The bastard had always known I was going to turn into the stuff of nightmares. You will be magnificent, and you will be mine. He’d said it when we’d first met.
Stefan bowed his head, brushing his chin against my head. “Your brother was here?” he whispered, but the words held a heavy resonance, deep and rough.
“Jenna…” I clutched at Stefan’s arm, digging my claws in. He barely reacted, and when I lifted my head, he looked down at me, a smile as soft as snowflakes on his lips. “He’s hurt her. We need to go—”
“He came here to tell you that?”
Why had my brother come? To gloat, yes, but also to watch me suffer and push me further into the dark, to help ruin my humanity. I nodded. “Please. We need to help her.”
Stefan turned but didn’t release me. I clung to him like I might to a life raft. “Ryder, Jenna needs your help,” he growled. “Be careful. It could be a trap.”
I hadn’t thought of that. He was right. “I need to go too.”
Ryder shook his head. “I got this. Stay here.” He tossed one last concerned glance at Stefan and nodded an understanding. Stefan inclined his head. As Ryder hurried away, I noticed others on the roof. Strangers. I eyed them warily. Stefan and I were demon; they were the enemy.
Stefan’s hand slid gently up my back. He eased me back into a cool embrace and closed his arms around me. The soft beat of his heart soothed my weary soul. “I think it would be best if we weren’t demon right now. Our trigger-happy audience is nervous.” His words whispered coolly against my cheek. I closed my eyes and breathed in his fresh, clean, winter morning scent. Inside, the inferno had died down to the barest flickers of heat. His element still held me close, almost as close as his arms. If I let him go, it would flare up again. I needed his cold to temper me.
“I can’t. I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be. I’ve got you.” He drew back and lifted my chin. The warmth had returned to his eyes, softening his features. “Apart, we’re fractured, missing a piece of ourselves, but together, we’re complete.” He gently drew me to him and laid a delicate fluttering kiss on my lips. Our elements sparked, invisible to others, but not to us. Something in me brightened as I returned the gentle touch of his lips with a fragile kiss of my own. He was still Stefan. I knew it. I could feel it. Somewhere, behind all that power, inside all that glacial hardened armor, Stefan lived. This maddeningly gentle kiss was all him. Hope surged, a blind, ridiculous hope that not all was lost. If nothing else, hope was the only thing strong enough to keep me sane. It always had been. Tasting winter on my lips, I slipped out of my demon and eased her back. Stefan did the same. His lips softened, and the power popping and fizzing between us dissipated until it was just me and him, human, ragged, worn out, but together.
I pulled away and placed my hand over his on my cheek. “I think you just saved me from losing my mind.”
He bumped his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “I wish I could rid you of that thing inside, Muse. If I knew how, I’d do it. I can feel how he’s destroying you.”
He really did understand. “Val can see the future the way I read metal. He said he sees the future in flesh. He knows what I’ll become. He’s always known.” I gently rested my hand on his cheek, marveling at his warmth when moments ago, he’d been made of ice. “I’m not going to escape this time. The netherworld will have me. They’re coming, and I can’t fight any more.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “No, I won’t let it happen. Not you, Muse. After everything you’ve been through, you deserve to be free.”
A painful knot tightened my throat. For a moment, I couldn’t find my voice. I lowered my head, afraid he might see the tears swimming in my eyes. “I wish the world worked like that.”
Raising his head, he brushed my forehead with his lips before trailing his delicate touch to my cheek. “Don’t lose hope. Not you.” His whispers tickled my ear. Another time, I might have responded to his touch with a different heat, but not then. That moment, there in his arms, was too exquisite,