章 13: Tell Me
Nick
Celeste twisted from my touch, turmoil chasing across her face as she pulled herself through the steaming waters to the steps where we had entered. Leaving the warmth of the spring, I watched transfixed as the water droplets cascaded down her back, seeming to follow the patterns of the tattoos and scars that lived there.
My expression hardened at the sight, fury rising up bitter on my tongue. I could well imagine what deprivations she had endured under Oriana's regime and at the hands of her minions. I had borne witness to such creative tortures myself over long decades stationed at her court. Celeste's wounds told her story clearly and brought up my own dark memories. Back when blind loyalty and ruthless obedience were the sole purpose I understood.
"This," she pointed a finger back and forth between the two of us. "Will not happen again. Cannot happen. You have no idea what I've been through at the hands of you creatures." Her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched me slowly come toward her through the rising steam. "No matter what crazy blood bond your Druid friend thinks this is. It won't happen again." Her beautiful lips twisted in something akin to a snarl. "You know nothing of that viper's nest I escaped."
Unfortunately, I knew it all too well, but Celeste didn't know that. "Tell me then, love." The endearment slipped off my tongue before I could call it back. "All of it." Her gaze remained hard and unforgiving. "We have nothing but time at this point, and if you are refusing more of…" My hand gestured toward the edge of the pool where our electrifying encounter had just occurred. "Then what else do we have to do besides talk."
I attempted to keep my expression neutral, the longing and half-mad desire out of my face as I watched her force her clothing back onto her damp extremities. Making my way out of the pool as well, I gave her a wide berth and set about drying myself and donning my own clothing. I held my silence as I started a fire. I gave her space, moving to stoke up the small fire and start water for coffee to boiling with supplies cached here.
Leo and I prepared this remote cave system as a potential sanctuary long months ago in case hunters ever picked up my trail again. A place I could hide until they either left the area or I could make it to a portal to escape. The homey touches proved their worth if they lent Celeste, my beautiful Fae, any sense of warmth or safety after her harrowing experiences.
Shame clenched in my gut as thoughts of the tortures I had participated in at the sadistic Queen's command over my years as one of her elite guards.
The silence stretched, punctuated only by Celeste's breaths, each one was a fragile whisper against the crackling fire. My heart gave another random thump-bump and I rubbed at the spot, hoping expectantly for more of the long-forgotten beats that had started when we'd met, but nothing else came. Finally, I couldn't bear it any longer.
"Come sit by the fire with me. Do you prefer coffee or tea? The water will be boiling in a minute. Are you hungry?"
She didn't answer any of my queries but started to move toward me. Barely even allowing myself to draw air into my lungs, I watched as she moved as if in a trance and came to sit next to me on the large, smoothed log that had been placed there for that purpose. After several long moments of silence, I tentatively reached out, my knuckles tracing the tense muscle at the curve of her jaw. Her skin was shockingly cold despite the heat radiating from the fire and the simmering hot springs.
Inside me, a cauldron of emotions bubbled: concern, curiosity, a desperate need to have her unburden herself of the pain twisting her beautiful features. But I forced myself to still, to bank the inferno and present her with a calm that I didn't entirely possess. "Share with me, Celeste," I urged, my voice a low murmur. "Tell me all of it."
The thought of hearing the details made me grow even colder than normal, but if she needed to get the information out in order to start healing, I would stand it. Taking her pain would be my penance for all the heinous acts I had committed myself.
Suddenly, her gaze shot to mine, a storm-tossed ship navigating treacherous waters. She searched my face, seeming to be assess me, weighing the depths of my soul, testing if I could handle the darkness she carried within. For a moment, I feared she might turn away, retreat back into the impenetrable fortress of her own pain. But then, as if finding an unexpected mooring in the depths of my eyes, she spoke. "She forced my magic, making me her prized bloodhound, tracking Fae movements for months, betraying everyone I had ever known…"
I froze at the admission that was clearly devastating for her to admit. Her bright green gaze left mine and turned toward the fire. Her eyes went distant, and I knew she wasn't seeing the fire that played in the ring of stones in front of us.
"Tell me," I cajoled in a whisper, my hand caressing her shoulder, tracing the patterns of the old scars twined within the runes there. And she did.
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