Page 40 of A Sweet Destruction

The pain started to fade away as I stared at her, distantly noting how the soft brown of her eyes reflected the rainbow of color around us. For all the jewels she wore, I’d never seen anything sparkle like her eyes did in that moment.

I knew the crease between her eyebrows was coming before it had even fully formed. There was something deeper there…something like trust. Like she was looking to me to give her the answers she sought.

I didn’t know how to answer her when I could barely understand what was happening myself, drunk on heightened sensation.

Every place we were pressed together burned, feeling too much all at once.

Outside of it all was a raw hunger, so forceful I was bending down before I knew better, only to be cut off when we went tumbling out of the Bridge and smack onto the hard stone floor.

What a wonderful welcome home.

That it is, a crystal clear voice crooned in my head, stopping my heart dead in my chest. I realized too late that I had been the only one to hit the floor, Esme landing right on top of me.

She blinked down at me in confusion, right as that voice sounded off again, in an indiscriminately pleased yell that sounded far too high pitched to be my own thoughts, sounding more like someone else was screaming into my—

Oh, shit.

Esme jumped off me a second later, scurrying away from me with a look of horror.

I did not like that. I especially didn’t like it when several Matches came stumbling out of the Bridge, obscuring Esme from my vision.

I barely even noticed Soren and Bellamy were among that group, only hearing the edges of Soren chastising someone for tripping and sending over six pairs falling through the Bridge at the same time. That could have gone very, very badly, and yet, I didn’t have the mind to focus on that when something was shrieking its displeasure in my head, frantic with the need to find Esme.

Woah, woah, woah, it’s okay, I said, trying to calm the voice down.

In my obvious inexperience, I didn’t know that engaging with said voice was the absolute last thing you should do.

All that intense energy was redirected internally, sending a buzzing sensation through my entire body. God help me, that was definitely—

OH MY GOD, FORD! That voice screeched inside my head, sounding like a child pulling on its parent’s pant leg. There you are. I’ve been trying to get your attention foreverrr.

Well, if that wasn’t a great introduction to the Bond, apparently forced awake by the intensity of the Cross. I felt like I had to approach it like a rabid animal, and from what I’d seen from Bellamy and Soren recently, that was an appropriate reaction.

Its attention was redirected once again when another stumbling pair bumped into me on the way out of the Bridge.

Where is Esme? the Bond demanded with a near feral growl. I don’t see her. I like to look at her. More than you do, anyway.

Woah, hold on now, I interrupted, not at all concerned that I was arguing with my own mind.

I WANT ESME NOW! The Bond screamed, doing something that made it feel like my skull was being squeezed hard enough to crack.

I was already walking forward, catching the barest glimpse of her hair through the ever-growing crowd.

God damnit, this felt like wading through quicksand, and the Bond was only feeding on my growing irritation, making me think it was normal to shoulder check old friends.

By the time I pushed through, blindly guided to Esme by a deep tug in my abdomen, I strongly considered shoving Soren out of the way just for obscuring my view of her for a second longer.

The moment Esme saw me, her gaze dropped to the ground.

The Bond didn’t understand that she clearly wasn’t as excited to see me. The second I was close enough to see the scattered, dark freckles on the skin—marks that were now registering in my vision with shocking clarity—the Bond freaked out, shrieking her name in my head.

God damnit, this thing was fucking loud.

Shame slithered around my neck, hot and biting, at the realization that this was what Esme had dealt with for three years.

When Esme finally got within arm’s reach, enough that her scent started to wrap around me, and she looked up at me through lowered lashes…

The Bond exploded.