Chapter Thirteen

A crowd of students had gathered in front of the gates, preventing Soleil from seeing right away what was happening. Most of the boys were either yelling or booing while the female students appeared distressed and almost embarrassed.

Forcing her way through the crowd, Soleil finally emerged in front and she gasped when she saw ANEX’s highest-ranking security officers jeering at the marquis as they used the shields of the school to repeatedly push Ilie back.

She wanted to shout at them to stop, but she knew they were within their rights at what they were doing. Since her ordeal, access to ANEX had been indefinitely withdrawn for the marquis. Any attempt of the marquis to enter would be automatically considered an attack against the school.

Surely he knew that, too?

She moved forward, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to see past the school’s shield of invisibility, but the moment she did, the marquis stiffened, his head jerking up.

“Soleil?”

Oh. How it hurt, oh dear Lord, how it hurt to hear her name on his lips.

Her scent reached out to him, and even though he couldn’t see her, he knew she was there. “Soleil, answer me.”

She asked brokenly, “What do you think you’re doing, milord?”

He shook his head as he slowly forced himself to get up. It was clear that his body was still struggling to accept her soul, and that his power wasn’t at full force. “Should I not be the one to ask you that?” He stared at her as he spoke, and it did feel like he could see her even though common sense told her all he would be able to see was rows upon rows of weeds.

“Should I not be the one asking about your sanity?” Ilie’s voice was hoarse with pain. “Should I not be the one asking about what you plan to do?”

Soleil froze, realizing that somehow he knew about her plan to have her memories erased. The only way he could have known was—-

Curse you, Fleur.

Forcing herself to speak between bloodless lips, she said, “You should go. You are breaking the rules, drawing attention to the school—-”

“Do you think I fucking care? Do you think there’s anything I care about except you?” The marquis lifted his head. “You hear that, you fucking demon-hating school—-”

The guards blasted him away, causing Ilie to fly back—-

The Demon Duke of Brimstone caught his friend in time, his enormous black wings creating strong gusts of wind with every movement. Behind him, an impressive-looking winged horse landed, and astride him was the stoic-looking Marquis of Sangre. On the other side of the duke, the Marquis of Aquarius stepped down of a platform made entirely of water.

The students behind Soleil fell silent in a mixture of fear and awe. At that moment, faculty members had also started to come out, but they, too, were unable to speak when they realized that it was Brimstone’s lord and his Galere that were causing the uproar.

“Enough of this,” Silviu murmured grimly as he helped his friend straighten.

But Ilie only shrugged him off. “I must make her hear me out.” He didn’t care if he was disobeying the man he had sworn to protect and follow throughout eternity. Silviu had his loyalty but it did not make him more important than his woman.

Looking back at where he knew his heartkeeper was, he called out roughly, “Come out, Soleil—-”

Soleil shook her head, crying.

He whitened. “I can smell your tears, ma lisse.”

She cried harder.

“I am sorry I lied,” he said hoarsely. “I am sorry beyond words and if I knew how much it would cause you pain, I would not have lied.” He swallowed. “And yes, I did care for her still even though I had already known you by then but I think it was more because I was used to the feelings and I did not think it possible it could fade so quickly—-” His voice broke. “But when I saw you dying, I knew then, ma lisse. I knew that I loved—-”

“I don’t believe you.” Soleil bit her lip hard, using the pain to give her strength, to remind herself that she could survive even when she was hurting.

“Then tell me—-”

Ilie charged towards the shield, and the guards repelled him off. He fell to his back, but he forced himself to get up again.

“Tell me, ma lisse. Tell me,” he begged rawly, “what I should do to make you believe me—-”

Another attack against the shield, another blast, and he fell to his knees.

She covered her mouth to keep herself from crying out.

He stared at her with eyes that could and couldn’t see. “Tell me, Soleil. ”

She pressed her hands harder against her trembling lips.

“Do you want me to leave the Galere so you can be sure I won’t see her again? Do you?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Will you really do that for me?”

“No.”

“Then why did you even ask?” Soleil gasped, laughed, and cried. Oh, Ilie. And she cried harder when she saw his lips curve in a weary smile. Oh, Ilie—-

“Because if you were selfish enough to ask me that, then you would have given me a reason to stop loving you.” His eyes seemed to capture hers past the shields. “But you won’t ask me that, will you?”

No.

She was unaware that she had connected with him in her mind until she heard him answer gently, Then I have no reason to stop loving you.

Her heart lurched.

She watched him stand up.

Stop this madness, milord. Please.

Mihail clasped Ilie’s shoulder. “No more, Marcovici. You know we can only let you get away with so much.”

Ilie stared at the vampire. “Try stopping me.”

Behind him, the demon duke sighed. “There is no reasoning with him.”

“I say we let him do his worst,” Adrijan murmured under his breath. “It is not every day we see the wolf lord going bat shit over the woman he loves—-” As he spoke, Ilie had once again charged towards the school’s invisible shield, and this time, one of the more obnoxious school guards decided to show off. Another spell was added, and it struck a blow against Ilie, enough to make him bleed.

In the distance, wolves began to howl, the sound ominously aggressive.

The duke and his Galere all lost their smiles when they saw the blood trickling at the side of Ilie’s temple.

Soleil dug her fingers into her palms. Ilie. You’re bleeding.

Come out and heal me.

Please stop this.

Then come back to me.

It can’t be that easy.

It is. So come out. You are the heartkeeper I need. The one I will always love, and even if you die, I won’t go back to loving her. As far as I’m fucking concerned, she looks like a boy to me now—-

Do not make me sound gay, milord, the duke interrupted gently.

Then stop eavesdropping.

Or you could use a more private thread of communi—-

Soleil cut both friends off, saying, I’ll come out if you manage to break it. She closed her eyes. There, she had said something selfish. She had given him a reason to stop loving her.

Ilie pushed himself up. Alright.

Her eyes flew open. What? I’m being selfish! Didn’t you just say—-

Ma lisse. The smile in his voice sliced into her heart. Do you believe you can fool me just like that? You are a romantic, and what you are truly asking for is proof – a grand gesture so that you may let go of all your fears.

He stared at her, using his scent to guide his gaze straight to his heartkeeper’s. I’ll break this shield for you then. He shook his head. If I had only known this was the type of courtship you wanted—-

And then suddenly he was ramming the defenses in his wolf form—-

Ilie!

I would have ceased sending you flowers and just fucking got rid of the town hall for you.

His claws tore a breach through the defenses, but warding spells struck him at the same time, and his wound started to bleed anew.

Serves me right, loving one of the Trois Belle Lames—-

Another attack against the shield—-

More breaches.

More blood.

Soleil couldn’t bear it anymore.

She started to run.

The barrier dropped the moment she crossed past it—-

Ilie crashed in the ground when he suddenly found nothing to break past.

He opened his eyes tiredly just as Soleil dropped to her knees in front of him.

She started to cry. It took all of her strength to drag Ilie’s wolf form to her lap, but she managed to do so.

In her mind, he told her hoarsely, If we fight again, Chalys will be trembling in terror because what would you ask of me then?

She choked back a laugh. Oh, Ilie.

Using what little power he had left, Ilie switched back to his human form and reached up to touch his heartkeeper’s face. “Would you have me take down Brimstone’s own castle, perhaps?”

She sobbed and laughed, and when she still could not speak, she simply pressed his knuckles to her lips.

The kiss made the marquis close of his eyes. Her love, her forgiveness, her pain – all of it was in her kiss, and underlying it was her answer.

She had come back to him.

“I love you, my heartkeeper. Believe me. Please. ”

A smile wobbled over her lips. “I do, milord.” Her voice caught. “I do.” And I love you, my demon. My wolf. My marquis.