“So when you saved me, it was to give me time to find someone to love?” Her pride stung at the thought of being laid so utterly bare before him. “I guess I wasn’t fast enough for you. After you realized I had been marked, you came to see for yourself what was taking me so long.”
His response was lost in her frustrated growl of fury. She was such a fool to have ever trusted him.
“When Saul showed up, you two fought over what exactly?” She stood and dared him to contradict her. “Who gets to finish me off now that I’m in love with someone?”
Bright blue eyes snared hers and the anguish in them made her chest ache. His lips parted, sounding out the words even as he thought them. “You’re in love.”
Heat flared in her cheeks. “I think I’m finished with this conversation.”
She covered her face with her hands and turned toward the window. It didn’t help. His gaze seared her back and made her spine itch. The denial she wanted to fling at him dried on her tongue and hung suspended in her thoughts.
Had she really said she was in love? Her heart beat an emphatic yes.
No, no, no. She couldn’t love him. Not when things would end this way. It wasn’t fair.
Nathaniel grasped her shoulders, turned her, caught her chin, and forced her to look up at him. His hard eyes said he wasn’t going anywhere until he got what he came for, and she suspected that was her answer. “You said you were in love.” He waited.
She cleared her throat and glared at him. “And you said you were here to kill me.”
His dark expression heated. “I want you to say the words.”
“I want to live to be a hundred.” She locked her knees so they wouldn’t shake. Or worse, take a step into him and tell him exactly what he wanted to hear.
Their bond crackled with his desperation. His hands curled at his sides and she knew if she took that step, her resistance would be over. She would be his willing lamb to lead into any slaughter.
What flowed between them, soul to soul, was pure communion without the filters of their mouths or mistakes to muck things up. Only their bond kept her brave enough to face him. It rushed warmth and comfort in contrast to his inscrutable expression.
Nathaniel crowded her space, his tone cool and distant. “You couldn’t have stopped me if I wanted to kill you. I was alive when this world was spoken into existence. Claiming one soul requires no effort on my part.”
If he wanted to scare her, he was doing a bang-up job. “Then why wait? Why not get it over with instead of fighting with Saul like a couple of five-year-olds calling first dibs?”
His familiar presence enveloped her. “I don’t want you to die. That’s why. But you will, and knowing I can’t save you is killing me.”
Desperation thickened the air and her tongue. Words passed beneath their skin now. Sound fast became obsolete. Answers, she needed answers. “You protected me from Saul.”
“I did.” He nodded as he lifted a strand of her hair and rubbed the curl between his broad fingers. “I always will.”
The temperature in Chloe’s apartment skyrocketed. “Not because you wanted a chance to finish the job but because…?”
His head lowered as he buried his face in her hair and his lips found the shell of her ear. “I did it because I love you. More than anyone or anything I’ve ever known.”
She exhaled shakily as his lips slid down the column of her throat. His prickly cheek scrubbed across hers; then his teeth closed over the skin at the base of her neck.
“When I came here, I didn’t think I cared if you meant them. I only wanted to hear you say them once.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek; then his hand rested on the leather holster at his hip. “I was wrong. I do care. I learned a long time ago that words are worthless if you don’t mean them.”
“This is crazy,” she said. They would have no life together, no future if Delphi had his way.
The snap at his side popped open.
“We only have a few hours left.” And everything in her wanted them spent with him.
The eerie scissors took their place in his hand and looked as if they were meant to be there. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said. The blades opened, sank into the air, and sliced a glittering gold seam.
Peering closer, Chloe realized Nathaniel had cut some sort of portal. So that’s how he moved from place to place so fast. Her breath caught as he stepped forward and his foot vanished. He glanced back one last time, and her need for him unhinged her inhibitions.
She took the steps, grabbed his arm, and pulled until both of his feet were planted on the floor. The air sizzled as the fissure closed behind him.
Chloe stepped closer and cupped his face in her hands. “You broke my heart.” She smoothed her thumbs over his cheeks. “Don’t lie to me again. Whatever happens, we stand together. Deal?”
He gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Good.” She pulled his head down. “I love you, Nathaniel. Whatever you are, however this ends, you deserve to know you are the only man I have ever and will ever love.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A shiver coasted through Nathaniel as Chloe’s words stroked his senses and their lips parted on a bittersweet kiss. He held her close, inhaling her familiar scent and savoring this moment before reality came crashing down around them and the inevitable slashed through their bond with a copper blade.
“I guess running away isn’t an option?” Chloe said as her head came to rest against his chest. “Wherever we went, Saul would find us, wouldn’t he?”
His arms encircled her. “He’s not the one we have to worry about.” The tense muscles in her lower back loosened as he kneaded with his thumbs. “If something goes wrong, if Saul can’t convince Delphi to give him more time, then he will be the least of our worries.”
“I thought you wanted Delphi to come for me.”
“For us, yes.” He pressed his lips to her apple-scented hair. “But I’d rather he not be in a murderous rage at the time.”
Her head snapped up and busted his bottom lip. “What do you mean us?”
Blood filled his mouth with a copper tang. “When I saved you, I broke Delphi’s law. I interfered with the death of a mortal. The punishment for that is banishment to the soul pits.”
“Then he doesn’t know what you’ve done,” she said slowly. “If he did, you wouldn’t be free now.” She glanced away. “He wouldn’t have to know at all if you let Saul finish the job.”
“Let him finish the job?” His jaw popped. “Chloe, he would kill you.” And Nathaniel knew his brother well enough to know that Saul would make him watch. And watching Saul kill Chloe would destroy Nathaniel more than eternity in the soul pits. “I knew the consequences of my actions. I broke the rules twice. Once when I lied for my brother, because I loved him and wanted him to have his chance at happiness with Mairi, and then a second time when I spared you from death, because I… I had to. I love you. If it could save you, I would break them again.”
Her voice wavered. “If I’m going to die anyway, can’t you…”
“No.” He caught her chin, forcing her head back until her startled gaze snapped to his. “If you die now, with the mark still on you, you’ll be sentenced to the soul pits as well. I must speak with Delphi. If I explain what happened, he can pardon your soul. It’s my fault you’re still alive, that your soul is marked. What I did to save you caused this. His brother, Gavriel, could escort you to Aeristitia, where you belong. You’ll have the peace and comfort there you deserve.”
Her face scrunched in a not-quite-hopeful expression. “Why do I sense a ‘but’ here?”
“I can’t take you to Dis, where Delphi lives. Mortals can’t withstand its temperatures for more than several minutes at most, and we would risk him stripping you of your soul without hearing me out. And I can’t leave you here alone and unprotected. Saul has searched for a way to save Mairi for a long time. Now that he’s seen you, he thinks reviving her is possible. He doesn’t understand that
I stitched our souls together while you were alive, before your soul left your body. He sees only the end result and thinks that justifies whatever means necessary to possess the shears and retrieve her soul.” Nathaniel touched cold metal at his hip, and it soothed him. “He’ll stop at nothing to learn the trick, and once he has, you’ll be of no value to him.” The thought of Mairi made him tighten his grip on the shears. “He thinks we have a score to settle.”
Chloe stared where his hand gripped his shears. “He wants your scissors?”
“The shears are a powerful tool. They end lives, sever souls from their bodies. They aid me in the making of soul cloth, in my duties as Weaver. They are integral to my position, to my survival. Besides their more grisly duties”—which she had intimate knowledge of—“they can also create portals to anywhere from across the room to across the world. The others can only access this plane and Hell, but Saul wants into Heaven. Mairi’s soul is in Aeristitia, and the only way for him to reach it is to travel there and tether it himself. The shears are the only way he can reach her.”
“So our plan is to go to the cabin and wait for Saul to show up.” Her throat worked over a lump. “Then what happens?”
“I left word with Bran to ask Delphi to meet us there.” All Nathaniel could do now was pray the master seraph wanted the missing soul enough to leave Hell for it. “Then I make my case, and Delphi judges us all.”
“Earlier, when Saul tried to… I heard him inside my head.” Chloe frowned. “I get that I hear you because we’re…” She swallowed. “How is it possible Saul can do the same thing?”
“Harvesters share a mental bond with their marks. When Saul comes near you, he senses the uncollected mark and a connection sparks. The bond forces harvesters to skim surface thoughts and memories.” His tone was soft. “It’s part of our punishment, reliving the horror of those acts.”
Anger on his behalf sizzled through their bond. He gave her a smile that comforted.
“Okay.” She exhaled. “So how do I keep your brother out of my head?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “The bond was never meant to work both ways. That you can hear my thoughts and respond to them is… I’ve never experienced that before. For me, the bond is a steady murmur of thoughts, memories. Once I’ve seen that first flash of insight, I’m usually gone. With you, it’s different. The longer we’re together, the easier it is for me to tune you out.”
“Hmm.” She began pacing. “So it should work the same for me.”
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t.” He rubbed his jaw. “I’ll admit, what happened in that alley has never happened before. I didn’t hear Saul. I heard Saul through you. I couldn’t make sense of what I saw or heard, but I couldn’t tune him out, either. You, though, came in crystal clear.”
“Great.” Chloe’s sharp exhale blew the hair from her eyes, which brought his attention to the dark smudges beneath them. “Yet another thing that’s off about me.”
He swiped a thumb over the soft skin. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
She lowered his hand and pressed a kiss into each palm. “You did what you thought was right.” Her smile was overly bright. “I got a second chance, and I got to fall in love with you. It’s hard to feel too bad about that.”
“Chloe…”
“No more apologies.” Clamping a hand over his mouth, she said, “Let’s do something. Go somewhere. I don’t want to sit here and wait.” She glanced around her apartment as if seeing it from a different perspective and her hand slipped. “There’s so much I always thought I’d get around to. Places I wanted to see, things I wanted to do, but I never wanted to leave home.” She laughed. “I’ve barely left Main Street.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Once he’d had a home and been content in it as well. The boundaries of her world were laid out in terms of Piedmont’s city limits, as his had been restricted to Aeristitia’s corridors. As he smoothed his thumb across her knuckles, he decided she was right. They should collect happiness while they could. “So where are we going?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I mean, I’ve never been anywhere.” She looked to him. “If you had one night, one destination, where would you go?”
He kept her waiting while he considered her request. Her choice of coffee table books were all heavy travel tomes, featuring clear skies mirrored in crystalline waters. The sheets on her bed were a whimsical shade of blue and dolphins blinked up from the pattern of her pillowcases. He remembered the dainty seashells embossed on her plates and cups and the choice was easy.
“I’ll take you to Whitehaven Beach, off the coast of Australia.” His speculative smile earned him a nervous glance. “If we leave soon, we’ll have time to watch the sunrise.” The last they might ever see.
Locking down that line of reasoning, Nathaniel refused to let desperation color their final moments together. He would save Chloe. He had to. This stolen time would be his parting gift to her, a precious memory for them both to cherish, a retreat for his mind while his body burned in the pits.
Indecision warred in her expression. Traveling so far out of her comfort zone required trust he no longer deserved. He couldn’t blame her if she said no and chose to stay home in familiar surroundings, though destiny would find them either way.
“If we go”—she made a face—“and I don’t like it…”
“I can have you home in seconds, meira.”
Her cheeks flushed a vibrant pink and drew his fingers to stroke the high color.
“You’ve called me that before,” she said. “What does it mean?”
“Meira is a Hebrew word. It means ‘to illuminate.’ ” His touch followed a line down to her collar where he picked at the tiny buttons fastened at her throat. “You are my light, the closest I will ever come to Heaven again.”
Her flush lit up her face. “Thank you.” She leaned in, wrapped her arms around him, and sighed. “Neve should be finished closing the store by now. I’d like a minute alone with her if you don’t mind.” She picked at his shirt pocket. “I guess saying good-bye isn’t an option.”
“It’s safer for her if you don’t.” During his time with Chloe, Nathaniel genuinely began to like Neve. He knew Chloe was even closer. The last thing he wanted was for Neve to be harmed. She loved Chloe enough that if she thought her friend was in danger, she’d never back down. That stubborn streak he had counted on to tether Chloe’s soul just might get Neve killed if she confronted the wrong person to keep Chloe safe.
“I know,” she said. “I worry about her. How she’ll take it when I disappear.”
She took a reluctant step toward the door. “I’ll be right back.”
He punched numbers on his phone with one hand, then freed the shears from his hip with the other. Next, he pulled a whetstone from his pocket and hit the Send button. “I’ll wait here.”
Chloe left Neve with a smile and a promise they would talk in the morning about how her first night at the fair went. Who she met and which books she shared. It was a lie, but the truth was much too dangerous to share.
When Chloe reached the top of the stairs, Nathaniel stood and his possessive gaze touched on her, making the tightness in her chest relax and her next breath easier.
“It was harder than I thought it would be saying good-bye without telling her anything, leaving her to wonder. Neve is…” She was the best friend Chloe had ever had. “I’m going to miss her.”
“I’m sorry things between you ended this way.” A kitchen towel hung from his fingers. His shears and a stone sat beside a bottle of water on her coffee table. “Neve is a good woman.”
Bile rose in her throat. He’d sharpened the vicious things.
A smooth sidestep to the right, and he blocked her line of sight. Grateful for help breaking her thrall, she glanced up with a smile, then stopped dead in her tracks.
Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed on a point beyond her shoulder. His arm shot out, fingers curling towar
d her. His mouth opened on words she couldn’t hear because her ears burst with a sudden crack of sound. Images assailed her, made her head swim.
Saul. His presence permeated her senses like before and her skin crawled from the fervid desires channeled between them. Their connection engulfed her. His thoughts forced their way inside her head, twisted and unnatural.
“You’re looking well, pet.” Saul stared at her too long for her comfort. “I need a moment alone with my brother. Why don’t you pour us some drinks and let the men speak privately?”
“If you want a drink”—Chloe straightened her shoulders—“the kitchen’s that way.”
“Huh.” Saul appraised her. “Did you grow a spine since the last time we met?”
“Chloe.” Warning thickened Nathaniel’s voice. “Come here.”
“I’m tired of running.” Months of nightmares and self-doubt had exhausted her.
Nathaniel walked slowly to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. “Our agreement was to meet tomorrow, Saul.”
“Yes, well.” Saul sat on the arm of the couch, so close she could reach out and touch him, which would never happen. “A funny thing happened to me on the way to meet Delphi. Reuel brought Trates and Arestes topside for a visit. They said Delphi had given them instructions on where to escort me, but I’m thinking his idea of a waiting room would look a lot like a soul pit to me.” He chuckled and it was an ugly sound. “That Delphi, he does love playing judge, jury, and executioner. Even without the trial.”
“You fled punishment.” Nathaniel’s anger spiked. “Now you’ve led him here, to her.”
His hand clamped on to Chloe’s arm, and she watched his gaze touching on points around the room as if he expected more company at any moment.
Focusing on Nathaniel’s touch, Chloe narrowed her connection to Saul until his thoughts went silent. All that was left was the familiar sensation of her mind brushing Nathaniel’s.
“Can you hear me?” She projected the question at Nathaniel but kept an eye on Saul to test Nathaniel’s theory. “Saul?”
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