The Bell of Freedom (King and human romance)✔

Chapter Fifty-Four

"What are you doing?" Cain groans. "Stop dressing yourself."

I button my jeans and I pick his shirt up, throwing it at him. "We need to get dressed."

He lays on the ground, grinning at me as he fiddles with the shirt in his fingers. "Come back here."

I sigh and drift back to him, planting myself at his side. He picks my hand up and holds it tightly.

"Do you regret it?" he says.

"No, it's not that. I'm still pissed with you."

He grins widely. "I know. I could feel some of it."

I smile back, meeting his soft gaze. "I missed you though."

"I missed you too. My hunger is curved for now but it will return as soon as we're apart and I can't do that to you. I gave you a life here, you shouldn't have to live it in fear of me returning."

"What are you suggest. . ." I trail off as I see the blade rise from the other side of his body. He holds it loosely, his hand tightening around mine.

"Do you remember what I said to you when we first met?" he says.

"No."

He sits up and I cross my legs as he positions himself right against me. I keep my eyes on that blade, my body tensing. "Do you know how long I have waited to find something like you?" he whispers, repeating the words that I vaguely remember. "You are rare and you are valuable and although I have thoroughly enjoyed having your soul inside of me, it is time for it to end."

"So the hunger will stop?" I whisper.

"Yes. I'm never going to be able to take your life, not even in thirty years or fifty years. The hunger will drive me insane. More insane. I will give you your soul pieces back and leave you in peace."

I'm surprised that he's the one suggesting it. I thought I'd have to convince him, manipulate him into doing it like I did outside the cave. "But you. . . you said that you'd kill me without the connection."

"That was the hunger talking," he says. "I was crazy. I don't think I would. Once you taste human desires it is very hard to shake them."

I smile gently. "You'll lose the completed soul."

He laughs. "After all this, do you really think I give a damn about the completed soul? I will never forget you, Aurora. Our time together. I will leave you in complete peace."

He cocks an eyebrow at me, insinuating something with his words. I lean back as I understand his meaning, my jaw opening slowly but no words will leave my mouth. I'm in shock.

"I will ring the bell and we will leave your planet," he says.

"Really? You'd do that?" Tears stream down my cheeks and he wipes them away with his finger.

"For you," he says. "I'd do anything. I don't think I've ever said this but I am so sorry for everything I've done to your planet, to your species, to your family." He caresses my jaw softly, the blade getting nearer to his arm. "The universe is full of mysterious and bizarre lifeforms; I have met trillions and trillions of them. But I have never found one worth sacrificing my own soul for."

"Cain," I cry. The blade stabs into his arm and he starts to cut.

"Close your eyes," he says. "It'll only hurt for a moment."

I surrender and close my eyes. My breathing is jagged and unsteady. His lips come back to mine for one last kiss. It's slow and sad, like the goodbye kiss we shared in my bedroom. He takes my hand and twists it so the palm is facing up. I feel a sharp pain across my palm as the blade slices my skin. I hiss out before a jolt enters my body. My hand grips around his wrist and my fingernails dig into him as I gasp loudly. He did it. He actually did it. But what was the cost?