Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Lucien POV
It was too quiet.
Not the kind that made you tense.
Not the kind that warned you something was coming.
Just… quiet.
I sat outside the safehouse, elbows on my knees, staring out into the dark like I expected it to move first.
It didn’t.
No distant howls.
No alarms.
No shadows shifting where they shouldn’t.
Just night.
Footsteps behind me.
Slow. Familiar.
“You’re thinking too loud again.”
I didn’t turn. “Didn’t know that was possible.”
“It is when you don’t sleep.”
Noland dropped down beside me, shoulder brushing mine like it always did — like it belonged there.
We sat like that for a minute.
No rush to speak.
“You should be resting,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I am resting.”
“This is you resting?”
“Compared to earlier? Yes.”
I huffed quietly. “Fair.”
Silence again.
But not empty.
Just… shared.
Noland leaned back on his hands, looking up at the sky. “Feels strange.”
“What does?”
“This,” he said. “Nothing trying to kill us.”
“Give it time.”
He nudged my shoulder. “Don’t ruin it.”
“I’m not ruining it. I’m being realistic.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I’m always dramatic.”
“That’s true.”
I almost smiled.
We let the quiet sit a little longer.
Then—
“I thought I lost you.”
It slipped out before I could stop it.
Noland didn’t answer right away.
“I know,” he said eventually.
“I couldn’t feel you,” I added, voice lower now. “The bond just… stopped.”
He shifted slightly, turning toward me. “It didn’t stop.”
“It went quiet.”
“I was under half the forest,” he said. “Give me some credit.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
I finally looked at him.
“You weren’t there,” I said. “You don’t know what that felt like.”
He held my gaze. “Then tell me.”
I hesitated.
Then exhaled slowly. “It felt like something got ripped out of me.” My jaw tightened. “Like I was still standing, still breathing… but it didn’t matter anymore.”
Noland’s expression softened.
“I didn’t like that,” I muttered.
“That’s because you care.”
“I always care.”
“Yeah,” he said. “But this was different.”
I didn’t argue.
Because he wasn’t wrong.
Noland shifted closer, resting his forearms on his knees. “I thought the same thing.”
I frowned slightly. “What?”
“When everything went white,” he said. “I thought… that was it.” He shrugged lightly. “Not for me. For us.”
The word sat between us.
Us.
“I didn’t get time to think,” he continued. “Just… one second of ‘so this is how it ends.’”
“And?”
He glanced at me. “I was angry.”
I blinked. “Angry?”
“Yeah.”
“At what?”
“At the idea that it would end like that,” he said simply. “Without a choice.”
Something in my chest tightened.
“The prophecy,” I said quietly.
“Yeah.”
I looked away again. “It’s not done with us.”
“I know.”
“It says one of us—”
“I know what it says,” he cut in.
Silence.
Then—
“I don’t want to lose you to that,” I admitted.
My voice came out rougher than I expected.
Noland didn’t hesitate.
“You won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I’m not promising the future,” he said. “I’m telling you my choice.”
I looked back at him.
“I choose you,” he said.
Simple.
Clear.
No hesitation.
“Not fate. Not prophecy. You.”
My throat tightened.
“That doesn’t change what might happen,” I said.
“No,” he agreed. “But it changes how we face it.”
I held his gaze.
“And if it comes down to it?” I asked quietly. “If it’s really one of us—”
“Then we deal with it together,” he said.
“That’s not how that works.”
“That’s exactly how it works.”
I shook my head slightly. “You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to me.”
I exhaled sharply. “If one of us has to fall, then—”
“Stop.”
I paused.
“Stop talking like it’s already decided,” he said. “It’s not.”
“It’s a prophecy.”
“It’s a warning.”
“It’s both.”
“Then we make it wrong.”
I stared at him.
“You really believe that?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything.”
There was no doubt in his voice.
None.
I looked down at my hands for a second, then back at him.
“You’re stubborn.”
“I’ve been told.”
“Frequently.”
“By you, mostly.”
I huffed quietly.
Then, softer—
“I don’t want to lose this.”
He didn’t ask what I meant.
He just reached for my hand.
I let him.
His grip was warm. Steady. Real.
“You won’t,” he said.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep needing to hear it.”
I didn’t deny it.
We sat there like that, hands loosely intertwined, the night stretching around us without pressure.
No urgency.
No fear creeping in.
Just… this.
After a while, Noland leaned back against the wall, pulling me with him slightly.
“You should sleep,” he said.
“So should you.”
“I will.”
“Liar.”
“Eventually.”
I shifted, letting my shoulder rest against his.
It didn’t hurt as much anymore.
Or maybe I just didn’t care.
“You’re not going anywhere,” I said quietly.
“Neither are you.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Another stretch of silence.
Then—
“Lucien?”
“Hmm.”
“I meant what I said.”
“I know.”
“I choose you.”
I tightened my grip on his hand slightly.
“I know,” I repeated.
And for once…
That felt stronger than anything waiting for us.
Later, I don’t remember deciding to move.
Just the feeling of being pulled inside.
The bed. The quiet. The absence of everything that had been chasing us for so long.
Noland lay beside me, one arm draped loosely across my waist like it belonged there.
I didn’t push it away.
Didn’t overthink it.
Just… stayed.
My eyes closed.
The bond settled.
Not silent.
Not strained.
Just… there.
Steady.
For the first time in a long time—
We slept.
And nothing followed us into it.