Chapter Sixteen

Niko

Cassandra drags me into the forest with an urgency I can feel all the way to my bones. I want to stop her, talk to her, explain why I thought I was keeping a secret from her, but she doesn't give me a chance, she just keeps walking. Now, I know the regret the Oracle spoke of.

It feels like we are walking in circles for the longest time before Cassandra stops abruptly and faces me.

"Fuck!" she shouts into the night sky running her hands through her disheveled hair.

It's then I notice the lump on her forehead, coated in dried blood.

"You're hurt…" I take her face in my hands, tilting her head, trying to get a better look.

"It's fine," she mumbles.

"It's not. You got hurt. I swore I would keep you safe."

Emotions I'm not used to rush through me. I'm disappointed in myself. I feel ashamed for lying to her. I'm worried that my lie and inability to protect her will forever alter our relationship.

"Niko." Cassandra stares up at me. "Please stop. I don't blame you for what happened. My mother's insanity carries all the blame."

"But—"

"No," she cuts me off. "I've known what I was getting into since the first moment you touched my hand." She looks a little sheepish for deceiving me. "I knew everything before you told me. Who you were, what you wanted, the prophecy. I've always known what I would be giving up."

"Why would you do it?" I'm confused as fuck.

I never even thought about her power to read me. I never imagined that she had every facet of the puzzle figured out before I could say anything. Since the beginning she has been playing at being naive when all the while she knew exactly what was going on.

"Because of everything else you weren't saying. Your worry for your realm and your people. What you wanted for their future and your own. The love that you're dying to share with someone and so much more. You're a good man, Nikolas."

"And the curse?" I ask. "Will you walk the realms alone for eternity when I finally ascend?"

My heart breaks at the thought of her alone forever. Living while everyone she loves dies. Never being able to move on to the afterlife.

"Don't worry about that right now," she says and smiles before kissing me lightly. "There is time to find a way around that. For now, why don't we just live?"

****

Cassandra

Niko isn't happy with my reply, and I can feel his irritation at me being able to push this aside so easily. But it isn't easy. This curse changes everything. I do know for a fact that if I don't unite our two realms, it won't matter. I felt it in Owen when he kidnapped me. The darkness. The need to ruin everything good in Runic and Alluvium. If I don't merge with Niko, everything we love will cease to exist.

"Are you going to deny me?" I ask stepping out of his touch. I don't want to manipulate him, but I can't seem to make him see reason. "Should I find someone else to merge with so that I can ascend to my full powers?"

A growl from Niko is the only warning I receive before he pushes me up against a large tree, lifting me into the air.

"Don't talk about other men," he whispers into my neck. "Especially not when I thought I just lost you."

I can feel the pain pouring off him. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I cup his face in my hands and kiss him with everything in me. I wish he could feel my emotions too. I wish he knew that I was already falling for him. That I wanted no other man except him. I may know what he feels and thinks but I need to use my words. When I pull away from the kiss, I smile at him.

"Niko, you are the only man I want."

"I don't have a fucking clue why you would want me." He frowns. "But I do know I will spend every day from now until my last proving that I deserve you."

I don't need that, but I don't tell him. I know who he is and why I am falling in love with him. Hopefully, someday he will understand but for now, we have each other and that's all we need.

"Take me home to Runic before we miss our merging ceremony."

The End … for now