Soul Chains

Chapter 52: Into the Blizzard

I find Reine talking to Nathan and attempting to calm him down in one of the guest tents. As soon as I enter, Nathan turns and looks back at me, a scowl forming on his face.

"Whatever..." Nathan mutters and brushes passed Reine, who looks at him in surprise.

Nathan keeps walking and bumps my shoulder on the way out of the tent, making me shake my head and sigh.

"Don't blame him too much," I say and Reine sighs.

"I know. Eden made him feel he wasn't to blame, but now it's all coming back because of the mirrors in Medea's garden," Reine says, "I wanted to try and calm him down, but...it didn't exactly work."

"It's not right, but you can't really blame him for it," I nod in agreement, "I used to feel partially at blame too, but I know it wasn't my fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but Coralyinn. Right now, I'm just...glad we made it out of Medea's garden."

"Speaking of the garden," Reine says, her eyes watching me steadily, "are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I wave it off, "I had my wounds cleaned up while Tien was talking to my dad and everyone else was getting back."

"That's not what I meant," Reine frowns and I furrow my eyebrows.

"I don't know what you mean," I glance aside as she walks towards me so that she's standing directly in front of me.

"I think you do," she says softly and I turn back to look at her, frowning slightly as my eyes scan her face.

"I guess...I guess I just sometimes wonder if I'm good enough. I haven't even unlocked my full potential yet, nor am I really good at controlling what I do know how to use," I say with a sigh, "and sometimes I wonder if maybe you deserve bett--"

Reine's expression shifts from one of concern to determination and she takes another step forward, placing her right leg between mine as she reaches up and grabs my face, pulling me down into a harsh kiss and effectively cutting me off. My eyebrows arch in surprise and I carefully wind my arms around her waist, pulling her closer into me as I close my eyes. Reine walks us backwards a few feet until we hit a wooden post and we stay there for a few moments, pressed up against each other in the cold tent. Eventually, she pulls away from me and moves so that she's gripping the collar of my shirt with her hands, her eyes burning into mine.

"Don't you dare ever say you aren't good enough, especially for me," Reine says, her eyes searching mine, "I don't know what sort of hell happened to you in there, but it'll be nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you even think about calling yourself inadequate."

I stare at her for a few moments, my eyes flickering across her face before I throw caution to the wind and essentially say damn it all as I pull her back into another kiss. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist as her arms go around my neck. I flip us around so that her back is pressed against the wooden post in the tent and she smiles into the kiss before she moves her hands so that they're threaded through my hair. She giggles when we pull apart and I smile lovingly at her.

"Dude, Dimitri's abs are seriously drool worthy," Ayette says as she enters the tent before her eyes lock on us, "oh-- am I interrupting something?"

"Um," I clear my throat awkwardly, "what are you doing in here?"

"Sorry," she laughs and rubs the back of her throat as she smiles sheepishly, "Nathan passed me on the way here when I was looking for you and he told me you were in here. He seemed kinda pissed, to be honest."

"And on that note about my brother, which I could've lived without hearing," Reine starts as she unwinds herself from around me carefully and brushes herself off, "I'll be going now to give you guys some space."