Page 47 of These Eternal Bones

Sunlight it couldn’t have come a moment too soon.

I can’t hide the burgeoning excitement to see this place in the spring.

Elric and Péal insist flowers won’t grow here, but I’m determined to try.

The snow has lost its pillowy softness as it melts, dripping down from the pitched roof of the entrance awning.

The warm bond in my chest thrums, his adoration as well as the constant undercurrent of something far darker, far more unpleasant.

I don’t mind it. It’s him, and I want him in any way I can have him, even if it is like this.

Fractured and worried is better than nothing at all.

My long hair skims my shoulders as I let go of my grip on the winter cloak, its fur lined inside nearly too warm in the golden rays shining down between parted fog and clouds.

It doesn’t meet the woods, though; those are always dark, beautifully, in their own mysterious, gnarled way.

The crisp, wet smell of earth mixes heavenly with spice and cedar as Elric walks beside me, content to watch and admire.

The last few days, he hasn’t spoken much, the weight of everything rearing its nasty head.

I chuckle, shooting him an incredulous look as his tendrils snag me around the middle as soon as I edge closer to the cliff that holds the proud lighthouse.

Something I’d once thought so ominous, with its black painted brick, holds none of that for me now.

It’s a sign of strength, of home . My fingers dance around it as I lean closer to the edge, wondering how long I can push before he–

“My love, come away from the edge, please.”

“You’ve got me,” I assure him, casting a smirk over my shoulder as I lean forward over the cliff's edge, trusting his tendrils to balance me. My heart picks up, my hair whipping wildly in the wind as I stare down at the jagged rocks and angry tide. An exhilarated giggle slips from me, but I don’t miss the way his tendrils seem to shake. As if he’d ever drop me.

I can feel the spike of fear in the bond, but the sea wind on my face feels so nice.

After months of being kept inside and, more recently, away from windows, I thought it was only a matter of time before I joined him in his madness.

So today, when he suggested we take a walk, I’d nearly fallen from my stool in shock.

My slippered feet had slipped and skidded on the marble as I’d rushed to my wardrobe.

He’d laughed, and even dampened by his own warring thoughts, the sound had reached me in the most wonderful way.

It would be so easy to imagine a lifetime here with him.

That forever was an option. That’s why I’m determined to make it so, once he calms.

If he calms.

Once others are allowed to speak to me again, and by others, I mean Cartiel .

He’s been odd.

Everyone has been odd.

Eggshells and distance, even Péal. She’d been told to make herself scarce for so long, I missed her more than I ever thought I would.

It merely took me telling Elric it was unfair to remove her from me if my time was truly so limited, unreasonably cruel to take my time away from my friend.

She’d run into the room an hour later, giddy with excitement, although she waited to hug me until my mate excused himself.

It seems he's even more possessive after the bond. I’m not sure how right that is, but it warms me to my core either way.

I laugh as I’m hoisted up, away from the cliff's edge, and tucked back to his side. “If your goal was to finish off what is left of my mind, syringa, I fear you’ve succeeded.”

My laughter is only doubled at the perturbed and serious look on his face.

It doesn’t take long for a smile to crack it, his hand cupping my cheek as he takes me in.

When his lips meet mine, the view suddenly becomes less mesmerizing.

The sunshine has lost its lure. My entire being, my every thought, belongs to him.

The sadness that filters through the bond dampens nothing. I’ve grown used to it over the past few weeks. When he breaks the kiss, I rise to my tiptoes, capturing his face in my hands as I rub my nose against his cold one. “Come Molly, I wish to show you something.”

I raise a brow at him, the interest enough to pull me back inside.

If I were still bothered by things like prayer, I’d send one up that the sun holds for a while longer.

It’s odd, I’ve never cared less for religion than I have with my hand being eclipsed by one of a god.

I smirk at that. Being bedded by one too, I suppose, could be considered serving the Lord.

My teeth dig into my bottom lip to stifle the laughter that threatens to bubble up.

I can tell by my grim and morose mate that whatever he intends to show me is important to him, so I do my best to be serious.

His ramrod straight back is tense as we follow the trail.

My eyes leave the unusually pretty and bright glittered landscape and instead watch his tendrils snap and fret wildly around me in the snow.

Péal is waiting at the door, helping me with my coat, but she’s quiet.

There are no excited words or questions, no smiles.

For the first time today, I frown, the lightness leaving me in subtle brushstrokes.

I shake it off the best I can as he leads me up the twisting halls and stairs.

He walks slowly, pacing himself instead of carrying me at a blinding speed to the top.

My eyelashes hide my gaze as I peek up at him, his strong jaw clenching.

When we hit the landing, my heart jolts as he leads me toward the white and gold tapestry at the end of the hall.

A place I think of often but haven’t attempted to sneak toward again.

A gasp rips from my throat as he doesn’t simply move the fine needlework fabric to the side but rips it from the wall with a lethal caress of his hand.

The ornate skeleton key he pulls from his pocket tells me another venture up here would’ve proved unfruitful.

His silky black hair falls into his face as he looks at me for the first time since we came back inside.

“I will protect you, protect this life where I failed you in all others.” The solemn tone of his voice compounds his vow.

My heart warms for it.

I offer him a soft smile as he opens the door, revealing the unfinished wooden stairs.

Where it was cold in here before now, I’m blasted with warmth.

My smile grows as he starts up them, my hand in his, making me trail behind him in the narrow stairway.

“I am not afraid.” I offer. “How could I be with you? There is no one on this earth who would love me more. Yes? Do not doubt my trust in you.”

Pain lances through the bond, making me halt my steps for a second before his tendrils snag around my waist, lifting me the rest of the way up.

My eyes widen on the burnished golden… caged room.

Like a bird’s, but huge. So huge it takes up the entirety of the vast space and the high, vaulted ceiling.

My lips part as his tendrils shift the faded golden door open.

The creak is the only sound in the room as I step into it, my eyes skittering over the fine furniture.

It’s set up like a bedroom. There’s even an… easel. My easel.

“Then for that, my syringa, I am eternally sorry.” The words leave him like a whisper, his voice thick and full of emotion.

For the first time, something sparks in my chest, a prick of anxiety as I whirl around to face him. My eyes are wide as he pulls the door closed behind me, his eyes never leaving mine.

Agony laces my chest, and I cannot tell whose it belongs to as I take a step forward. “Elric, what are you doing?” I try to keep my voice light, forcing amusement into the question, but it sounds off.

I watch as his veins overcome his beautiful face, ink dripping from swirling onyx eyes. “I am keeping you safe.”

No…

Fear brackets me as I take in the space around me…

filled with all my things, all our things.

My fist slams into my chest, trying to calm my ragged breathing.

My lips tremble as I take a step closer to the gilded door, just as he produces another key.

The sound of a lock sliding into place does something odd to my chest. Something agonizing and brutal.

Something you don’t just come back from. “Enough of this. Let me out,” I demand.

“I love you.” The words leave him like a plea. Like he’s begging, but for what, I don’t know, because the wide walls are closing in around me.

“Elric, you cannot mean to cage me. You cannot do this, you’d never . You would never do something like this,” I ramble, my chest tight .

He flinches, his tendrils limp on the ground. “I cannot…I cannot and will not suffer your loss again. It is all I think about. My mind is not my own. I will not survive it, Molly.”

The crack that settled in my chest snaps open, breaking and splitting like a chasm. “No!”

“In time, you will forgive me. You will not be alone here, not as long as I live. It will keep you safe, Molly, keep you where others cannot go.”

“I tripped last time. This will do nothing but keep me a prisoner. You’re not making any sense, Elric.

” I breathe, tears cascading down my cheeks.

“Is that why you wanted to walk today? Oh god, did you truly mean to allow me sunlight for the last time?” He doesn’t answer, and a sob rips from my throat.

“You knew, while I giggled and laughed and kissed you, you knew what you would do the whole time!”

He doesn’t look away from me, but suddenly I find it hard to meet his eyes as I begin to pace. “How long have you planned this? This is why nobody wanted me up here! I-I, oh lord, how many of them knew?”

Silence.

“How long, Elric!?” I scream, my sobs watching my chest, such a ripe flash of betrayal stealing the breath from my lungs.

“One hundred years.”

My knees give at that, not even my heavy winter skirts saving them from the thud of the floor as I grip the bodice swathing my chest. It’s too tight, the fabric too heavy and constricting.

“Everyone knew.” It’s not a question but a statement, and he doesn’t correct me.

My gasping, ragged sobs rattle the walls. They were my family… my new family…

One hundred years…

From the very start, he knew.

Oh god, he knew .

My head snaps at the sound of his own ragged breath. “Surely you do not mean to join me in my cage?” The words leave me in an ugly, hateful tone I’d never heard before.

“Syringa, please, you must under–”

“Leave,” I order from the floor, my eyes incensed and glued to the proud, utterly mad Vampire of Port Cycle, the God of Blood and Eternal Death. To my mate .

A growl rumbles from his chest as he steels himself, unlocking and stepping outside the golden bars to the small walkway in between. When the lock snaps back into place, suddenly his tendrils surge through the bars, snapping toward me until they disappear in a plume of mist.

I hold my breath until it fades.

“If you need me–”

“I will not.” I choke out, bringing my knees to my chest.

He lingers for a while before leaving, but he doesn’t go far. His steps are measured as he descends the stairs, but there’s no opening or closing of the lower door. He simply lowers himself out of sight, sitting on the rough wooden step and listening to me cry.