Chapter 82 For Tonight

Chapter 82 For Tonight
Sleep was impossible.

Rowan gave up sometime after midnight.

She had tried closing her eyes. Tried lying still. Tried convincing herself that exhaustion would eventually win.

It hadn't.

Every time she drifted toward sleep, she saw silver eyes.

Elara.

A laugh she couldn't quite hear.

A smile she couldn't fully remember.

The memory of a mother she'd lost before she'd ever known she existed.

Eventually, the walls of the room became too small.

The silence became too loud.

So Rowan slipped out into the sanctuary.

The city was beautiful at night.

Or maybe it was always night.

She wasn't entirely sure anymore.

Silver light spilled through the courtyard, washing over ancient stone and glowing roots. The great tree stood at the center of everything, its branches stretching overhead like protective arms.

The sanctuary felt different now.

Less like a place.

More like a memory.

Rowan crossed the courtyard slowly and lowered herself onto the edge of a stone bench.

The roots beneath her feet glowed faintly.

A heartbeat beneath the city.

A heartbeat beneath her skin.

For a while, she simply sat there.

Thinking.

Trying not to think.

Missing someone she couldn't remember.

The irony wasn't lost on her.

Footsteps echoed softly behind her.

She smiled before she even turned.

Corvin.

The bond had announced him long before the sound reached her.

He settled beside her without speaking.

The familiar weight of his presence eased something inside her immediately.

Neither of them spoke.

The silence between them had changed over the past few months.

It used to feel uncertain.

Now it felt comfortable.

Like home.

Eventually, Corvin glanced toward her.

"You should be sleeping."

Rowan laughed softly.

"You should too."

"I don't sleep."

"Convenient."

His mouth twitched.

"A little."

She looked at him.

The silver light caught the sharp lines of his face, softening them somehow.

For once, he didn't look dangerous.

Just tired and worried.

The realization hit harder than expected.

Corvin had spent weeks worrying about her.

She wondered if he even knew how obvious it had become.

"You've been staring at the tree for twenty minutes."

Rowan sighed.

"You timed me?"

"I was curious."

"You were worried."

"That too."

The honesty made her smile.

Corvin never wasted energy pretending.

One of the things she loved about him.

The thought appeared so naturally she barely reacted to it.

Loved.

Not cared about.

Not wanted.

Loved.

The realization settled quietly inside her.

Rowan looked back toward the glowing roots.

"I don't remember her."

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

The smile vanished.

The ache returned.

"I keep trying."

Her voice softened.

"I want to remember everything."

The city seemed to listen.

The silver leaves whispered overhead.

Corvin remained silent.

Waiting.

Giving her room.

"I know she loved me."

Rowan swallowed.

"Fenrir said she did."

Her throat tightened.

"I saw it."

The image flashed through her mind again.

Elara holding her.

Looking at her with complete devotion.

The kind of love that never questioned itself.

The kind of love Rowan had spent her entire life searching for without realizing it.

"I just..."

She stopped.

The words refused to come.

Corvin reached for her hand.

Rowan looked down at their fingers.

His thumb brushed lightly across her knuckles.

Grounding her.

Pulling her back.

"What?"

The question was quiet.

Rowan stared at their joined hands.

"I don't know how to miss someone I never knew."

The confession hurt more than she expected, because it was true.

The grief felt impossible.

Corvin didn't offer a solution.

Didn't try to fix it.

Instead, he shifted closer.

Close enough that their shoulders touched.

"You don't have to."

Rowan frowned.

"What?"

"You don't have to know how."

His gaze remained fixed on the courtyard.

"You just do."

The answer shouldn't have helped but it did

The silence returned.

The bond pulsed between them.

Rowan could feel him.

Not just the surface emotions anymore.

The things he rarely said aloud. The devotion, protectiveness and love.

The realization made her chest tighten.

Corvin glanced at her.

His eyes darkened slightly.

As though he'd felt the shift too.

Maybe he had.

The bond wasn't subtle anymore.

Not between them.

Not here.

"What's that look?"

Rowan smiled.

"What look?"

"That one."

"Helpful."

"The dangerous one."

She laughed.

Corvin looked entirely too pleased with himself.

The sight made something warm unfurl inside her.

For the first time since entering the city, she wasn't thinking about the creature beneath it.

Or the Council.

Or ancient secrets.

She was thinking about him.

About the way he always reached for her first.

About the way he looked for her in every room.

About the fact that she never felt alone anymore.

The realization settled between them.

Corvin's gaze dropped briefly to her mouth.

Then returned to her eyes, the movement was small.

The air changed.

The bond tightened.

The city seemed very far away.

Slowly, she leaned closer.

Corvin didn't move.

Didn't close the distance for her.

He simply waited, giving her the choice.

The same way he always did.

Rowan's heart hammered.

Not from fear.

She softly kissed him.

The world seemed to stop.

Corvin's hand lifted to her cheek.

The kiss deepened slowly.

Neither of them in a hurry.

Neither willing to break the moment.

The bond flooded with emotion.

Love.

Relief.

Longing.

Hope.

The feelings tangled together until Rowan couldn't separate hers from his.

For a little while, she stopped trying.

When they finally pulled apart, Corvin rested his forehead against hers.

Neither spoke.

The city glowed around them.

Ancient lights stretching into darkness.

A forgotten kingdom awakening beneath the earth.

Tomorrow would bring more answers.

But tomorrow wasn't here yet.

Tonight belonged to them.

Rowan rested her head against his shoulder.

Corvin wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

The movement felt effortless.

Like something they had done a thousand times before.

The silver leaves whispered overhead.

The city breathed beneath them.

And for the first time since learning her mother's name, the ache inside Rowan eased enough to hope.

Enough to believe that maybe, after everything, she wasn't as lost as she'd thought.

Corvin pressed a kiss against her temple.

A promise without words.

Rowan closed her eyes.

And for tonight, that was enough.