Eternal by SJ Larson

Author:SJ Larson [Larson, SJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter nineteen

Soren

“Freya.”

“Freya.”

“Freya, darling, wake up.” I shake her awake.

Her cheeks are wet and flushed. Her breath ragged like she’s been running a marathon. Freya’s eyes fly open, and she starts wailing.

Her restless sleep is startling to me. She looks scared. I can’t tell if she’s afraid of me or of whatever dream it was.

Has this happened during the nights I was gone?

Guilt consumes me, as I start to regret leaving her alone for the past week. I tried hard to distance myself, but I can’t do it anymore. We can’t be separated like that anymore. It was as hard on me as much as it was on her.

“Freya, baby, it’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe with me,” I whisper words of affirmation, cradling her to my chest.

She fights me at first, as if the dream she was in still dances across her eyes, but relaxes as this reality sets in for her. The overwhelming instinct to protect her is taking over, and I can’t suppress it anymore. I wish I could rip her memories of Tristan away, to only leave her with memories of us. We might not have too many of them now, but I’ll make sure we create plenty.

But before I give her the life she deserves, Tristan Bristol will die. If not by her hands, then by mine. I can’t even fathom how much she suffered at his hands if it left her this brittle.

I press kisses into the side of her head as she comes back to this reality. Her body relaxes slowly as I run my hands along her side, hoping to instill some comfort. She pats my chest and pulls herself out of my arms. A part of me wants to keep her velcroed to me, but I don’t want to push her too far today. She’s already had a rough morning. Besides, I did this to myself. I was the only one who drove a wedge between us; it’ll be my job to get it back out.

Freya sits on the edge of the bed as I stand to take a shower and get ready for the day. I hope she will follow me there and seek solace in my arms. In reality, she won’t. I’ve destroyed the trust we built when I left her alone for all that time. I just needed time to figure myself out. I don’t know what there was to figure out because the only answer I found was that we belong together. We work better together. When she’s around, my mind is… calm?

I turn the shower off and step out. She flutters through the room, stopping to watch as I dry myself off. Freya catches me staring back at her and moves out of view again. I walk into the bedroom to find her sitting on the bench at the end of the bed, her head hanging low, as I start to dress.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask softly.

I hope she says yes, because only then will I understand how deeply rooted her traumas run.

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