FORTY SIX

FORTY SIX
CIARA'S POV

The silence in the car pressed against my ears. Darragh's knuckles whitened slightly around the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the asphalt unwinding before us. I turned toward the window, watching emerald pines smear into jade streaks as we sped past. The clothes he'd gotten dry for me still held warmth from the dryer.

The hotel room stood behind us now—a temporary sanctuary where time had seemed suspended. But with each mile marker we passed, reality crept closer. Choices loomed. Consequences waited.

"What now?" Darragh's voice cut through the quiet, low and steady.

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass, condensation forming around the edges of my skin. "I can't accuse someone of a crime they haven't committed." My reflection stared back at me, fractured across the window's surface. I turned to face him. "As much as I think taking out the enemy will solve this... I can't do that."

His profile remained stoic, jaw set. The morning light caught the faint stubble along his jawline.

"This present is changing," I whispered, watching a muscle in his cheek twitch. "And... maybe people are changing with it. Maybe that's enough to not completely lose it. But if I saw it, it is still going to happen. It makes you wonder."

"You can hope," he said, the words falling like stones between us.

Something flowed through the bond then—a current of emotion that wasn't mine. A heaviness that tasted of old wounds never properly healed. It tugged at me, impossible to ignore.

"What is that about?" I straightened in my seat, studying him.

Darragh's jaw flexed. Released. His fingers drummed once against the wheel before settling again. The road stretched ahead, a ribbon of black against the landscape.

"My mom," he finally said, the words emerging as if each one cost him. "She abandons me soon.

My stomach clenched. "She passes?"

"Not in death. She just... leaves." He swallowed visibly. "She gets tired of my father and disappears. No warning. No goodbye. Just a letter on the kitchen counter."

A bitter smile flickered across his lips. "Funny thing is, if she'd waited a few months, he would've passed."

"Wolfsbane poisoning," I murmured, the word hanging between us like a curse. I remembered that from my past life.

He nodded once, a sharp dip of his chin.

"You don't intend to stop that?" I asked, watching him carefully.

His eyes flicked toward me—just a moment—before returning to the road. Something in their depths made me shiver.

"You think I'm ruthless."

I shifted in my seat, the leather creaking beneath me. "I have no idea what to think. And I wouldn't say ruthless." My fingers traced the stitching on the seat. "I haven't walked a mile in your shoes."

A dry chuckle escaped him. "Him staying alive would only complicate things. Especially for us." His voice caught slightly on the last word, sending a tremor through me. "I don't have time to let him unlearn his bigotry. I know I shouldn't shatter the small hope you have but some people don't change."

I turned toward the window again, heart pounding against my ribs at those two words: "for us." Outside, the landscape had shifted. There were fewer trees and more fields opening up to the horizon.

"What about good memories?" I asked, breath fogging the glass. "Aren't there people you can't wait to meet again? People you haven't met yet."

The silence stretched between us, punctuated only by the steady hum of tires on asphalt.

"Do you have one?" he finally asked.

A smile tugged at my lips. "Yeah. My best friend. Sarah Morgan."

He straightened slightly, hands adjusting on the wheel. "Margaret Morgan's daughter?"

"Yeah." Warmth spread through my chest at the memory. "We met at the academy. She was... everything. Fierce, loyal. She never looked at me like I was strange or broken."

"She wasn't at the ball." It wasn't a question.

"She wasn't of age yet." I traced a finger along the window's edge. "But she reached it right before the academy began. So instead of waiting for next year, she just chose to power through it."

I then stopped and looked at him, really looked at him and then I spoke. "You do have friends? Right?"

His lips curved upward, the first genuine smile I'd seen from him today. "I have a few of those too. My Beta. He's never been far and he is still just as insufferable." The smile lingered as he glanced my way. "I hope you enjoy the academy."

I snorted, head tilting back against the headrest. "I doubt I'll be that memorable. In my past life, I was forgettable. Like a gust of wind on a Friday night."

"Well, things are different now." His gaze dropped briefly to my hands before returning to the road.

I looked down at my palms, turning them over as if the answers might be written there. The source. The healer thing. Each time someone mentioned it, my hands seemed to grow heavier, weighted with responsibility I never asked for.

"I leave in four days," I said, closing my fists. I would rather forget.

Darragh glanced at me, sunlight catching the amber flecks in his eyes. "Nervous?"

"A little," I admitted, then added impulsively, "Will you come shopping with me?"

He laughed—a real laugh that transformed his face. "You don't have girlfriends?"

I gave him a pointed look. "Not now."

"Okay," he conceded, the corner of his mouth twitching. "But you owe me something."

I tilted my head, studying him. "What do you like? Suits? Watches?"

Color bloomed across his neck, creeping up to his cheeks. The sight sent a thrill through me.

He fumbled for words, clearing his throat. "I'll like anything you get me."

I leaned closer, close enough to catch the scent of him—stronger now, unmistakable. "I'm thinking a set of sexy boxer briefs."

His head snapped toward me, eyes widening. He was flustered. That was for sure. But I did not miss the smirk that grew at the side of his mouth. "The hotel left an impression, I see."

Heat rushed to my face. I turned back to the window, muttering, "Wow, I can't even be mad. I asked for that."

The next stretch of road passed in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Just quiet. Steady. Like a held breath. Through the bond, I could feel the rhythm of his thoughts—not the content, but the cadence. Sometimes matching mine, sometimes diverging, but always there.

The car dipped into a valley, sunlight flashing through the trees that lined the road. Patterns of light and shadow danced across the dashboard, across our skin. I stretched my hand toward the center console, leaving it there—not demanding, just offering.

After a moment, Darragh's hand covered mine, warm and solid. His thumb traced a small circle on my wrist, right over my pulse.

I knew one thing with certainty. I wanted more moments like this. Even if they were fleeting. Even if the future loomed over us like a gathering storm. For now, I just wanted to hold on to this quiet understanding between us—this fragile, unexpected connection that felt like the first page of a story I desperately wanted to read.

That was also when I glimpsed the estate's spires piercing the sky through swaying branches long before we reached the curve. Stone arches loomed ahead, their iron-wrapped vines catching glints of morning light. My breath caught, lungs constricting at the familiar sight.

"Stop the car." The words escaped barely above a whisper.

Darragh's eyes flicked to mine, his knuckles whitening slightly against the leather steering wheel. "We're only half a mile out. I can take you to the gate."

I shook my head, throat tight. "My father's men will drag you from this vehicle on abduction charges before you can put it in park."

His eyebrows arched, creasing his forehead. "You're joking."

"I wish I were." I pressed my forehead against the cool window glass, watching autumn colors smear into a watercolor blur. "There'll be a perfect moment to arrive together, to explain why the goddess chose you. Why I—" The words died on my lips. "But not today."

Without argument, Darragh eased his foot off the accelerator. The car drifted to the roadside, tires crunching through the carpet of fallen leaves and gravel. The engine's purr faded to silence, leaving only our breathing in the sudden stillness.

I turned toward him. The muscle in his jaw twitched, shoulders tense beneath his jacket. Words hung unspoken between us.

"Thank you," I murmured, the sound barely filling the space between us. "For yesterday. For..." My fingers twisted in my lap. "Everything."

His eyes met mine—amber flecks swimming in deep brown. He didn't speak, just held my gaze with an intensity that made my skin prickle.

Before my courage evaporated, I leaned across the console. His stubble scraped lightly against my skin as our lips connected—gentle, hesitant. A flutter started somewhere beneath my ribs, spreading outward like wildfire.

When I pulled away, his pupils had dilated, lips slightly parted. A mirror to my own surprise. Heat bloomed across my cheekbones.

The car door clicked open under my trembling fingers. Cold air rushed in, stealing my breath as I stepped onto the gravel shoulder. Wind whipped my hair across my face, tangling strands against my mouth. I brushed it away with unsteady hands and took three deliberate steps before my resolve could crumble.

I paused, glancing back.

Darragh remained frozen behind the wheel, one hand still gripping it while the other hovered near his mouth, fingertips grazing his lips as if to confirm what had just happened.

I lifted my hand in a silent farewell.

The corners of his eyes crinkled, his palm rising to return the gesture.

With a steadying breath, I squared my shoulders against the weight of what awaited me at home and began the long walk home.