What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, #1)(76)
“The men and women bunk separately. You’re more than welcome to see her whenever you like,” Melian explained, gesturing around the main cavern that I understood must have been the common area of sorts.
“Then we’re leaving. Either we stay together, or we do not stay at all,” Caelum said, ignoring my look of exasperation.
“I think you’ve forgotten who needs who in this scenario,” Melian said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I have the safe haven you need. What do you have to offer?”
“A fighter who can help you stand against the Fae to protect these people, if it comes to it,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her in challenge. “We both know I am the best fighter you have now. You wouldn’t have gone up to the tunnels yourself without the best of your men at your disposal.”
Melian sighed, hanging her head. “Getting romantically attached now that you’ve been Marked is foolish,” she said, turning her attention to me as she issued the warning.
Too late, sister. I already knew it and my heart throbbed in response.
“But fine. We have a few private alcoves that are usually reserved for our higher-ranking officers. The two of you will make yourselves useful, or I will give it to the next person in line. If I need you with me for a retrieval? You’re with me,” she said, glaring at Caelum for a moment before she turned down one of the corridors. It was lined with doorways carved out of the stone, blankets draped to cover the ones where people apparently wanted their privacy.
The blanket was drawn open on the second to last doorway, the room empty except for a bedroll laid out on a low wood platform. “I’ll have a second bedroll brought in for you,” Melian said, shaking her head. “Take the rest of the day to get acclimated and introduce yourselves. Tomorrow I’ll put you both to work.”
She disappeared out the open doorway, leaving me to the fight I felt brewing with Caelum.
One of these days, I was going to stab him in his pretty face.
“You don’t think I’m capable of taking care of myself,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest as I glared at him. He removed the cloak from his shoulders for what seemed like the first time in days. The stained fabric of his tunic hugged his chest and broad shoulders, showcasing the breadth of the body that was too often concealed. He hung the cloak on a peg sticking out of the stone wall, stepping toward me to unclasp my own from under my chin. While his fingers brushed against the hollow of my throat, I shoved down the tingle of awareness that always came when he touched me.
My body was a traitorous bitch, but she needed to know when I meant business.
“Of course I think you can take care of yourself. I just watched you knock two men on their asses,” he said with a chuckle, turning away to hang my cloak on top of his. The tunnels were warmer, protected from the cold weather aboveground. I wondered briefly if there was some kind of heating system through them, because I hadn’t seen a single fire in the common area or any of the open alcoves.
“Then why is it that I am not allowed to sleep with the rest of the women?” I asked, glaring as he made his way around the small alcove that would be ours. The sleeping platform in the back corner of the room was tucked against the wall. It made me immensely grateful that Melian had said she would grab us a second bedroll.
Sleeping with Caelum had proven dangerous enough as it was; having a space of our own in any way seemed even more dangerous.
“We look after one another, Estrella. You promised me we would stay together no matter what. Are you already trying to renege on that promise? I’d hoped you were more loyal than that,” he said, a bitter grimace on his face, as shock claimed me.
“How is sleeping in a different room reneging on a promise to stick together? I’m not speaking of going our separate ways and never seeing one another again, Caelum,” I protested, shaking my head in disbelief. “There is a difference between loyalty and dependence.”
“Do not speak to me as if I know nothing of loyalty, my star. You cannot imagine how deep mine runs,” he warned, taking a few steps toward me until he closed the distance between us and stopped so close that his stomach brushed against my chest. His eyes gleamed as he stared down at me, something cold sharpening his features.
“If you put me in a cage at your side, then you’re no better than the man who tried to make spreading my legs for him my life’s purpose. I need to be more than that. I need to do more than that, Caelum,” I sighed, hoping I could break through to the rational, understanding version of him that I knew existed somewhere beneath this…brutal possessiveness.
“You already are more than that, Estrella,” he said, his voice softening as he reached up to cup my cheek with his hand. “There has never been a moment in the time I’ve known you when you’ve been anything less than extraordinary.”
I cocked my head to the side, the corner of my mouth tipping up in amusement. “Even when I fell down the ravine?”
“Okay, maybe you were less than extraordinary then,” he chuckled, releasing some of the tension between us.
“I need you to be okay with me going my own way during the day. There’s no chance that we can have a life here and not ever separate. We’ll have different purposes and duties; I want to contribute to their cause. To our cause,” I said, correcting myself. I may not really be a part of the Resistance yet, but I was one of the Marked that they stood to protect.