the soil under his boots. The ground of his homeland shook underneath him, refusing to hold him up. Bastian glanced at Elinor, her anger emanating through her glare. He fell to his knees, sick to his stomach.
"We are connected, Bastian." She reached out her hand, her fingers curled, squeezing the air.
He gasped, unable to breathe, his heart screeching in pain.
Elinor clutched the air again. Bastian's heart skipped a beat.
Tears spilled from her eyes as she lowered her hand. Bastian fell to the ground, his face resting on the scratchy earth, his breath pushing dirt particles across the ground.
Elinor sank down next to him, resting her cheek on his back. "I'm so sorry, Bastian. I didn't mean to hurt you. I wanted you to love me for me. Not because I hold your life in my hands. But now that you've proven you'll never sever your connection to Tressa, I had to show you that you belong with me alone."
He wanted to ask what she'd done. He loved her, yes, but not like this. Where was that pure excitement they'd found in each other? The respite from the chaos of the world he'd found in her arms had been genuine.
But now...
"Bastian, I love you. Say you love me too," Elinor pleaded into his back.
He did love Elinor. He knew that. Despite what he'd done with Tressa the night before. Yet knowing what Elinor held over him now, his very life in her hands, he couldn't bring himself to say the words.
"Say it," she said, her tone gritty and demanding.
A small fist slammed into his back.
"Say it!"
Bastian shrugged her off and sat up. Elinor knelt, her hands on her legs. Her eyes burned with a fire he'd never seen.
"I love you," he said. It felt hollow. Wrong. But what else was left? He either had to tell her what she wanted to hear or risk losing his life. He thought of his daughter, running and laughing. She'd lost her mother. He couldn't let her lose her father. "I love you." He said it again, thinking solely of his daughter, the words finally infused with meaning and life.
Elinor's lips trembled as a smile bloomed on her face, pushing her angry, red cheeks into tiny apples. "I knew it. I knew you loved me."
Bastian’s stomach flipped as he rose. He held out a hand to Elinor. She slipped her delicate fingers in his and stood. "I want to stay here when the fog appears. With you. I want to live in your cottage. Be your wife. Be a mother to your daughter." Elinor swept her arm to the side, taking in the whole of Hutton's Bridge. "We'll build a beautiful life here, sheltered from the rest of the world. You've told me over and over again that you wished the war was done. Here, we can hide from it."
"I thought you wanted to fight," Bastian said.
"I did. Until I realized I could still lose you to Tressa." Elinor stood on her tiptoes, placing her hand on his cheek. "I know I can't lose you to war because of the gift I gave you. I thought I had all of you, Bastian. Last night you proved to me that I don’t. So now I need to protect you from her. Keep you away. We will stay here in Hutton’s Bridge." Her hand slipped down his face, over his throat, until it came to rest just over his heart. A reminder. A threat.
"You'll forget Tressa soon enough," Elinor said. "I'll make sure of that. Now, are there any other secrets you want to share with me?"
Bastian thought of the whore. He suspected Elinor already knew about his night with the woman. There was still the question of the pregnancy. He refused to presume anything from a lascivious lick of the lips and a rubbing of the belly. For all he knew it was a trick to tempt him back to her bed, or a blatant attempt at extortion. No, he had nothing else to tell Elinor.
"I won't pressure you into my bed," Elinor said. "I want you to come to me freely like before." She stood close, letting her breasts rub against his arm. It quickly aroused him, but for once his mind held sway. Bastian doubted he'd ever want to touch her again.
"I need to talk to Connor," he mumbled. "We need to get the fog restored as soon as possible.”
"Come back to me, Bastian," Elinor said. “I’ll be here. Waiting. With your daughter as