Page 73 of Storm

ON THE BRINK OF DARKNESS

“Come with us.” I reach a hand up to cup his jaw. “Please. We are so close.” Pressed against my husband’s chest, the change in him is more daunting in its proximity. The blaring silver of his eyes stretches through veins beyond, under his skin… It’s hauntingly mesmerising.

Everything about him is overpowering, animalistic. Even the circling scent of leather and spice is more pronounced. Static zaps off his skin, touching every inch of mine. It makes me want to fold further into him.

I plead silently with him not to take me back to Halo. We could be together as a family. I need him to see that. And maybe I want him to covet Sunny and me enough to leave everything for us.

“Mama!” Sunny screams beyond the tunnel entrance, piercing through the toughened muscle that is my heart. I desperately want to go to him. Instead, my vision is overtaken by the snarl of my husband’s plush lip shooting upwards, his arms caging me in, keeping me firmly against him.

I’m thankful our son won’t see us leave without him if Melek takes me away. He’ll be safe. Trust isn’t something I give away freely, but the pink fae has an aura about her that says salvation. There’s no way this works out where Sunny isn’t safe, even if that means I have to sacrifice myself for him.

This can’t be for naught.

“You are mine, Storm. They cannot have you.” Fingers dig into my skin tighter, pinching, not yet to the point of pain, enough ‌that he has me, that I am indeed his. I don’t fight that notion any longer. The way our souls collide is irrevocable. We are entwined. I want an us, even if it’s madness. However, more than anything, I want our children to grow up without brutality, and therein lies our problem.

Our need. Our lust. Our mingling of proximity isn’t enough. Love—if that’s what this is—can’t take precedence between us. We have children to protect.

I might be lost, but they aren’t yet. Sunny and baby Phoenix have long lives ahead of them. And I want those lives to be free of the trials I’ve faced. Of the hunger. The manipulation. The greed. The evil.

“So don’t leave me, then.” His deepening, glowing silver orbs bore into mine.

He takes a step forward, and hope blossoms in my chest.

Can I convince him of this? The hard part is done. We are free of Halo. The fae are on our side. One can hope. Now, we have to cross the tree line into the Fairy Lands. The magical haven from my brother’s stories that represents our freedom, safety, and joy. All the things we grappled with finding in Halo territory.

“NO.” Shaking his head, Melek blinks rapidly. “I will keep you safe in Halo, just like I planned.” His feet begin to move backwards.

“There’s no us in Halo, Melek.” Stilling, his jerky movements cease. A yawning growl begins to vibrate from within his heated chest. This is the moment I notice what other people see when they look at him: the terrifying commander. The man who doesn’t take no for an answer. And it’s being accentuated by this new cast to his appearance, the strangeness of metal in the shimmering of his eyes and veins.

Could it be from the fae solence? It is reminiscent of the colour that seeps out of their bodies. Regardless, it showcases the danger we are all in. The sight of him howls it with ferocity.

This is not my husband. Not my Melek.

This man is something else—other.

How he got this way, I’m unsure.

“Mine.” The whisper of a curse on a tainted tongue draws me into him until I realise it’s not my body getting close, but me sinking, falling into him, joining with him, becoming one, the veins spread around his eyes, mouth, and out to his hairline, down his bulging neck.

My vision becomes blurry, weightlessness taking over—almost like when I lost solence, but this time, I know I’m not bleeding. This time, it’s him. I’m consumed with Melek, our souls melting into one.

In the background, shuffling catches my attention—someone speaking, a feminine lilt. I can’t make out what the woman is saying until it’s right next to my ear, and I recognise her voice–the pink fae.

“You’re killing her. STOP. Mate, stop. You’re KILLING her.”

Other hands are on me now, ruining the connection, polluting it, making me shrink away.

“Give her up. I can heal her.”

I focus on him. Only him. My husband. My commander.

He’s all I want.

“NOW.”

I’m ripped away.

The connection ends.