Page 83 of This Blood That Breaks Us

This wasn’t my queen. She was only a woman with no other powers, and I wanted her to stop crying and to know more than anything she was safe.

“Cecily?” I asked.

I moved the hair from her face, and when she blinked, her eyes were clear with no sign of the gray.It had to be her. The wonderful euphoria of my queen was gone. Everything about her was softer now. Warm and radiant.

“Cecily? Is that you?” I asked again, pulling her chin up.

Tears formed in her eyes, and panic flashed across her face.

“What’s happening? I don’t understand.”

“It’s okay. I’m right here.”

Her eyes grew wider, and she grabbed my forearm. “Why am I back here? This isn’t right. Something is happening. What’s happening?”

The tears fell, and I pulled her to my chest on instinct.

“It’s okay. You’re not alone. You’re safe. I won’t hurt you.”

She was crying so hard her tears seeped through my suit and into my shirt. Her vulnerability startled me. It was strange to feel Her, then to feel Cecily. Two distinctly different sensations. Both of whom I wanted to please in different ways, but I needed Cecily to stop crying like I needed the sunshine on my face, because it hurt to see her so scared when she didn’t have to be. I didn’t know why.

“Should I go get Ezra?”

“No! Don’t leave.” She buried her head in my chest. “I need you.”

“I’m here.”

“I feel so strange . . . ”

I stroked the back of her head. “Describe it to me.”

“Like I’m floating in the in-between. Not quite whole. I’m splitting apart.”

I smiled. “It’s okay. I feel like that all the time. It will pass.”

She peeked up from my shirt. “The moon is high. I shouldn’t be here. I haven’t seen a full moon in centuries. It’s so . . . beautiful.”

When she blinked again, her eyes grew heavier.

“Luke?”

“You keep using my name,” I said, stroking the back of her head. Our heartbeats layered in sync. Once both wild and panicked, were falling into a cadence. A waltz.

“Because She knows but never uses it.” She sniffled. “Don’t tell a soul about this. Tell me you understand. Not even your brother.” Remnants of her former accent came through. “Swear to me you will not.”

I hesitated. I didn’t know this girl, and she was asking a lot, but I trusted her. Or at least trusted that she needed to tell me something and it was imperative that only I knew.

“I swear.”

“You cannot trust Her or Ezra. He’s not thinking clearly. He wasn’t always this way—you are not meant to be here. They are lying to you. And they convinced your brother of their plans. But help is coming.”

She brought her forehead to mine to stare into my eyes. “Don’t give up, Luke.”

The soft caress of her kiss was enough to make my head spin, but not from her touch. The girl in front of me cared about me, and I wanted to be there for her.

I wiped her tears. “It will be okay.”

“It will be if they succeed. We’ll be free. You and I. It’s not safe for you or for me if you tell them about this.”