly, watching Aaliyah carefully as her eyes flew wide.

She stood up on shaking legs, stepping toward him, into his arms as he wrapped himself around her. "This wasn't the plan."

Nero took her face in his steady palms, studying every inch of her expression as his own strong act crumbled.

"We don't have a choice, Aaliyah. Hopefully, it doesn't even come to it, but if it does—" He took a breath. "Then I'll be sure to make him pay for everything he ever did to you, for every scream he tried to silence and every bit of blood he spilled. I need this, Aaliyah. He let you suffer for years, decades. If he doesn't pay with Exilium, then he'll pay by my hand."

Aaliyah's head dipped as she thought through the same options we had, no doubt narrowing down to the exact situation we were in now.

"I don't like this," she whispered, eventually folding her arms around Nero, hugging him so tightly he grunted against the top of her head.

"I know." Was his solemn reply.

Here was to hoping, for the first time, that tonight didn't end in a fight.

Atlas grunted, drawing attention to him as he picked at the sodden clothes that clung to his body. In a blink, it seemed like he'd gained ten pounds, his cheeks losing some of the hollowness. He flexed his shoulders, groaning as another bone popped. "Right. I do hate to intrude, but do you have something I could wear?"

He was skin and bones and wearing precisely nothing but the blanket he held to his front. Not to mention his size. He was big, slightly larger than Eirik, who stepped in front of him. They stared each other down, for a long second just sizing each other up, like two circling beasts.

Eirik was the first to break, grinning with all teeth as he reached a hand out, one Atlas took. Unflinching. Watching their other halves come to play was a horrifying fucking sight. Their skin pulled taut, their jaws and chins sharpening, and their eyes filling with savage intelligence that made my skin crawl.

It was a good thing Eirik's wolf had settled down. I couldn't handle any more close calls.

"Eirik," my brother grunted, his face falling back into place. He kept his head high, dipping it just once.

"Atlas," the Mythic replied back, his voice twisted from years of screaming.

No other words, no other noises. They just let go and ambled off toward the back room, Eirik supporting Atlas so he didn't have to limp.

"Well, they're going to make fast friends," Adrian said, whistling. He was quick to find Aaliyah's side again before looking at the clock on the wall. All of us did, though no one said anything about it.

Adrian just smiled, that easy way he did, hiding the fear in his eyes as he took her hand. "Come on, sweetheart, time to get ready."