29-- Let Go

19.1K 1.1K 191
                                    

*****Hiya! Thanks for sticking around! Just FYI—there are 33 chapters, plus 2 epilogues (lol it will make sense when you get there), so 6 chapters after this. I'll probably upload the epilogues on the same day. So we're winding down a little bit! I hope you guys have liked it, and thank you for all the comments and encouragement. I've had to stop replying to every single one, but I still read them, I promise! So keep talking to me, I love it :) *****


EMBER—

It was nearly a full day before Al'iya let me and Sage into the room off of her workroom she used for patients. Sage refused to look at me, and anytime I tried to pull him away from the doorway of Al'iya's workshop, to sleep or get something to eat, I was met with a glare and a nearly visceral anger.

He wanted to hurt me, and was held back by sheer willpower.

I couldn't blame him.

We slept across the hall from each other, because when I tried to pull him into my arms he nearly punched me to get me to back away. But I refused to leave him, and he refused to leave Llyric, so I was stuck sleeping on the floor of the kitchen.

When Al'iya finally told us we could go in to see Llyric, although he hadn't yet woken, I could tell Sage wanted to argue and keep me out, but he was probably too tired and broken to argue. So he simply moved into the room with me fast on his heels.

Sage walked to the little cot where Llyric lay, pale as death, bandages up both forearms, his eyelids and under his eyes so dark purple they were nearly black. The moment Sage gently lifted Llyric's hand into his own, Llyric's body twitched and his eyes opened.

He glanced around the room, confused, dazed, bleary from whatever Al'iya had pumped into him. Then his eyes fell on me in the doorway, moved to Sage at his side, and his face dropped into a crumpled mask as he fell into sobs.

"No!" he wailed, jerking his head back. He would have yanked his hand from Sage's, but he was far too weak. As his cries rose in volume, his legs jerking as he slammed his head back into the pillow behind him, over and over again, Sage stood and cried silently above him, his big hand over his mouth to quiet his own sobs. He kept the other clutched around Llyric's twitching hand, holding it gently but firmly, so the younger man didn't flay it from his grip. I stood dazed, completely unsure what to do.

"No!" Llyric moaned, just as Al'iya pushed past me and quickly, efficiently stuck a small, coated needle into Llyric's thigh. His sobs immediately began to hiccup, and when he spoke, his words were slurred.

"Why? Why couldn't... you... let me... go?"

The first time he really spoke more than a word at a time should have been a joyful moment, but his words asking us why we hadn't let him die tore my heart to shreds.

Gods, how had I possibly thought those horrible things about this man? This precious man who had nearly ended his life in fear of his past. For fear we would do exactly what I had done? Because he had been afraid that the men he'd so sweetly submitted his body and heart to would reject and revile him for something he had no control over. Something he had suffered horribly every day his entire life for.

I felt sick, staring at him as his body began to still under the effects of the drug. When his hand fell limp and his eyes glazed over, still awake but catatonic, Sage turned to me with fire in his eyes. He charged, grabbing my tunic and slamming me back against the wall. My head smacked against the wood and I grunted at the pain.

It was nothing to the anguish in my chest and belly.

"Are you happy now?" Sage bellowed right up against my face, his skin red with rage. His eyes were still filled with tears, his cheeks wet with what he had let fall.

Far From Home Two: The Monster's Heir-- a M/M/M fantasy romanceWhere stories live. Discover now