Page 115 of Andreas

The grin that had stretched across her face so naturally slowly began to fade as the realisation settled in her stomach like a stone thrown into calm waters. Her face contorted into a frown, and her arms curled further around herself, as though she could physically hold her emotions together.

Caius must have noticed it, too, because the next thing he asked startled her so much she almost jumped from her seat. ‘Do you love him?’

The question had a primal part of her soul raising its hackles, and anger bubbled between her ribs. Her spine locked, shoulders straightening. There was no hesitation in her voice, only conviction as truth laced every syllable. ‘He’s my husband, Cai, of course I—’

‘No,’ he stopped her abruptly. But there was something sharp, like broken glass, in his tone. ‘I wasn’t asking about him.’ Huffing, his dull, silver gaze flickered over her shoulder like Rymedur would appear if he mentioned his name.

Areanel had to force herself not to follow his gaze. Tamping down on the sudden urge to return to Rymedur’s side, she forced herself to remain—even if every nerve ending in her body screamed at her to leave, to find Rymedur and spend the rest of her restless night memorising every minute detail of his features.

‘I’ve spent less than an hour with the two of you, and even I can see how much you love each other. You can barely stay apart.’ Caius’s words were clipped and grim, but he spoke as though it was fact. Resolute. Lifting the chipped glass of amber liquid to his mouth, he paused.

Areanel waited patiently. How do you go about telling your ex-lover, a male who used to be a friend, that you found love in another man?

Anxiety nipped at the exposed skin of her legs, or maybe it was just the cold air rushing in. Pulling her legs close, Areanel leaned her chin on the point of her knee, letting the bone dig into her skin as she absentmindedly picked at the worn wood of the windowpane by her right thigh. Then, the cold breeze snaked its way beneath Rymedur’s too-large shirt, and the scent of fir needles, eucalyptus and something distinctly Rymedur consumed her senses, settling her buzzing nerves as she watched Caius take an abnormally large gulp.

‘He adores you,’ Caius mumbled under his breath.

Blinking back her shock, Areanel glanced up. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination playing tricks on her or the fact he had said it so lowly, but Areanel thought she had imagined him admitting that at all. But the way his nostrils flared slightly before he took a long drag of the roll between his fingers told Areanel enough.

He meant it.

The sharp, smoky odour again drifted to Areanel’s nose when Caius let out a slow, controlled breath. Leaning back, his head gently tapped against the window frame as he looked out at the foggy night’s sky. Flurries of snow floated down; winter had finally arrived, and it was settling on the quiet streets of Alabasus below.

Stark against the night sky, the snowflakes reminded her of a certain wolf. Raising her hand, Areanel rubbed a palm across the centre of her chest in slow circular motions. It had been two weeks since she had felt the full force of their bond, since she had blocked and muffled them so that they wouldn’t be worried about her. She missed them dearly. Like a phantom limb, she could feel them. Barely, but there.

‘Do you still love your father after everything he has done?’ That brought her attention back to their conversation, and a crease formed between her brows. ‘I was there, Nelly. I grew up by your side. I witnessed everything he did and made you do. He turned you into someone I don’t even recognise anymore.’

Caius gestured at her body with the roll pinched between his fingers, and the smoke created little grey streams in the small space between them, reminding her of the shadows that constantly clung to Rymedur.

Areanel slid her hand down her arm, goosebumps trailing in the wake of her cold fingertips until they stopped at the silky shadow that remained at her wrist. She had never needed words for the shadows; they understood her almost immediately. This one, like a whispered promise against her skin, unfurled itself and wrapped around her fingers, intertwining and squeezing their reassurance. They were here for her. A part of Rymedur was always with her.

‘How could you still do what he commands? How could you still love him?’

Something in Caius’s demeanour had shifted, and he turned to face—almost frantic and disbelieving. Hurt. He leaned further into her space, and Areanel shuffled away, but there was nowhere to move.

Her mother’s prophecy wormed its way into her mind: A war waged from the hatred… The venom in Caius’s voice sounded eerily like hate.

Maybe her mother had been wrong. Maybe the prophecy wasn’t about her at all. There were plenty of people who hated her father in their hearts. Areanel was not one of them. She did not hate her father, and maybe that was what made her so pathetic, so unworthy of his love.

Areanel could not hate the male who had hurt her in the worst way possible.

The chipped frame of the window dug into her back as she tried to retreat. ‘Is this another one of your tests?’ Her heart leapt into her throat. Clogging her breath. Suffocating her. History was repeating itself. Gaze darting around the cold space, Areanel half expected her father to emerge from the darkness, encasing the room like a vengeful wraith.

Memories tried to claw their way forward, talons sharp and unrelenting. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, and her breath became shallow.

But with all the will she could muster, Areanel pushed those grotesque memories back, rebuilding the wall around her mind brick by brick. She would not fall for his manipulations—not again. Stronger. Smarter. Areanel was no longer clouded by love.

A sigh escaped his slightly parted lips, tone shifting into something softer, sweeter. ‘Nelly…’ Caius shook his head, and strands of hair—as white as the snowflakes that drifted from the dark sky—fell in wisps against his temple.

Tension rippled across her shoulders as she pulled further back, causing the chipped edges of the window frame to bite into her spine. Caius leant forward, placing his now-empty glass down with a small thud, and Areanel stared at the single line that fractured across the length of the glass of the windowsill. His fingers, whisper-soft, inched closer to her thigh.

Caius took a final drag from the brown roll pinched between two fingers, and his deep inhale was the only sound in the quiet darkness of the living area as he squashed the tip of the roll beside the cracked glass. Areanel couldn’t meet his eye, but watched as he let the roll slip from his fingers. The stubbed orange glow from the opposite end was barely extinguished as it tumbled through the air.

Cold bones popped as Areanel curled her hands into fists, and Caius moved further into her space. ‘He’s my father,’ she said resolutely.

‘So?’ Caius’s pale brows shot up, disappearing into his hair. ‘I hate mine.’ His hand came up to move the hair away from one side of his head, and Areanel screwed her eyes shut, turning away from him, not wanting to see what she knew would be there.

Coward. She was a damned coward!