Page 83 of Storm

“Never like that.” Voice coarse, his mood bubbles over to pain. “You’re completely covered. I didn’t do that. And whose bedroom is this?” A quick scan of our surroundings should be enough for him to register that we aren’t in Halo anymore. I’m not sure that part is fully sinking in yet, though.

“Oh, please, Melek. Don’t get all high and mighty now. You are very capable of turning my body into your pleasure toy. You’ve been doing it for over a decade. And we’re at Adam’s house, in the Fairy Lands. You know, your most promising work recruit?” I drop another bomb in the worst way possible, my anger getting the better of me.

Shooting out of bed, he strides towards a double bay window, peering out. “We can’t be in the Fairy Lands. That’s not possible. Where are we, Storm, and stop bullshitting me.” It’s like he hasn’t listened to a word I’ve said since he woke up.

“Did you know you are a quarter fae?” I casually drop another missile and regret it instantly.

Turning slowly, his naked body on full display, cock erect for battle. Fury fills the corners of his eyes, swirling metallic edging in.

“What did you say to me?” His walk is predatory as he comes closer to the bed, hard length swinging. I’d cower if I weren’t so stupidly turned on by the sight of him.

“I said, you’re quarter fae. Do you need to get your hearing checked, old man?”

Stomach muscles tensing, a rumbling chuckle makes its way from his hard abs to his throat. “Fucking hell, Storm. I should have listened to them. I should’ve just married that nice, obedient Halo girl.” Walking the length of the bedroom, he scratches the length of his beard, mumbling aloud to himself, “I didn’t listen, did I? I took one look at your eyes, and I wanted you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my whole fucking life. You’re all I think about. You’re all I dream of. I went to work each day, wondering what you were doing at home. I trained until I was spent to taper the need I had for you each night, but still, when I came home, I couldn’t fucking help myself. You consumed me. If you didn’t need to sleep, I would’ve been buried in you all night. I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand. You’re my weakness. I saw you, and I wanted to fall at your feet and beg you for mercy because my heart would never be strong enough for you. Don’t you see? I’m not good enough for you. Your courage or your love. But I cared for you. I obsessed, and I took. I wore you down until you were happy giving me everything I wanted. But you were never happy, were you?” Rambling over, he stops, facing me, eyes flickering with sorrow.

My heart breaks for him and for me. I’ve fractured him. And now, it’s too late, because I love him.

“No.” Hugging the sheets to me, I wipe away the tears running down my face.

I see the moment his beast peeks through, shifting from grey to silver. Regardless, I’ve seen enough. There’s a crack in his chest, drowning me in secrets, giving me the parts of him I always wanted. Piece by piece. Belief by belief.

Everything in me aches to go to him. To comfort him. However, the logical part of my brain reminds me how this man was willing to keep our children and me locked up in the name of safety. What was his plan if I never escaped?

A lone drop of liquid falls from his haunted expression. That’s all it takes for me to break. Small to some, but big to me in every way that counts. Melek doesn’t cry. He doesn’t show sadness. At the sight, I go to him, forgetting about everything that got us to this point. And instead of being met with welcoming arms, he turns, barging through the door, nearly knocking it off its hinges.

“Damn you, Melek.” I let out a sob.

On the other side, a loud roar, followed by furniture crashing against the wall, makes me jump. Tracing the links of molted skin, from pinks to reds to purple over my skin, I take a deep breath, willing the pumping of the organ that got me into this mess to calm down.

This is my fault. Melek only just changed back into himself, and I wreaked havoc, wanting to hurt him because he didn’t remember. Now, it’s up to me to clean up the mess.

As the noise quiets beyond the doorway, eventually stopping altogether, there’s a cynical part of me that expects him to be gone. But we are in the Fairy Lands, and hope has taken a new shape within the walls of my being. Here, it feels like anything is possible. Finding a forgotten blanket on the floor and my somewhat dry underwear, I cover up the markings on my body and open the door to the living area to find a broad-shouldered commander sitting on the couch, looking beyond the fireplace and walls of books.

Delicately, I pick out a route around broken chairs and an overturned table to get to him. Doing the only thing that makes any sense, I kneel before my husband—the man who found a way into my shredded heart regardless of circumstances. Amalgamating this Melek with the commander who has probably committed heinous crimes is another matter altogether. I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to come to terms with everything he’s done in the long term.

One step at a time, I tell myself.

His eyelids are closed, his body unmoving. I rest my palm on hard muscle to feel the erratic beat beneath, and I say the words I know he needs to hear, regardless of my fears. If life has taught me anything, it’s to love fiercely regardless of circumstances. “I know this—this pain you’re feeling. It lives here.” I tap my free hand against my sternum. “Because you belong here, to me.” Brown lashes flutter open, watching. “This is hard for me to say because I never wanted to admit it to myself, but when you used to leave for work, I would count the hours until you came back. I was desperate to push you over the edge.” Our matching smiles know the truth. “To push you away from me. The way you looked at me from the beginning. The empty threats. I used to lie out in the garden and imagine scenarios where we would meet under different circumstances. None of them was right, though. The only us that made sense to me was the one I was living. I couldn’t let you in, but then… Then I saw you with Sunny.” Clouds form over my vision. “I got a little jealous of the way you so openly loved him and turned your anger on me. Don’t expect me to admit that again.” A nervous laugh escapes my lips. He goes to speak, but I shake my head, and he lets me continue. “Seeing that side of you also made me realise I was wrong. My heart had so much more love left to give, and I craved you to fill it for me.” Absurdity. All of this is absolute insanity. Melek’s all-encompassing hand comes to cup my cheek. I hold it there with both of mine. “You helped me revive my soul. By giving me a family. By giving me comfort. By giving me safety. And you gave me permission to show all of myself without consequences, besides the fun kind.” I take delight in his groan. “Now you can say something.” I’ve never felt more vulnerable in my whole damn life. “Please.”

“Get off the floor, Storm.” Melek reaches out a hand. I take it, pushing to a stand, and he pulls me into his lap, my knees landing on the cushions on either side of his legs. “Tell me what happened. How did I give you these?” A hand grazes the marks on my inner thighs. Some progress. He firmly takes hold of my chin. “Don’t roll your eyes.”

“I wasn’t.”

A sting radiates through my bottom. “You were. Now, tell me what happened?”

“Fine.” I’m trapped in the spice of him, lulling me back into a liquid form for his moulding. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I try my best to explain. “Did you know you are quarter-fae?”

“Yes,” he answers, and my mouth flies open. He shuts it with a finger. “What about it, Storm?”

“How do you know?”

The sigh he releases relaxes his tense form, running his hands down my back and under the blanket, finding my skin. “A fae soldier raped my grandmother.”

“What, how?”

“That’s all I know. It was my family’s greatest sin and liability. We are one of the original founding families of Halo. If word got out she was sullied, they would’ve condemned us. At the time, she was married, and could pass the baby off as an Abaddon, so that’s what she did. She was lucky my father came out a normal colour. More prone to bronzing in the sun, but passable as full Haloian.” His dexterous fingers distract my mind, tracing the bumps of my spine–shivering luxuriously. “My mother died in childbirth with me, and she never knew of my father’s family’s true heritage. And he only told me on his deathbed. He thought he was invincible, but he was killed in a fae insurgency. Since I learnt of my heritage, it fuelled my need to be the best, to take them down. My family is on the Airiel Council. Pure, chosen.” He laughs at that. “It was easy to take over from my father. He’d been training me since birth to be his succession plan.” Holy fuck. I had no idea. I knew he held secrets. Just not the kind of ones that would get him in trouble with Halo and the council. They’d kill him if they knew. “Tell me, wife, what has that got to do with these marks and this cottage and your eyes?”

“Well, I don’t know what you remember before this morning, but Adam—who is fae, by the way—agreed to help me and Sunny escape if I gave him some information.” Surprisingly unfazed by the news, my husband asks me to continue. He’s probably saving the freakout for later. “You followed us. We made it to an old mining tunnel before you caught up to us, and you went full beast mode.”