Page 98 of Heavenly Bodies
Then she stalked back to her rooms without a word.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Elara left her dress pooling by her bedroom’s entrance as she stalked into her bathing chamber. Anger steamed off her as she ran the bath, though the cold of the rain still lingered upon her skin. HowdareEnzo call her a coward after everything she had been through?
She slammed the dagger on the countertop, its hilt clattering on the marble. Elara gritted her teeth to stop them from chattering as the water slowed. Finally sinking herself into the bath, the first she’d had by herself in Stars knew how long, she let her anger roil over her.
Suddenly, a clear thought broke through, and she sat up.
Anger. She was feeling anger. And in doing so, she hadn’t thought about her pain or Sofia. She winced at the name, but as something inside her pounced and tried to shut the memory down, she flung it away with a snarl.
Enzo had forced her to feel. Outrage, hatred, desire, relief. She shivered at the memory of his tongue trailing up her neck. He had baited her on purpose.
She gave a small smile to herself as she bathed.
Wrapping a towel around herself, she stepped out of the water.
With her magick siphoned off, her mind was clearer than it had been in a long time.
When she returned to her room, she cursed. ‘Enzo!’
He was sprawled on the chair by her bed, as he took her in from head to toe.
‘Nursemaid, remember?’ He grinned, stretching his arms behind his head. She cast him a withering look before snatching a nightgown from her chair and making her way back into the bath chamber to dress. When she reappeared, she was somewhat more decent, an emerald lace nightgown grazing her thighs. His gaze flicked to her, then away, but she didn’t miss the way it darkened, igniting once more the lust she’d felt in the garden. She ignored it as she sat in front of the mirror and started to comb her wet locks.
‘Do you need me to get Merissa?’
Her hands shook imperceptibly as she combed. She wasn’t ready to see her yet—her or Isra. ‘No, thank you.’
He stood and walked over to where she sat. ‘Then I’ll dry your hair, or you’ll catch a cold.’
The air around her grew hot as Enzo raised his hands, before skimming them through her hair, suffusing heat through it.
Her brow rose. ‘Do your subjects know you’re such a good handmaid?’
His eyes crinkled as he continued to comb her hair. ‘There’s that vicious tongue.’
She tried to stop a smile.
But as she realized that she was feeling a sliver of happiness, Elara’s lip quivered, a clagging tightness rising at the back of her throat. She tried to swallow it. Once. Twice. Her eyes began to ache as the tightness wouldn’t go, even as she willed it away.
Her lip trembled again as Enzo looked over her with worry. Then the floodgates opened.
Elara let out one gulping sob, and another, before she gave in and wept. She covered her face with her hands as Enzo got to his knees, taking one of her hands. Her shoulders shook as she tried to drag in a breath, tears flooding her. She buried her face in Enzo’s neck.
‘It’s okay, it’s okay,’ he murmured.
‘I feel so much guilt,’ she sobbed, ‘for even smiling. Sofia is dead, and I’m here. It’s my fault.’
‘Listen to me.’ Enzo pulled her away so he could look at her. ‘It isnotyour fault. Do you really believe that Sofia would think that?’
Elara wiped a tear, looking to the ceiling. ‘Ariete did it to punishme.It is my fault.’
‘You know, in Helion culture, we believe that death is not an ending. It is the beginning of something. When you lose a loved one, you don’t ever lose them really. They stay living on with you, their memories and their warmth. That energy passes through as each person keeps them alive by remembering them. Sofia is not gone. It’s just the beginning of a different relationship with her.’
Elara’s face crumpled as she squeezed Enzo’s hands.
‘What would she tell you right now if she was here?’