Chapter 194
There were no other guards at Reyland’s home. Not since he had woken from his operation and returned to his house.
“He can’t heal you completely,” Reyland said quietly, repeating something that had been said earlier.
“Only a mate can…” Marian replied in the same tone.
They were in his living room. Where they had first talked in his home. There was no fire in the hearth this time, so as not to leave trails of smoke on Marian when she got back to Misha.
Reyland was silent.
“Are you still afraid?” Marian whispered.
Reyland, holding a cup of lukewarm tea which had never touched his lips since he brought it into the living room, remained silent.
Marian, holding a cup of cocoa, empty, wrapped in a large blanket, sitting on the floor – Reyland was sat in a chair – stared up at the silent giant.
She sighed, then hugged herself tight, cup still in hand.
“I’m not afraid. Not anymore. I was, but I’m not going to keep being afraid. Everything is upside down. For me, anyways. The only thing that makes sense, Andy, is you,” Marian said into her arm, but she knew Reyland could hear her.
Reyland did not move.
Then, he glanced down.
Marian was at his knee, on both of hers, gazing up at him.
“If you are not my mate, I will have this hole forever,” she whispered.
Reyland’s lips pursed.
“If I am not your mate,” he whispered, cupping her cheek in his palm as she stared straight up at him, “I will die,” he said hoarsely.
Marian choked back a sob as her eyes filled. Reyland’s hard expression softened.
“That is what I’ve been thinking, Mary,” he whispered, “That is why –”
“Just do it, Reyland. Let’s go to the lake. Do it there. If nothing happens, I will leave and you can have your quiet to think.”
“You won’t die. I will never let you die,” she continued, gently urging him.
“My heart –”
“Has my blood pumping through it. I assure you, my prince. You will not die. Not under my watch.”
His eyes searched hers.
“And if it doesn’t happen? If it doesn’t work?”
“Then maybe it’s just not time,” she whispered, sidling up to him, still on her knees.
From discussing the Bloodrayne threat, they had drifted to this – to whether or not they were mates, fated or otherwise.
Reyland stared at her.
His mind was racing.
He knew there was no way to check whether or not they were mates without his Lycan.
The creature Reyland had seen in his spirit was a wolf. A gigantic wolf, but a wolf nonetheless.
He was uncertain of what would happen if he called his brother forth as he was.
Reyland stood, raising Marian up with him, holding her hand gently.
Marian sniffled, her eyes resting on his face.
Reyland was looking away from her. His eyes distant. He was still thinking thoughts.
“Andy,” Marian whispered, reaching up and touching his face lightly with her fingertips. His troubled eyes slid to hers.
“Whatever happens, I will not leave you. No matter what.”
Reyland’s eyes searched hers. His lip pursed.
Then, as if he had decided something, he exhaled.
“What about Misha?” Reyland breathed. “If you –”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I am not your father!” Marian whispered hoarsely.
Reyland stared at her, his face hardening again.
“Hear me, my prince. Even if you command me, I will not do it. I will not. My heart is not for sale or trade! It belongs to you. To you alone.”
Reyland’s face softened again.
He closed his eyes. Then reopened them.
They were glistening.
“Do you remember when you carried me here? From the lake?”
Marian blinked.
“Do you?” he pressed softly.
Marian’s lips parted. She nodded.
“May I…carry you? To the lake?”
Marian coughed out a laugh.
“What?!”
She smiled up at him as he smiled gently down at her.
“Piggyback style, my…queen,” Reyland breathed.
Marian’s knees buckled. Reyland caught her, pulling her close.
“Reyland!” she whispered, her eyes overflowing as she stared at him, caressing his face with her hands, “Don’t do this to me!”
“I will never do anything you do not want me to do,” Reyland said hoarsely.
Marian jumped on him and he held her up, against himself, a tight bear hug, with her legs wrapped around his waist.
This time, her ankles were able to lock.
She wept into his neck as he stroked her hair, standing straight and tall.
Then, he swung her to his back, and she hugged him close as he carried her, in silence, to the lake, his hands cradling her powerful, toned thighs.
At first, it had been a slow stroll, then, it became a fast run as his heart raced and his body moved before his mind could engage.
A journey that usually took five minutes at a run, when he had been on Corien’s blood, took less than three on his own, new, strength.
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Arriving at the lake, Marian slid off his back and stood back as Reyland stared at the water, then at the sky.
She backed away, giving him space.
A crescent moon hung in the sky.
Reyland stared at it, then closed his eyes.
“Wait!” Marian called out.
Reyland turned his head, but did not open his eyes.
“Your clothes…you need to…take off…” she could not speak. Her heart was in her throat, and her words failed her.
Reyland’s eyes snapped open and he stared at her.
Marian flushed, her palms suddenly sweaty in the deep cold.
Her eyes darted away.
“I could go get you a change of clothes, but it would be –” she paused as a soft thud hit her ears.
She glanced back at Reyland and stared.
He was like porcelain and marble. Even after the attack on him, there was no single mark on his body, except for a birthmark on the back of his left heel.
A mark which seemed bigger now than the first time Marian had seen it.
It had stretched from his heel to his lower calf. A line, a crooked line, like a tree branch, or a flowing stream.