Page 262 of Onyx Cage: Volume II
This room was vast and open, the accents of black and purple more subtle than they were throughout the rest of the palace, interspersed with softer shades of gray. I might not have known we were in the ostentatious palace at all, if not for the massive windows depicting the rolling hills of the Obsidian territory, along with the gleaming turrets twisting like a spire into the eastern sky.
It was strange to think back on our first visit to this place, on all the events that had started this war, and know that we had finally brought it to an end.
Cracking the door open, Rowan gave a low order to whoever was on the other side.
“Send for the healer. He’s awake.”
“Thank the storms.” Yuriy’s voice filtered in just before I heard the rapid sound of his retreating steps.
“How long have I been out?” I asked her, wondering at the open relief in my cousin’s voice.
And more than that, the shock.
My voice cracked on the last word, and Rowan reached for a water glass, sliding across the bed and holding it to my lips.
It took more effort than it should have to swallow down the water, but I did feel more alert after the cool liquid eased my parched throat.
“Nearly four days,” she answered as I took slow sips, her eyes darkening like that was a place she wasn’t ready to return to yet.
I nodded, instantly regretting it when a sharp, molten hot pang went through my chest.
“Is Iiro…” I trailed off, breathing through a fresh wave of pain.
“Imprisoned,” she confirmed. “He’s here until Theo takes him back to Elk.”
And she hadn’t even snuck down to murder him yet. She must have been truly unwilling to leave my side, since I was intimately familiar with the furious form her vengeance could take.
Still, I nodded again, keeping the motion more contained this time. She watched me with eyes that were still red from tears, underpinned by hollow purple circles.
“And you, Lemmikki?” I needed to know.
She didn’t quite smile, but her features eased. “Now that you’re awake? I’m perfect.”
I managed to force my lips up in a wan imitation of the smirk she had demanded from me.
“Well, you were always perfect. And Lemmikki?” I asked, thinking of all that she had said.
I needed her to understand that I had heard her. That she had brought me back with her words, with her unshakable faith, with the same force of nature she injected into everything she did.
That we had always been in this together.
She looked at me, her eyebrows raised in a question.
I fixed my gaze on her jade-colored eyes, infusing the smallest hint of teasing into my tone when I parroted her words back at her. “You made me feel things, too.”
For the first time, a real smile graced her lips as she brought them back down to mine.
The shifting of the bed brought another stab of agony to my chest, but I didn’t care. I would take the pain every time to be here with my lemmikki on the other side of this war.
She was still alive. Still here.
Still mine.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTEEN
Though I normally would have had no complaints about staying in bed with my gorgeous wife for days on end, this situation was decidedly less fun than it could have been.
Yuriy brought me reports, and Korhonan came by more than once to express his gratitude and see how I was faring. Arès stopped by as well, though Rowan’s furious countenance chased him from the room rather quickly.