T. Grey - Ties That Bind

Her eyelids drooped but then shot right back open. “Nope. Nope. Don't turn this around like that. I'm going with you and you can't stop me.”

“I couldn't take it if you went with me.” He hadn't meant to say something so blatantly true but she'd broken down something inside him, and he didn't want to lie to her. She deserved better than that.

Her expression softened. He couldn't keep from touching her anymore so he threaded his fingers in her hair. Her eyes narrowed on his, bright and clear. “You love me.”

His hand fell from her hair, his lips dropping into a flat line. “No.” Those eyes, he swore, were trying to see inside him. He took a step back, ready to leave. He didn't need this foolishness from her, not now.

“Stop.” It wasn't the command but the plea in her voice that kept his feet from moving. She flattened her hands against his chest and he stretched out his neck to loosen the muscles before looking away. He couldn't look at her like this, pleading. It made him feel raw inside. Scratched with vicious nails from the inside out. It reminded him of being a child in the rift and his brother Alrik begging him to take him into the fields to play. He had the same plea, the same eagerness, and the same wide eyes. God, his heart felt crushed.

“You do, don't you?”

“This isn't about me,” he said after a minute.

She took a deep breath and it came out shaky. “Okay then. Let me tell you something.” He stiffened, but something strange happened, his heart started pounding. Not the pounding of arousal or fear but the hard slow steady thump of anticipation, building and building inside him until the beat of it resonated in his ears. He wanted to hear what she said. Had to hear it.

“Telal, I love you. I wasn't going to tell you yet but I don't think I have much more time.” Her voice faltered, thickened with sorrow. He barely managed to refrain from ordering her not to cry and pulling her into his arms. The only reason he managed not to grab her was because her words had rooted him in place like a statue. He was frozen, slowly trying to absorb her words. He just learned that it was one thing to assume Lily loved him and another to hear the words from her mouth.

“If you go and... don't come back. What am I supposed to do?” Her clear eyes wobbled then tears spilled down her cheeks. The sight of them crushed his heart in a brutal fist. He felt humbled. No one had ever loved him like that, said those words to him and meant it like she did. He felt so undeserving. Like a dirty old fool.

“Then you understand why you can't come with me, Lily.” He pulled her into his arms if only so he didn't have to see her tears anymore, which were really droplets meant to crush a man's soul.

They held each other for what felt like a long time. She was the first to pull away. He hesitated to let her go. Her face had dried of tears and he felt his shirt wet from where she'd laid her head. A part of him was actually proud, happy in fact, that he'd been able to help her stop from crying in some way.

He looked down at her and caught her smile; it curled from a grin into a full-blow smile that melted his heart. “You do love me.” Then she stood up on her toes, kissed him, and left the room with a certain bounce to her step.

Telal stood there, baffled, confused, and elated for some time. He swallowed over his dry throat and raised his hand to stop her, but he didn't know what to say. It might take him some time to work through all his emotions and everything that had just happened, but he did know one thing. He loved Lily Bellum.

Each day that passed felt like a noose being wrapped tighter and tighter around her neck until the bristly rope cut into her skin, cutting her. Anytime she tried to speak to Telal about letting her go, he simply changed the subject, usually by kissing her senseless. Her skin felt itchy everywhere, she couldn't stop scratching it, and this time it had nothing to do with the juice. God, the juice. She didn't even miss it now. Okay, she did miss it. If she had some of that in her system, she wouldn't be pacing back and forth across the living room while her stomach felt like insects were crawling inside.

Two more days. She had him for two more days. She wanted to scream; she wanted to cry. Most of all, she wanted to go with him. Not just because of him but because her mother was down there in that dank and dirty cell. What if something happened to him? Then how could she free her?

Oh god, oh god. Tears did fall from her eyes and she brushed them away hard, hurting her eyes in the process. It didn't matter. The little sting of pain helped to take out the heavy weight over her heart.

“Lily?” said a soft voice.

Lily turned to find Willow and Chloe at the door to the living area. They both wore expressions of understanding. Lily shook her head. She didn’t need to see them now. Not now. They couldn't help her. Telal had already made his plans. He was taking Kearnyn, Tyrian, Lyonis, Draven, Rayn, Henry, and Jackie and Thane. Everyone had been ported in. Now they all just sat like sitting ducks for the day to come. Her stomach squeezed tight and she wished she could still eat food just so she could throw up to try to ease it.

“Hey, hey. Come on now. Everything will be fine.” Chloe wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she wanted to throw it away, push her away. She didn't want to stop pacing; had to keep moving.

He loves me. I love him. We're supposed to live together like Chloe and Willow have gotten to do.

“You know we understand what you're feeling.”

Lily snapped. “Oh really, Willow? And how's that?”

To give Willow some credit she didn't flinch, didn't even cock a brow. But she did flip her off. She actually chuckled at that. So characteristic of her sister. “Did you forget that we have mates, too, who are going down in that demon hell? Like I want him going there. I've been in the rift.”

True. “But that was different. You were in a sub-layer. Where he's from is...pretty. The sky a hazy pink and orange. Everything looks more vivid there. The grass is greener. Thing smell different. Not bad, just different.”

“That's all fine and dandy but it still doesn't make us feel better,” Willow said.

“I get it. I do.” Lily walked to a window. Chloe'd made Tyrian put bars over them to keep anyone from accidently falling out. He'd done it without hesitating. “I love him.”

“I know.” Her sisters both said it at the same time and shared a little laugh.

“How does he feel about you? It's so hard to tell with him,” said Chloe.

Lily sighed. “He loves me, but I don't think he'd admit it.”

“Then he and Tyrian have that in common. Tyrian was so adamant about not feeling anything for me. Yeah, that didn't last long.”

Lily nibbled her lip. She'd been thinking about this ever since he announced his plans. She was going to go with him. She didn't have much magic, but she'd made half a dozen potions when he wasn’t around. She couldn't test them out but Rosa assured her they'd work. They'd both enspelled the potions, really nothing more than small vials of foul-smelling liquid, to freeze the target in place. It should last anywhere up to thirty minutes. They'd run out of supplies so she'd only been able to make six. She'd have to use them wisely. She also had Rosa get several of the daggers she'd enchanted with electricity. If she had to use one, she would.

Could she tell her sisters about her plan? Or would they run off and warn Telal. “Can I trust you guys with something?”

They nodded. Lily sat on the floor in front of them so she could whisper. She didn't need any prying ears to pick up on this. “I'm going to the rift with Telal. I'm going to have Rosa make another potion and take us there. This time since we're leaving from the same place as Telal we'll arrive in the same place in the rift, too.”