A Siren's Crown (Book Two in the APK Trilogy)

(26) The Longing Inside

Chapter 26

(Circe’s P.O.V)

I floundered through the darkness, my hands sweeping through the fog that cloaked me, feeling nothing. I was growing so cold and the sense of longing in my heart ached dully in the back of my mind, as though part of me had been scooped out and cast away.

“Where are you?” I called desperately. “Please, answer me …” My voice trailed off despondently, my hope fading.

Suddenly a touch to my waist and a gentle tug had me falling backwards and into a pair of deliciously strong arms, his hair tickling my cheek as he bent down to whisper in my ear, his lips brushing against my skin delicately as his delectable mouth formed the words.

“Hello Darling.”

He spun me around and I was lost in those eyes, the rich, burning gold of those eyes. I sighed and all but melted against his chest, his hands wrapping around me and clutching him to me possessively. I inhaled his strong, musky scent, his touch sending small shocks through my skin as he traced delicate patterns up and down my spine.

“When are you coming back to me?” I whispered, kissing his chest softly in between words. “I am trying to be strong, but I need you. I miss you so much.”

A tear slid out of the corner of my eye because I knew then that this was just another one of the dreams that had been plaguing my nights. That this wasn’t real, that my time was limited.

He titled my chin up with a finger, his eyes locking onto mine and with his other hand he wiped my tears away, my hands clutching desperately at the cloth of his shirt.

“You have to stay with me,” I begged.

His expression was dark, brooding, his eyes flickering with an internal flame as he bent his head once more, his lips softly brushing against my own. I breathed into him, closing my eyes and answering the kiss, wishing with all of my heart, with every fibre of my being that this was real. That his skin was really beneath my palms, that his lips, moving delicately against my own, were really there.

I trembled in his arms and his strong calloused hands pulled me closer to him, I was safe here, safe in his embrace. And he was safe in mine. My hands moved up to run through his soft black hair and down the back of his neck, touching at the tender skin there.

Feeling something warm on my chest, I stopped abruptly and his lips teased at mine, begging for me to come back to him.

“What is it?” He asked breathlessly, nuzzling the side of my neck with his nose.

A sense of foreboding rose up in me and slowly I pulled out of his arms, not wanting to look but needing to.

I low moan escaped my lips as I took in the blood, dripping from his wounds, running in rivulets down his sides, down his arms, down his face, staining his white shirt an angry red.

“Circe,” His expression was confused. “What is it?”

I looked down at myself and the tears began again as I took in my nightgown, soaked with his blood. When I looked up again he was standing right in front of me, his face dark, his scar more pronounced; a dark gorge in the side of his face.

“What did you expect Darling,” He whispered, his tone deadly. “That I was being looked after over there? That they were treating me with kindness?”

“No, no I-“

I stumbled back from him, my voice pleading. “Obsidian there is nothing I can do. You don’t know me anymore and I need to figure out why! I haven’t forgotten you I swear, I just-