Chapter 97 Together, or Not at All
Leitana’s eyes kept darting to the sharp side profile of Ravial’s face. She couldn’t help noticing the tension coiled in his broad shoulders, the faint flex of his jaw as if he were grinding his teeth behind that unreadable mask. Even with the blindfold hiding his eyes, she could feel it, the quiet storm brewing under his calm exterior. To her, those tiny tells were proof of how far they’d come. Once, he’d been a complete enigma, impossible to read. Now she knew him in the silences, in the subtle shifts no one else would catch.
His hand stayed locked around hers, fingers firm, a silent promise that she wasn’t going anywhere. The grip made her stomach flutter, warm, possessive, comforting. No matter how upset he was, he wouldn’t let go. That knowledge settled something deep inside her.
He pushed open the bedroom door with his free hand. It closed behind them with a heavy, final thud that echoed in the quiet room.
He stepped further in, then stopped still as carved stone, staring straight ahead. Leitana drew in a slow breath, heart thumping, and took one careful step forward.
His fingers tightened instinctively, as if afraid she might slip away. But the moment she turned to face him and pressed her palm flat against the steady beat of his chest, he relaxed just a fraction.
He stared down at her through the blindfold, the air between them thick with unspoken things.
“What upsets yu, mi Ravial?” she asked softly. Rising onto her tiptoes, she cupped his cheeks and gently tilted his head until his face brushed against hers—his stubbled cheek rubbing along her soft skin like a cat seeking comfort. Her eyes widened in surprise. He’d never done that before. The small, vulnerable gesture sent her heart racing. She would do anything to uncover what troubled him and chase it away.
“Tell mi plis,” she whispered. “I will crush it.” She echoed the fierce words he’d said to her the night before.
A ghost of a smile curved his lips tiny, reluctant, but real. He tilted his head toward her again.
“I detest that plan of yours, my lamb,” he admitted, voice low and edged.
Leitana frowned. Plan? Then it clicked—they’d just left the study with Avery and Matheo, hashing out the risky scheme to expose Charles’s evil and stop him for good.
She sighed, soft and understanding. “Mi know yu no like Avery, but we must help her. Yu no see dat she lost her lover, and now her lover’s family in danger?” Her voice was gentle, coaxing, trying to reach the part of him that still guarded his heart.
“It is not that part of the plan I detest,” he said. His tone stayed flat, but a dark edge sharpened it.
Leitana’s frown deepened. If not that, then what? She waited, breath held, until the truth slipped out.
“You are my wife. Mine. And I will not claim another not even in pretense to help anyone. Not even your sister.”
The words landed like stones. She understood instantly what had been gnawing at him.
A slow, tender smile bloomed across her face. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek to the solid warmth of his chest. She inhaled his familiar scent—leather, smoke, and something uniquely him. “Oh, mi Ravial… yu worry for no reason. Mi can’t give yu up. Not possible. Mi jus say we lie to mi papa. Yu not tie knot wit mi sister. Lying is sin, but we do it for good cause.”
She tilted her head back to look up at him. “Promise. Mi belong to yu till my last breath. Even though it’s not long no more.”
Ravial shook his head slowly. “I have said it before and I will say it again: you’re going nowhere. You will be with me till the end.”
She chuckled, the sound soft and fond, eyes shining up at him. “Mi Ravial… yu move on wen mi gone, okay? Won’t you want mi to do same if yu gone?”
But deep inside, she knew the truth. If Ravial were the one dying, she would fall to her knees and beg Papa God to take her too—to carry her soul straight to his side. The love she felt for this man had rooted so deep that a world without him felt impossible, unbearable.
Then his hand caught her jaw, firm, commanding. Though the blindfold hid his eyes, she felt the intensity of his stare boring straight into her soul.
“If I were to die,” he said quietly, “I’d prefer you die as well. I don’t want you to live happily in a world where I don’t exist.”
The raw honesty of it stole her breath. She smiled, soft and knowing.
“How selfish.” She muttered.
He rubbed his thumb slowly along her jaw. “Would you want that?”
Leitana gazed straight into the blindfold. Her small hand stayed cupped against the side of his face, thumb tracing the sharp edge of his jaw.
She didn’t lie.
“Mi would want dat too,” she whispered, voice trembling but steady with truth. “If yu gone… mi no wan’ stay in world widout yu. Mi pray Papa God take mi too. Mi no wan’ live happy if yu no here. Mi wan’ be wid yu… always.”
Ravial’s breath hitched, sharp, raw, the first true fracture she’d ever heard in his iron control.
His fingers on her jaw tightened—not painful, just desperate. He leaned down until their foreheads pressed together, noses brushing, breaths tangling in the small space between them.
“Then we make a pact,” he said, voice rough and almost broken. “If one of us goes… the other follows. No world without the other. No happiness without the other.”
Leitana’s eyes filled again, but these tears were different, softer, warmer, born from something deeper than fear.
She nodded against him.
“Pact,” she whispered. “Mi swear it.”
Ravial exhaled a long, shuddering sound and wrapped both arms around her, crushing her to his chest until there was no space left between them.
“You’re not dying,” he said against her hair, the words fierce, almost angry. “Not in months. Not in years. Not ever if I have anything to say about it.”
She smiled into his shirt, small hands fisting the fabric over his heart.
“Yu stubborn,” she teased softly.
“Always,” he growled back, but his lips pressed to the crown of her head, lingering there like a vow.
They stayed like that for a long time wrapped in each other, breathing in sync, the ticking clock momentarily silenced by the sheer force of their refusal to let go.
Then Leitana tilted her head back, looking up at him with those wide, trusting eyes.
“Yu no wan’ mi pretend wid Avery… even for lie?” she asked quietly, checking one last time.
Ravial’s jaw clenched.
“No,” he said flatly. “I don’t share. Not even in pretend. Not even for a second. You’re mine. Only mine. If your father needs convincing, he’ll get proof another way.”
She searched his face, then nodded slowly.
“Okay,” she whispered. “No pretend. We find other way.”
His hand slid into her curls, cradling the back of her head.
“Good girl.”
He kissed her, slowly, deep, claiming, pouring every ounce of possessive devotion into it until she was trembling against him, soft whimpers escaping between their lips.
When he finally pulled back, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against hers once more.
“You live,” he said quietly, almost like a command to the universe itself. “You stay. You keep breathing, keep smiling, keep being mine. And when the time comes for one of us to go… we go together.”
Leitana smiled through fresh tears, small and radiant.
“Together,” she echoed.
And in the quiet of their bedroom, two souls bound by love and defiance made a promise louder than any vow spoken in a church.
Death would not win.
Not while they still had each other.