Chapter 139 Only for Tonight - Riven's POV

Chapter 139 Only for Tonight - Riven's POV
Callista studied me quietly for a few seconds like she could hear the lie sitting between us. “You know you’re a terrible liar.”

“Probably,” I laughed. “I’m trying not to think of all the doom and gloom that we’re about to face.”

“You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders,” she whispered. 

I looked away before answering. “Feels more like claws than weight.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them. Immediately, tension coiled through me. My body locked instinctively as if I expected the voice to rise up again and punish me for saying too much.

But nothing happened. The demon remained quiet in a way he typically wasn’t. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or bad thing, considering we weren’t fully bound yet.

Callista’s expression softened as realization crossed her face. She shifted upward carefully until she was close enough that our foreheads nearly touched.

“You don’t have to fight him alone anymore,” she said quietly. “We can go through the ceremony before we planned.”

My throat tightened hard enough to hurt.

You don’t have to fight him alone.

It was such simple words. Any other person probably would have accepted them easily. But something inside me recoiled from them almost violently because depending on someone felt dangerous. Depending on someone meant eventually watching them get hurt because of me.

“I don’t know how to stop,” I admitted before I could swallow the truth back down. “And we’re only seventeen. I don’t want to push our ceremony until then.”

Callista’s fingers brushed lightly through the hair near my temple. “Stop what?”

“Running.”

The room fell silent except for the storm outside.

I stared at the ceiling again because looking directly at her suddenly felt impossible. “Every time something good happens, I start waiting for it to be taken away.” My voice came out rougher than I intended. “So I leave first before I can ruin it.”

Callista was quiet for so long that I finally forced myself to glance back down at her.

There was no anger or frustration in her face. Only sadness.

“You really thought leaving would protect me?” She asked, her voice trembling. “I mean, I knew you did, but now I see more.”

“Yes.”

The answer came too quickly to deny.

She exhaled softly through her nose before shaking her head. “Idiot.”

A startled laugh escaped me despite everything. “That’s harsh.”

“You disappearing nearly destroyed me,” she muttered. “So yes, you’re an idiot.”

Guilt twisted sharply through my chest again, ugly and immediate. “Callista—”

“No.” She pressed her fingers lightly against my lips before I could continue. “I know why you did it and I understand it.” Her eyes searched mine carefully. “But you need to stop deciding things alone. No more of this. I’ve told you that so many times yet you keep doing it.”

Something fragile shifted painfully in my chest at that, because she was right.

For months I had convinced myself isolation was protection. That if I carried all of this alone, nobody else would suffer when things went wrong. But all it had really done was leave both of us bleeding in different ways. My eyes drifted shut briefly.

“I’m trying,” I whispered. “It’s the only thing I keep coming back to, even though I don’t want to run.”

“I know.”

The tenderness in her voice nearly undid me again.

Outside, thunder rolled low through the mountains. Callista glanced toward the windows before looking back at me with a sleepy expression.

“You know,” she murmured, “this would be significantly more romantic if you stopped looking like you’re preparing for your execution.”

I snorted quietly before I could help it.

“There you are,” she said softly, smiling.

The warmth in her face caught me completely off guard. She looked entirely too pleased just because she managed to make me laugh.

Dangerous girl.

My hand moved before I could second-guess it, brushing carefully along her cheek. The contact was feather-light, hesitant enough that it made something ache inside me. Callista leaned into it immediately.

That simple instinctive reaction shattered another piece of whatever walls I still had left.

Fates.

I loved her so much it terrified me.

The realization hit with enough force that my breath caught. Maybe some part of me had known for a long time already, but admitting it to myself felt different. It was slightly terrifying.

Love meant vulnerability and someone now existed with the power to utterly destroy me without ever intending to.

The demon would use that. Eventually, somehow, it would use that.

My expression must have changed because Callista frowned faintly. “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Another lie.”

I groaned softly. “You’re exhausting.”

“And yet you’re obsessed with me.”

The words were playful, teasing. Unfortunately, she was completely right.

A reluctant smile pulled at my mouth before I shook my head slightly. “You’re very confident for someone who just woke up.”

“I’m always confident.” Her eyes drifted over my face slowly. “Also, you look at me like I hung the moon, so I feel pretty secure.”

Heat crawled unexpectedly up the back of my neck. Callista immediately noticed.

Her sleepy grin widened triumphantly. “Oh my fates. You’re blushing.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

No. I really, really didn’t.

The thought settled so deeply into my chest that for a moment everything else faded. There was only her in this moment with me.

Callista yawned softly before burying herself closer against me again, clearly satisfied with her victory. “Go back to sleep,” she mumbled against my chest.

I glanced toward the dark windows one more time.

The fear was still there. The uncertainty was there too. Tomorrow would come with all the same problems waiting for us. But for tonight, she was warm in my arms and alive beside me.

For tonight, the darkness in my head was quiet.

Slowly, I pressed my lips against the top of her hair.

“Okay,” I whispered.