21. Florencia

21

Florencia

I woke up more exhausted than ever before. My back radiated pain from my hunched-over shape, my ass numb from the hard stone floor, my neck tight from staying in the same position all night.

Staring at that door.

There was a large crack in the wood, a splinter that ran through the center where it bowed in. I released a heavy exhale from my chest.

Something almost got through.

I stood slowly, finding I was at least three times sorer than I had previously assumed, my body feeling destroyed by the events of the night and the little corner I had called my bed.

I looked out the window.

It was day.

I huffed in amusement. A lie . But it let me know my husband was in control of himself.

Pushing the bed with the side of my body, I ignored the pain, sliding it only far enough so I could open the door and pass through the small opening.

My feet padded down the crystal stairs, an illusion I no longer had any need to continue. The large hall was empty no more, a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors throughout the room. It was breathtaking. Below it was a table, large but nowhere near as extravagant as the one in his brother's castle.

It would be just us here.

I lifted an eyebrow at my husband sitting at the head of the table, wings perfectly folded behind him, his silver breastplates reflecting the colorful lights from the chandelier. He donned a smile with the kind of charm I knew Camazotz ached for, and despite my foul mood and exhaustion, I couldn't help but return it.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, waving down at the table as a banquet appeared before him.

"Is it real?" I asked suspiciously.

Elio placed his palms on the table and answered, "It will fill you."

I didn't bother to fight him or tell him he hadn't actually answered my question. Maybe filling me was all the food needed to do. I wasn't fully sure how things worked in this realm, and I was realizing neither king exuded a bountiful wealth of knowledge on the subject. I approached with hesitation, choosing the furthest chair before sitting down.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, no plate in front of him, no attempt for pretense when it came to eating.

I had noticed that about him.

Where Camazotz did his best attempt to mimic humanity around me, Elio had no priority for it, almost as if he didn't truly understand it.

And he was asking me if I slept well? Like we were just going to skip right over the horrors of the previous night?

"You're joking, right?" I lifted an eyebrow, not quite ready to try the imaginary food.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking away.

"What, we're just not gonna talk about it then?" I snorted, my sarcastic tone forcing him to look at me with a puzzled look in his eyes.

I expected an exhausted sigh, some sign of discomfort or annoyance at my stubbornness, but he lacked any decorum for humanity.

"What would you like to know, Florencia?" He waited patiently, no expression on his face.

The whats, whys, hows were too much; I knew I'd go off on a tangent, and none of it would make sense. I knew he'd answer far too little if I let my brain overwhelm him with a thousand questions at once. So, I calmed my heart, and I began with one at a time.

" How do you know I am the Haxia? How do you know it's me who fulfills your prophecy?" I had heard the answer from Camazotz before, but it seemed only Elio knew the prophecy, only he knew the truth of our destinies.

"Anyone but the Haxia would have died upon entering our realm. That was the easiest of it all." He looked at my plate, still full, concern sweeping over his features as he nudged his forehead at it, very dog-like in his mannerisms as he instructed me to eat.

I took a bite. It tasted like food. It chewed like food. It rolled over my tongue and reminded my tastebuds that this, in fact, was chicken, what chicken should taste like.

But I knew it wasn't, and that felt off.

I forked another mouthful, chewing and feigning satisfaction.

"MMM," I hummed loudly, doing far too much work to put on a convincing show.

It was harder to swallow. I reached for the glass and washed it down with the wine. It was nothing compared to the bottle in the nightmare castle.

"And was it you who brought me here?" I put my fork down, staring at his bright blue eyes in hopes of the truth.

With Camazotz, I was guaranteed it. With Elio, my heart hammered untrustingly.

His head turned curiously, dog-like again.

I shook my head, interrupting before he could try to answer. "I mean, the first time, I know you brought me here when I called for you."

"Ah." His eyebrows raised up on his forehead. "No. I had been calling for you, summoning and conjuring for your soul to feel the pull to my realm for years, centuries, millennia. But it was your desire to meet your mate that brought you here, my dream."

His smile was kind, the nickname nearly taking the ground out from under me in shock, only the chair saving me. I gripped the table with my hands, holding on until the dizziness passed.

My dream . He called me.

My desire to meet my soulmate brought me here.

I brought myself here.

I felt it, I knew it, but I couldn't be sure until now. I spent my entire life shunning the idea of marriage; the word soulmate hadn't crossed my mind until All Hallow's Eve. The minute my little sister told us our destinies, her words burrowed into my brain, infecting me, making it so nothing else could take my attention. We were at the parade, and then, I wasn't.

Because all I could think about was meeting my soulmate.

Elio.

And here he was.

The exhaustive exhale came from me instead, settling into my fate and accepting that this had all been of my own design, my choices, my actions. I had brought myself here. Camazotz had tried to send me back, to protect me, to steer my fate in a different direction.

I brought myself back.

There was no fucking with fate.

She would always correct the course.

"Will you tell me about the prophecy?" I was resigned to my future; learning about this realm's history would serve me more than lamenting.

"My father told it to me when I was young–"

My mouth moved on command to interrupt. "Gods have fathers?"

"I remember him vaguely, in the very beginning, when things were new, when this place was all vast greenery and lush forest. But then the humans came, and he left. He abandoned us here, Camazotz with the monsters and me with the prophecy." There was pain in his words as he told the story, the pain of a child who grew up without a father, the pain of learning your place in the world on your own.

"He only gave you enough to survive without him?" I asked.

He nodded. "He told me the realm would slowly deteriorate, growing sicker and feeble until the nightmares could no longer be contained by The King of Nightmares on his own. That the Haxia was my fated queen, that with her the realm could heal, strengthen, and humans would no longer be plagued by their sickest, darkest fears."

"And Camazotz?" I was afraid to ask, but every part of me screamed with a need to know.

Elio's features hardened, as if speaking about his twin left a bad taste in his mouth. "What about him?"

"Who will be his soulmate? What will their task be in this realm?" My voice was meeker than I had ever sounded in my life. Something about being in his presence took me so far from myself, I couldn't explain it.

"Of unimportance to us. Are you finished?" A rogue eyebrow spiked as he examined my still full plate.

I nodded, knowing despite still being hungry, there was nothing here that would satisfy me.

"And us?" I cleared my throat as I stood. "Just being married is enough? The realm is now suddenly healed?" I laughed.

His expression sobered, like my point had touched a nerve. He'd thought about this too. Nothing had changed from our wedding night. There was nothing that felt different or even prophetic in that moment. How could we be responsible for healing this entire realm?

"You don't know." I said the words before I could stop them.

His upper lip twitched, the anger in his expression brief before he corrected it. "I do not."

I laughed, covering my mouth but unable to stop myself even with his hateful glare my way. "I'm sorry." I waved my hands in front of my face like it would somehow help. "It's just so ridiculous. I'm somehow strung along in this prophecy, but we don't even know how to fulfill it other than what? Existing?" My cackle was bordering maniacal, but I held no fear for my husband.

He needed me.

That was the difference between the two. Camazotz wanted me; Elio simply needed me. I was a means to an end.

How I ached to see his twin, to feel his touch on my skin, his fangs on my flesh and him inside me. Desire pooled at my core from the thought, brief flashes of our time together, hot, carnal pleasure that unlocked a piece of me I refused to apologize for.

"Did you ever think we might need to… you know?" I bit my lip, fumbling with the words, the awkwardness of the moment becoming far too much for me to handle.

"What?" He still sat there, a puzzled look on his face.

Did he really not know where I was going with this? I could feel the heat in my cheeks turn scorching. This was worse than fifth-grade sex ed.

"Consummate it?" I squeaked, my cuticle bleeding as I picked at the rawest one available.

He blinked slowly.

For fuck's sake.

"Have sex?" I blurted, wanting to disappear into thin air.

This was so easy with Zotz, almost natural.

But he isn't your soulmate.

And the lucky bitch who would have him and his two cocks would be my neighbor for the rest of eternity?

I groaned quietly, watching Elio silently piece things together.

"You may be right. Simply wedding may not have been enough." He brings his fingers to his lips in thought. "What is sex? Is this a human mating tradition?"

Another squeak passed through my closed lips.

Someone sink me into the ocean.

I was beyond mortified, but the blank, confused look on his face was so genuine, my embarrassment started to fade.

"You don't know?" I tried to mask my shock.

His lips parted to speak. "No."

I finally dropped my arms to my side and took my first step in his direction. That curious look on his face only grew as I took another, my hesitation palpable. My legs were shaking, knees ready to buckle as I sucked in an anxious inhale. "I'll show you?"

One slow nod from him was all he gave.

In three more steps, I was at his side, the space between him and the table miniscule, no expectation from him as he waited.

Swinging one leg over his and sitting at the edge of the table just as I had done for his brother, I then placed one foot on his chair and pushed. This time, I was the confident one, I was the one with an inkling of what I was doing, and he was somehow my prey.

It was amusing, but I had no laughs left in me anymore, standing before a god and remembering he was my husband. Elio was magnificent, with his strong jaw, piercing ocean eyes, the full lips–unscarred.

My heart thundered inside its cage, his eyes growing wide as I pushed him away from the table, giving myself room on his lap to sit.

"Now what?" he asked, his lips just an inch from mine.

I placed my hands on his chest, feeling the heat of his armor beneath my skin. "It's easier without clothes on," I whispered, but before I'd spoken the last word, he'd already snapped his fingers.

There I sat, my flesh on his, skin on skin, hot on scorching as we stared into each other's eyes.

I would be taking my husband now.