Chapter Eleven

LUCA

Well, that fucking sucked.

My vision came into focus, fixed on the unfamiliar ceiling beams above my head, the flecks of gold paint, and hanging candle fixtures. My fingers twitched against cotton sheets that felt too luxurious for an ordinary tavern. I didn’t dare lift my head to study their pattern in case my body splintered into pieces like a table with no screws to hold it together. I wasn’t exactly in pain… Scratch that, I was in pain, but the piercing throb in my temples and sickening ache in my torso were gradually fading to a dull irritation as if painkillers were finally kicking in. There was a green tinge glistening at the corners of my eyes, an aura of sorts shrouding the room, and I didn’t understand it. It made a sound. A trilling hum, and I wanted to reach out and touch it, to beckon it closer and study it, but I didn’t get the chance as my mate’s face came into view, tear-streaked, disheveled, and devastatingly angelic.

I smiled.

“You’re alive,” he whispered, the sound strained.

“Just about.” My voice wasn’t much better, all croaky and dry from disuse. How long has it been? I patted mindlessly for Cair’s hand, not quite reacquainted with my motor skills it seemed, but it didn’t matter, as he took my hand instantly in his, cradling it to his chest. “Sorry if I made you worry.”

A choked whimper tore from Cair’s throat, and that small, wounded sound was the only warning I got before he broke. He sobbed and sobbed, as if his body could no longer contain the war of emotions inside him, and he had no other choice but to release it. I flinched in alarm, and the disorientation that veiled my consciousness stalled my reflexes and knocked my senses sideways.

Quicker than I ever remembered it happening before, panic welled inside me, that familiar heaviness pressing down on my chest, my mind suddenly blank as I watched the love of my life—my entire world—shatter in front of me. I should’ve thrown my arms around him, hugged him to me and whispered sweet comforts until his tears ran dry, but I was frozen. Stunned. I had seen him cry before, had reassured him through a number of tragic situations, though never like this. This was different. This was pure, raw heartbreak, and I was drowning too fast in my own head to find a way to fix it.

“Cair…”