Chapter 43: Chapter Forty Four
Chapter 44: Silas POV
I watched my little one sleep.
The clam-shell bed glowed faintly under the pale morning light filtering through the single window. Every bone in my body ached, a brutal reminder of the forest floor, but I welcomed the pain. It kept me grounded. Ever since we arrived at this hidden safehouse, I’d made sure to sleep on the hard floor the second her breathing leveled out. Anna had terrible dreams—screaming, thrashing, reliving the hunters and the roots—and we had silently agreed that me just being near her kept the darkness at bay. I would do anything to see her smile now. I'd do anything to give her a shred of comfort.
She was a creature who looked like she’d fallen straight from the sky, a half-starved wood witch who had never had a single soul take care of her. And my mate bond? It was turning into a feral thing, screaming at me to protect her, to provide for her, to tear the world apart so she could rest.
I hadn’t told her about the bond yet. I had no idea if her human-witch half could even feel it, and frankly, I wasn't ready to face her rejection. To her, I was still the monster who had planned to sell her like cattle.
I looked down at my hands. They were steadier these days, solely because of her. When I first landed in this wretched human realm, I’d drowned myself in their burning alcohol. It was the only way to wash the phantom blood from my hands and quiet my mind. I had killed in the Fae realms, and I didn't regret the lives I took—it was the screams of the people I couldn't save that haunted my waking hours. But for the past few days, with my mate sleeping mere feet away, I had finally tasted peace.
Anne's eyelashes fluttered, her deep eyes opening to find me staring.
"You know it's incredibly creepy when you watch people sleep, right?"
A sharp smile tugged at my lips. I knew she didn't mean it. I ran a hand through my silver hair, clearing my throat because, by the Goddess, she looked breathtakingly beautiful tangled in those sheets.
"I'm just making sure you aren't dead," I drawled, leaning back. "Do you know how hard it is to get rid of a human body when you're on the run from a Dark Army?"
I waited for her to laugh, to throw a snarky retort back at me. Instead, she sat up slowly, her gaze locking onto mine with an intensity that made the hair on my arms stand up.
"The Dark Army?" her voice was quiet, dangerously level. "Is that who you were going to sell me to? Was it really that simple?"
Shit.
We hadn't had this discussion yet. We’d been holed up here for days, but we hadn't touched the looming, ugly truth of why I had captured her in the first place. My debts in the Fae realm were catastrophic, and my ask to the Dark Army had been high: hide me from Draco. I had slaughtered Draco’s sister, and I needed to disappear into the human world permanently. The Dark Army was supposed to broker a deal with a high-tier witch who could mask my Fae appearance forever. What they actually wanted with Anne, I hadn't known. Honestly, I hadn't asked.
Now, looking at her, a sickening wave of guilt washed through my gut. I should have asked.
"Little one, listen to me," I murmured, sliding closer to the edge of the bed. "I am not the same Fae man I was when you crashed into my life."
I reached out, letting my fingers entangle with hers. The mate bond flared instantly, a violent shockwave of warmth demanding I pull her closer.
Anna cocked her head, her expression softening just a fraction. "Of course you're not. You're not a drunk lunatic anymore." A sudden, bright laugh bubbled out of her, and my breath hitched in my throat.
"Listen, Anne. I've grown to..." The words stumbled over my tongue. Tell her, the bond roared in my chest. Tell her she is your mate. But my throat locked up. Fear of her looking at me with disgust paralyzed my jaw.
Instead, I smirked. "I've grown to enjoy the sound of your snoring. It really lulls me to sleep at night."
A pillow smacked me squarely in the face.
"Sure it does," Anna scoffed, jumping out of bed with an agility that proved her strength was returning. "You aren't so bad either, Silas. Thank you for not wanting to kill me anymore, I guess. Now, I'm starving. Let's go find some food."
I held up a warning hand. "Ah, ah. You aren't going anywhere, little one. If those hunters get even a microscopic whiff of your magic, they’ll trace us here in seconds."
Anna turned around, her bottom lip turning outward into the most agonizingly adorable puppy-dog eyes I had ever witnessed.
"What are you doing? Stop with that look. It’s disgusting. I hate it," I lied, my heart hammering against my ribs.
She stepped into my space. Before I could track her movement, she placed her small hand flat against my chest.
Boom.
An explosion of heat and sparks from the bond tore through my veins. She bit her lower lip, staring up at me, and a dark, primal urge consumed my mind. I wanted to trap her against the wall. I wanted to take her mouth with my tongue and taste every inch of her until she forgot how to speak.
"Please, Silas," she whispered, her eyes pleading. "I have to get out of this room. It’s been days since we left. Days."
That was my undoing. I was a legendary Fae assassin, reduced to putty by a fraction of an inch of her skin touching mine.
"Fine," I rasped, my voice thicker than I intended. "We will go out for food. But under strict conditions: no magic, no chaos, and your absolute best behavior."
Anna laughed again, a sound that made my chest ache in the best possible way. "Who are you saying that to, Mr. 'I-Kill-Everyone'? Me or you?"
The tavern we found on the edge of the human town was dimly lit, smelling of roasted meats, stale ale, and melted wax. I kept us in a corner booth, my back to the wall, my eyes scanning every single mortal that walked through the door.
Anne was entirely focused on her plate, practically moaning as she ate. Every sound that escaped her throat felt like a direct assault on my self-control.
"Are you going to eat yours, or just glare at the doorway until the food goes cold?" she asked, kicking my shin lightly under the small table.
"I'm keeping you alive," I said quietly, leaning forward across the table. The candlelight caught the golden rings of my eyes, and I saw her breath hitch. "You're too distracted by a plate of beef to notice the world around you, little one."
"I'm adjusting," she murmured, lowering her fork. The playful energy from this morning had shifted. The shadows of the tavern seemed to drape over us, cutting out the rest of the noisy room. She leaned in too, her face inches from mine across the narrow wood. "And what about you, Silas? What are you adjusting to?"
"You," I said honestly, the word slipping out before I could stop it.
Her eyes dropped to my lips, then dragged back up to my stare. The air between us grew impossibly thick, suffocating and charged with an electric currents.
"You're dangerous," she whispered, her voice dropping to a low, breathless register.
"I am a monster, Anne," I reminded her, though my hand was already sliding across the table, my thumb catching the pulse point on her wrist. Her heart was racing. "A monster who currently wants nothing more than to drag you back to that room, lock the door, and find out exactly what kind of noises you make when you aren't snoring."
Anna’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes widening at the raw hunger in my voice. She didn't pull her wrist away. Instead, her fingers twitched, pressing into my palm.
"Is that a threat, Fae?" she dared, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and undeniable need.
I leaned closer, my breath brushing her lips, completely forgetting about the hunters, the Dark Army, and the world outside. "It’s a promise, little one. And if you keep looking at my mouth like that, I’m going to break my rule about good behavior right here on this table."
Before she could answer, the heavy wooden door of the tavern slammed open. The cold night wind rushed in, extinguishing half the candles in the room, but it wasn't the cold that made my blood freeze.
It was the sudden, overwhelming scent of salt and iron drifting through the air.