Inflexible | Fated Four: Book 1

Chapter Fifteen

We reached the lake house and quietly entered. It was late and Nemesis, Calix, Soren, and Ryder quietly went to their rooms to sleep.

I turned to leave, but Arrow stopped me. He inclined his head to the deck and the two of us silently slipped outside.

Arrow closed the door behind us and turned to me.

"You can talk to me, you know," he told me, "I know a thing or two about what it's like to be stabbed in the back by someone you trusted." Did he ever. Eris had betrayed him and gone after the humans. She was his sister. He had trusted her and she stabbed a knife into his back, so to speak.

"I know," I replied, "I just...I feel responsible for what happened."

"Tell me why," Arrow told me.

"Because I feel like I could have offered them mercy when they appeared as ghosts," I admitted, "I could have tried to help them."

I looked at the railed and felt Arrow pull my body close to his, trying to calm me down.

"Hey," he said soothingly as he gently lifted my chin so that he could look into my eyes, "You are an amazing person and you have a heart of gold. You want mercy, salvation, and good things for the ghosts that appear before you. But there was nothing you could have done to save Ruby and Hannah from their fate. They chose to sell you out to Eris, they don't deserve your mercy, agápi mou. They deserve whatever punishment Hades gives them. You're his granddaughter and they tried to harm you."

"That doesn't make me feel less guilty about it all," I replied.

I felt Arrow kiss my temple.

"I know," he whispered, "And I know that it's going to hurt for a while, but I promise that it will get easier."

I nodded in understanding.

"Arrow I...I've been thinking about our bond," I told him, "And I want to go through with it. I'm ready to go through with it."

"You understand what that means, don't you?" Arrow asked, "You'll be bound to me for the rest of eternity. Soulmates can't be separated, even by death, so Aphrodite will grant you immortality once we bond. And once we bond, you will experience my torment and pain on a daily basis. I don't know if I can do that to you."

"I know," I assured him, "But I don't think I can keep fighting this, can you?"

"No," he admitted, "My resolve nearly crumbled when I kissed you on the deck. I nearly let the barrier fall."

"If you let that barrier fall, what happens?" I asked.

"You'll be exposed to my pain and you'll see it. You could even feel it, though I'm not entirely sure," he replied.

"Arrow do you want to bond with me?" I asked.

"You have no idea how much I want that," he told me, "But I also don't want you to get hurt."

"You don't need to worry about me," I assured him, "I'll be fine."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Because I handled being burned as those ghosts passed through me," I told him, "That's where your pain comes from doesn't it?"

"That's part of it," he admitted, "The other part is being able to see the past and knowing that I can't change it. The past is a dark place and the things I see..." He couldn't finish.

Feeling the need to be closer to him and wanting to ease his pain, I moved so that I was straddling his lap.

"The past is like a ghost that won't pass on to the afterlife. It haunts me," Arrow told me as he placed his hands on my hips, holding me steady.