The Reborn Sovereign of Ruin, Bound by His Star

Chapter 245: Chapter 245: Until Tomorrow

The imperial palace had assigned them four separate guest rooms.

Arik had objected.

The physicians had remained unmoved.

Liam had pointed out that Arik was still leaking ether through both hands, Mezos could barely move his right shoulder without turning pale, and Kamal had nearly lost consciousness twice between the medical wing and the guest corridor.

Arik had informed him that none of those facts explained why his mate had been placed behind a different door.

Liam had informed him that the doors were less than six paces apart.

That had not improved Arik’s opinion of them.

The guest wing occupied one of the palace’s quieter upper levels, overlooking a wide inner garden suspended between two sections of white stone. Four rooms opened onto the same curved corridor, each attended by a physician, two palace servants, and enough guards to make Mezos distrust everyone on principle.

Kamal had been given the room nearest the medical lift.

Mezos had taken the one opposite him after inspecting every entrance, window, ventilation channel, and decorative wall panel.

Liam had been placed beside Arik. Not with. Arik considered that distinction offensive.

He sat on the edge of the enormous bed in his assigned room while fresh bandages slowly turned gold around his hands.

The room had been prepared for an imperial guest, though Liam suspected no one had expected that guest to arrive through a collapsing gate covered in blood, dust, and unstable ether.

The furniture was pale wood reinforced with golden metal. Purple curtains framed windows overlooking Deira. A low table held water, fruit, and several sealed medical tonics that Arik had already refused to acknowledge.

His discarded outer coat rested over a chair.

Gold had spread across one sleeve where his fingers had touched it.

Liam stood near the connecting wall, examining a narrow control panel built into the stone.

"There is no interior door," Arik said.

"I noticed."

"They could have prepared a shared suite."

"They prepared four medical rooms."

"They prepared guest rooms and placed physicians outside them."

"Because none of us belongs in the medical wing indefinitely."

Arik looked at the wall as though considering whether sovereign authority permitted him to remove it.

Liam turned from the controls. "No."

"I have not said anything."

Liam crossed the room and stopped in front of him.

The bandages had already absorbed more ether than they should have. Fine gold light escaped between the layers, outlining Arik’s fingers before dissolving into the air.

"Hands," Liam said.

Arik raised them.

Liam carefully unwound the first bandage.

The cracks across Arik’s palm had not widened, but they had not closed either. They glowed beneath the skin, thin lines of molten gold following channels the Nurian physicians had failed to map.

A drop of ether gathered in the center of his palm.

Liam caught it against a folded medical cloth before it reached the carpet.

"You are still leaking."

"I am aware."

"You say that as though awareness is treatment."

"It might be," Arik said and earned a light pinch on his finger from Liam. He winced from the pain.

"Arik... I got through the Gates because Cain had opened them."

Arik’s eyes started to shine, and his fingers leaked more ether.

"Stop that."

Arik looked at his own hands as if they had betrayed him.

The glow did not fade.

Liam placed the cloth over Arik’s palm and pressed carefully, not enough to hurt, only enough to remind him that there was a body involved. A body that was still warm, present, and sitting in front of him rather than burning up for every fear that entered the room.

"Cain opened them," Liam repeated, quieter. "He said that if you are who you claim you are, then you can save me. Then he disintegrated in gold ether."

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Arik asked, keeping his hands where Liam could bandage them again but clearly wanting to move them on Liam.

"We were busy, and I don’t think I trust Nuria yet." He chose a clean bandage and started with Arik’s right hand. "They want you, Arik. It doesn’t matter who you are if you have the right ether and the right memories. Your name is just another label they will use for their ruler." Liam sighed but tried to hide it with a shaky laugh. "But what happens when they find out that I’m Felix’s grandson?"

Arik went completely still.

The ether beneath his bandages brightened, gathering between Liam’s fingers.

"Nothing happens," he said.

Liam tied the bandage more tightly than necessary. "That is not realistic."

"It is final."

"They may see me as a threat. Or proof that Felix still has influence over you. They might demand that I be confined, examined, or removed from—"

"No."

The word struck through the room with enough force to make the golden lines beneath the walls flicker.

Liam looked up.

Arik’s eyes had become molten.

"Do not mistake their authority for mine," Arik said. "The council may question my name, my memories, my right to the throne, or whether I am sufficiently similar to the dead man they wanted returned. They will not question you."

"They will."

"Then they will learn not to."

"Arik—"

"You are not Felix."

"I am his grandson."

"And I carry the soul of the man he poisoned." Arik leaned closer. "Neither of us is responsible for the blood we inherited."

Liam’s hands paused over the knot.

Arik turned his right forearm upward. The mark near his wrist lay dark against his skin, partly hidden beneath the edge of his sleeve. Liam had placed it there during the heat, when neither of them had understood how deeply the bond would settle.

Arik brushed his thumb over it.

"This is not Goliath’s mark," he said. "It is mine."

Then his gaze lifted to Liam’s nape.

Liam felt the answering warmth before Arik touched him. The mark over his scent gland pulsed beneath his collar, sensitive to the attention.

"But Goliath recognizes it," Arik continued. "He recognizes you."

Liam swallowed.

"As what?"

"My mate."

The answer carried no hesitation.

"Not Felix’s grandson. Not a Canmore asset. Not an engineer the council may find useful. My mate."

Arik’s voice deepened.

"And his."

Something ancient moved beneath the words, not separate enough to become another voice, but present in the certainty behind them.

Liam stepped back.

"I should let you rest."

Arik’s uninjured fingers caught the edge of his robe.

"Arik."

"You are not going to the other room."

"The physicians assigned it to me."

"The physicians are wrong."

"You need sleep, and I need to change."

"You can do both here."

Liam tried to pull the fabric free.

Arik tugged.

The movement brought Liam between his knees, then into his arms before he could brace himself. Arik’s bandaged hand settled against the small of his back while the other slid beneath his hair, closing carefully around his nape.

His thumb crossed the bond mark.

Liam inhaled sharply.

Arik kissed him.

There was nothing careful in it.

The kiss was deep and hungry, carrying the fear Arik had held since the Gate swallowed Liam and the fury of finding him surrounded by Felix’s work. His mouth claimed Liam’s with enough force to steal the protest from him, drawing him closer until Liam’s knees pressed against the bed and Arik’s chest became the only solid thing beneath his hands.

Liam tried to breathe.

Arik followed him, refusing even that small distance.

Gold flared behind Liam’s closed eyes. The bond opened, pouring heat through his nape and down his spine. Beneath it came Arik’s certainty, fierce enough to feel like a vow.

Nonnegotiable.

To Arik.

To Goliath.

To whatever empire expected either of them to surrender him.

When Arik finally lifted his mouth, Liam remained against him, breathless and unsteady.

Arik pressed one slower kiss beneath his jaw, directly below the mark.

"You stay," he murmured.

Liam opened his eyes.

The gold around Arik’s hands had dimmed.

The bandages still shone, but the ether no longer seeped freely through every layer. The drops gathering along his fingers had disappeared.

Liam stared.

Arik followed his gaze.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

"The bond stabilized you," Liam said.

Arik’s arm tightened around his waist.

"Then separating us was medically irresponsible."

Liam exhaled against his shoulder.

He did not attempt to leave again.