The Crystal Mines

55 Nik

I was woken by a loud sound coming on the other side of the door I shared with Callion. Surely it wasn't morning. Looking out my window to the moon told me that it was well into the middle of the night. Something crashed against the wall we shared, and I scrambled out of bed. The wall vibrated as I brought my ear to it listening to Callion's room. Did he have someone in there with him?

He roared, sending something else crashing into the wall my face rested on. I jumped back. Something had upset him greatly. Resting my hand on the door between us, I contemplated going in there. With The Bestowing tomorrow, magic would be at its highest soon. He could easily have a bedmate and entering would be risking intruding on them. A bang vibrated the floor and without another thought, I yanked the door open.

The room was destroyed. Bedsheets were cast all over the floor and the wall we shared had a pile of glass and books littering where he must have thrown them. He stood in the middle of his room shirtless and hair wild. Callion was not himself. His back was to me where the scars painting his back were in view. Same as mine. Some cut around his torso, nearing his beautiful tattoo, and I was grateful they didn't destroy the design. He was breathing hard, and his back muscles remained taught with anger. There was no one else around, so I had no idea what could have brought him to such a state at this hour.

"Cal," I dared to whisper.

His breathing stopped as he held his breath for a second. He hadn't sensed me as he usually did.

"I'm sorry to have woken you. Return to your rooms," he bit out.

I ignored him and took a step forward. "What's wrong?"

"I get nightmares sometimes. Now leave."

Still, he didn't turn to face me. Being the intelligent person I was, I placed my full palm on his back, the scars beneath rough against my skin. He sucked in a breath at my touch but didn't step away. We stayed that way for a second. With my hand on him in a way I had no right to. The moonlight casting deep shadows along the divots of his back and the back of his neck bare where his hair hung down his face as he looked to the floor.

My mind was still foggy from sleep, but I was still able to tell this wasn't a typical night for him. What was I doing in here? It was too late to leave and though I pissed him off, he wasn't pushing me away. Nervously, I scanned the room again, not really seeing anything but stalling. Stupid, Nik. The fire in front of us snapped and Callion grew tense.

I rounded to his front, leaving my hand on him the entire time. When I touched his chest instead of his back, he lifted his head to meet my eyes. His face was red and his eyes raw and wet. Callion had been crying. The flames flickered over his bare torso making his tattoo with Ameer dance. I chided myself for looking at him and brought my attention back up.

"Tell me." I searched him. No one deserved to grieve alone.

I wondered if something had happened during or after the ceremony at the temple. But what we had done together, it was unlike anything we had accomplished. When he had placed his hand beside mine on Viatrix, we just knew what needed to be done. As if some unseen force required us to change the position of the statue. Images of a dark-haired woman had entered our vision and she had smiled at us. She didn't speak. Only placed our hands together and pointed to the sky. Together we saw her fly, a warrior in her own right. Seeing that the statue did not depict the goddess that visited our minds, so we decided to change it. Ameer must have seen something, as his gift corrected her image too. Afterward, Callion had left without a word.

What could have happened between then and now?

I dragged my hands down to his, and he lightly held them back. As if he was forgetting in this moment that he hated me. A thumb dragged absent circles across my hand as he looked past me to the low fire crackling. He hid emotions well. He always did. But I was learning his tells and right now, he was holding back just how enraged he was.