6. CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SIX

ENDER

Twenty minutes sounds easy, but throw a human into the middle of the ocean and make them tread it for more than ten, and they might just drown.

Sera droops with exhaustion, the air stirring with the movement, but she doesn't give up.

Whether that's from her own stubborn determination or wanting something more, I'm not sure.

Her thoughts are consumed with the task at hand.

And while she struggles, I do, too. Our kiss has wrecked me.

The taste of Seraphina is seared into my tongue and branded into my soul.

She's sugar and salt—light and dark—all wrapped up into one perfectly imperfect package.

I'm in awe of her scars, her resilience, but most of all, her ability to still love fully.

Everyone but herself, that is.

Sera is completely selfless, and I can't wait to show my mate her worth.

With one minute remaining, I count down the seconds in my head.

I call out the time, and she drops like a stone to the ground.

The air vibrates with her tremors, and I bend down next to her.

"A dip in the bathing pool will heal you."

"Ok," she agrees dully, her body stretched to its limits.

"May I carry you?"

"Are you going to try to touch your wings to mine?"

"Not right now—do you want me to drop you?"

This snags her attention. "It feels good for you, too…"

"Yes, it's a reciprocal experience."

"Like feather sixty-nining."

I laugh at the ridiculous description before scooping my mate into my arms.

We barely make it a few steps before the ground quakes again, but this time, not from Sera.

"What was that?!"

"Veilquake."

"Veil-what?"

"You know, like an earthquake but in The Veil."

"Oh. We didn't have earthquakes in Vermont or…where I grew up."

A painful memory of her parents flashes through her head.

Humans murdered Sera's mother and father when she was very young.

She thinks it was a cruel act of intolerance—some humans don't like monsters—but she's wrong.

There's a reason her parents suppressed my mate's natural urge to create life.

They were trying to hide her.

Only until recently have I learned why, and it worries me.

We should all be able to choose our own destinies, but sometimes, they're tied to futures out of our hands.

I spoke to Sera about appreciating the now, and I meant it, but prophetic ability is one of the less stellar powers of an Erlking.

Only my kind of Teraphim have it, and it's proven to be more of a curse than a blessing.

The magic comes only in snippets, sparks of premonition that can be interpreted in a thousand ways.

And usually too late.

"Well, veilquakes are minor. Nothing to worry about."

Everything to worry about.

Thankfully, Sera's too exhausted from flying to realize that I'm lying.

I go back inside my house, taking long strides until I'm back in my bathroom.

Summoning a towel and robe, I set my mate down by the edge of the pool.

"Come out when you're finished. You need to eat to replenish your strength."

"Thank you," she calls as I turn away to give her privacy.

Her thoughts are still heavy, fixed on the memory of that day.

The guilt and self-blame she carries in enough to crush a person, but somehow, Sera manages to stand tall.

I go to the kitchen and prepare a light meal of cheese, fruit, and vegetables.

Some are familiar, others are from The Veil, but I doubt Sera's ever had them and I know she enjoys trying new things.

When I finish, I go back to the room and lay out a flowy dress on the bed.

It's conjured from the fabric of space itself, woven with the starlight of the constellations.

Then I leave and wait, my wings twitching in eagerness.

Sera comes out to the hall moments later, the scent of her hitting me first.

I could pick the smell of my mate out of a million women huddled together.

It calls to me like nothing in all the realms.

She stops a hair's breadth from me, her presence rippling over my skin.

"Thank you for the dress. It's lovely."

"You're welcome. Ready to eat?"

In answer, her stomach rumbles and we both laugh.

"This way."

I link my fingers through hers, surprised when she doesn't put up a fuss, and tug her into the dining room.

She goes to sit down, but I stop her and pull out her chair first.

Sera sinks into the seat, and I lean down to whisper in her ear.

"And you say I'm not a gentleman."

A delicate snort echoes around us. "You are many things—but a gentleman isn't one of them."

"How about a good kisser?"

My mate chokes a bit, swallowing thickly. "I've had better."

What a little imp.

She waits for me to call her out on her blatant lie, but I don't rise to the bait.

Instead, I pull the food platter closer to Sera for her to start eating.

When she's gotten a plate, I take a seat to her right before clicking my nails on the table.

The sound echoes back, and I use it to locate the platter.

Reaching forward, I select a handful of items, recognizing them by the shape and feel.

We eat in silence, Sera's mind surprisingly calm, and I laugh a little.

"What's so funny?" my bossy little mate demands.

"That it apparently only took tiring you out and feeding you to dry up all that snark."

Sera splutters at this. "I'm just biding my time!"

"Mhmm, well, I'm looking forward to your retaliation ."

"Don't goad me—I'm holding a weapon."

"Angel, no one thinks a fork is a weapon."

"Firstly, how do you know I'm holding a fork and not a knife? Secondly, anything can be a weapon if you're pissed off enough."

"It's hard to explain. I can sense the world in a vibrational manner. I feel that you're holding the fork through my attunement with our surroundings. As for anything being a weapon when you're angry, perhaps you shouldn't be allowed to hold things."

"Har har, you're sooooooo funny."

"Thank you."

"I was being sarcastic!"

"So was I."

"Oh…you said it with no inflection that I just assumed you were being sincere."

"Isn't that the point of sarcasm?"

"Maybe. I don't try to be blasé about it when I use it."

"Subtly doesn't seem to be your thing," I agree.

Sera gnashes her teeth together but ignores me and continues eating.

She's trying to take the high road—oh, how I'll enjoy dragging her back down into the muck.

"So when do we fly to The Valley of Souls?"

The piece of fruit in my mouth lodges in my throat at her absurd question.

"What do you mean ‘we'?"

"I can fly now."

"Hovering is not flying—I thought we established this."

"Trust me, after doing it for twenty minutes, I have a good handle on it."

"And when a rogue air current sends you in a plummeting downward spiral that you don't know how to correct because you didn't take the time to learn?"

"Were you taught how to ‘correct' from near death?"

"No, but I've had my wings since infancy."

Sera sucks in a breath. "What…"

She stops, not finishing her question, but I already know what she's asking.

Seraphim give life—Teraphim assist Death.

"My mother. She died moments after my birth. Not by my hand, but with my help, she slipped into The Beyond."

Instead of saying anything, Sera stands up and comes over to me.

She wraps her arms around my waist, giving me a hug.

We sit there like this in silence, both of us remembering the pain of our past.

A past that is over but still continues to shape us.

And now my mate knows— we're both scarred on the inside.