Chapter 31: Written In Scars - Hunger & Harmony
By Rosslyn Whims
Stillness settles between us. I breathe steadily, savoring each one. They’re the last I’ll ever take.
It isn’t fear that follows that acknowledgement.
“Cadence.”
My name is no longer a plea on his tongue. It’s the answer.
“Mm?”
Niko’s fingers ghost over my neck. There’s no urgency. With silver poison lingering under his skin, I know he’s weak. Only the promise of this moment steadies us, his touch reverent and gaze fixed on mine.
There’s no return. And, in this moment, there’s no rush.
“Tell me again,” he says.
“I choose this.”
I tilt my head back, baring my neck as further confirmation. Two fingers become his entire hand, splaying across my throat gently, caressing warm skin. My pulse stabilizes under his touch.
“No prophecy,” I continue. “No fear.”
“Us?” he asks quietly, and I hum.
“Us.”
He closes the distance, his lips meeting mine. The kiss is soft, achingly slow. He savors the taste of my mortality. I anchor my arms around him.
“I love you,” he whispers between us. “Those three words are so simple, yet it’s true, my starlight. You are my tomorrow, and all tomorrows to come.”
I pull away enough to breathe again, our noses brushing and foreheads touching.
“I love you, too.” I meet his soft gaze. “My forever.”
Tears bubble along my eyes, and I let them fall as our lips meet again. I bask in his affection as I press further against him.
It comes naturally when we shift position. He lays me back, my hair fanned on the pillow, and flushed skin meeting black silk. There’s nothing beyond candlelit drapes and his body pressed to mine.
“I want you to mark my neck,” I say as he shifts between my legs. “Nowhere else.”
Guiding his hand to my throat, I let his fingers settle under my jawline, my pulse unfaltering in the hollow groove.
With lips parted in quiet awe, he nods. Our bond will be proclaimed there, written in scars on my skin. Excitement rushes through me, my fingers and toes wiggling as his touch lingers. Niko chuckles.
“What?” I laugh softly. “Am I doing this wrong?”
“I’ve never seen anyone so happy to be turned.” He places a gentle kiss on my nose. “You’re adorable. Don’t overthink it.”
“It feels right,” I say before I shrug. “Maybe the lullaby was onto something.”
“My mother’s lullaby?” he asks.
Silver flickers in his veins when I nod.
“Do you remember it?”
“In fragments,” he says, brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. “It’s the one thing I can never remember entirely. The Court always twisted it, so it’s been scattered in my memory.”
Looking up at him, it dawns on me.
“I’m . . .no singer,” I say, giggling awkwardly.
“You know it?”
When I nod again, a flash of hope passes over his face. He buries it as quickly as it appears.
“I’d never force you.”
Would it be unjust to sing it with my voice? Maybe I won't try to imitate it. Just saying the words could be enough.
“Si . . .lence harbors the end . . .”
My face flushes, and I avert my gaze. I could never do this. The pure joy lighting up his eyes encourages me to try, though.
“The crown will crack before it bends.”
I take another breath.
“A song unsung will call her name, and love will set the halls aflame.”
My voice wavers. His hand slides up from my neck to my cheek. I nuzzle into his palm, laughing awkwardly. His smile is so endearing, I find the courage to keep going.
“No blood will bind, no voice will reign. She’ll laugh and dance where once was pain.”
Even though I’m stumbling over each word, chills sweep over my skin. Because this is our story. This is our bond, our fate woven into his mother’s song.
“Her pulse that calls the last-born heir. The hollow throne and subjects stare . . .”
“For change comes cloaked in red and light, the rhythm that disrupts the night,” Niko whispers, his silken voice much steadier than mine. “A queen comes soft with shattered key . . .”
I smile up at him, finishing softly.
“And crowns a king who longs to be free.”
The tattoo over my heart warms. I bring my hand up to it, breathless as I stare into his eyes. Even if she’s no longer here, she lives on. In memory, in heart, in song.
He moves closer. I tilt my head back again, urging him.
“Mark me,” I say. “Make me yours. Make you mine.”
“Are you sure?” he murmurs, voice directly next to my ear now.
I shudder, hands finding his shoulders.
“I’ve chosen forever,” I say, a gasp pulled from my throat when his tongue finds my skin. “I won’t live half-bonded. I choose this, I choose you.”
My fingers press into his cool skin. Silver turns to gold as his lips caress sensitive skin, fangs grazing.
“I’m ready,” I say, knowing he’s hesitating for my sake.
It’s irreversible, but my heart doesn’t waver. I press him closer to me, my eyes closing as a familiar prick radiates from my neck.
My breath hitches. Stinging subsides for bliss, not equal to last time, but better. Warm pressure builds from his ivories. Pleasure cascades down my body, every inch of me flooded by joy and ease. It’s an initiation—a shattered key whole once more and opening the door of fate.
The room stills, Niko’s skin to mine, anchoring me as he feeds. Beyond the sheer drapes, the singular candle flickers. I swear, it's the Vox Crown itself, brilliant and casting fractals of iridescence over the shadowed room. It knows my name and calls it as my limbs weaken.
Resonant.
Niko cradles me, his hold strengthening as my blood remedies the poison. I’ve never trusted so fully. Nothing has felt so instinctive.
Gold flickers along his skin, and it’s the last image before my eyes completely flutter shut. My heartbeat slows into silence.
Darkness settles over me. That’s when I see her. A shimmering pair of wings, blue and strong, cutting through the void. The butterfly comes from my left, dancing around me. She’s small, but not delicate. Music billows from her luminous wings, Resonant notes weaving into a wonderful harmony.
It’s not long before she leaves again, fluttering to my right until she’s out of sight.
Not the end, but metamorphosis.
My eyes open again.
“Cadence.”
The world is sharp, saturated. Shadows bend to my vision. I close my eyes again to feel my body. Strength hums under my skin, and where I once relied on breath, it’s not needed.
“Niko,” I whisper, calling him.
My voice is still my own. This body feels like home. So are the hands that cup my face, and I flutter my lashes again to meet his loving gaze.
“How do you feel?” he asks, and a smile pulls my lips.
“Better.”
I let my tongue run over my teeth softly. The beginnings of fangs press against my tongue, and Niko laughs quietly as I feel around.
“How do you feel?” I finally ask.
“Better.”
My eyes crinkle in amusement. Everything has changed. Yet, nothing has at all.
“Will I be able to sing now?”
His chuckle is louder this time.
“I don’t believe so,” he says, and I pout.
“Why not?”
“You aren’t simply a vampire, my starlight.”
I tilt my head gently as he pulls off of me. He looks whole again. No silver, and no weakness. Blood stains his mouth, and everything from his hair to his eyes looks healthy again.
Sitting up slowly, I get a feel for my renewed limbs, careful not to move as fast as my body wants to.
Everything is clearer. The scent of incense has heightened, and even his faded cologne settles into my senses. A metallic taste lingers on my tongue. Not blood, but something smoother, richer.
Niko leans over the bedside, parting the curtains enough to find something. Even the brush of fabric is more vivid, my ears catching it all. I can see perfectly through the darkness, too, and my confusion deepens as he pulls up a mirror.
“You are the bond as fate wanted it,” he says, passing the hand mirror to me.
I don’t hesitate to raise the glass to my face, peering at my reflection.
It’s still me, with disheveled strawberry blonde strands going everywhere, freckles along my nose, and my skin a warm fawn.
The only difference is my eyes. They fly open, and I lean in to observe my irises. They’re not burgundy like Niko’s, or settling into any shade of red at all. Neither are they my original brown.
“Resonant,” Niko says, and I blink.
Golden eyes stare back at me. Bright, gleaming, and resonant.