Silver Elite

by Dani Francis

I was only five years old when my uncle smuggled me out of the city and took me to live in the Blacklands, the place of children’s nightmares.

“It means you’re joining the Command.” He smiles without a trace of humor. “You start tomorrow.”

“Every day, I feel like I’m losing a part of myself.”

“Basic facts don’t matter. It’s the important things that matter.”

My gaze flits back to Cross. Drawn there as if by a magnet.

“You’re not timid or weak, Dove. You’re a firestorm, and you’re going to burn everything in your path if you don’t learn how to restrain yourself.”

“I’m not like this with women,” he mutters. “I don’t chase. I don’t fucking beg.” He groans. “But you…You make me want to break down your defenses.”

“I’ve been thinking about this for days,” he mutters. “You’re all I think about.”

When I open my eyes, he’s watching me. I don’t like it. It’s too much.

“You trust me with your body but nothing else.”

“I’m doing it your way for now, Dove. But only until I no longer feel like it.”

I’m not sure how long we remain there, surrounded by steam and silence. He holds me, and I let him.

When I’m in bed with Cross, it’s the only time I’m able to shut off my brain and just…feel.

As much as I try to deny it, I can’t ignore the truth any longer. I am hopelessly, helplessly infatuated with Cross Redden.

“I don’t care if you got this from a pot of boiling water or an enemy attack in the Last War. It’s still a battle wound. A testament to how strong you are. It’s goddamn beautiful.”

In the back of my mind, I’m unable to shake the nagging feeling that I’m nearing a point of no return with Cross. That soon it will be too late to turn back, and this warm bubble that surrounds me when I’m with him will burst and destroy everything around me.

He rarely calls me by my name, and when he does, it sends ribbons of warmth unfurling through me.

“I know you don’t. You have no expectations, and you always keep people at arm’s length. But that only makes me want to impress you.”

A shock wave rocks my body as I realize I’m staring at a scene that was described to me before. Many times. By Wolf.

“I think about you every second of the day,” he mutters, kissing my neck. “It’s a weakness.” I dig my teeth into my lip. “I don’t want to be your weakness.” “Too late.”

“Why would you ever put yourself at risk like that?” “I…I wanted to show you that you can trust me. I wanted to show you…me.” The lump of emotion in my throat is liable to choke me. “I wanted you to see what I am.” “I see exactly what you are, Daisy. I always have.”

“I’ve loved you since I was eight years old. And I’m still adjusting to all of this. Trying to merge the two of you. Daisy. Wren.”

“Yes, but that’s not your fault. It’s not your fault you’ve been Daisy all along, or…” His voice grows even hoarser. “Or that now that I know the truth, I’ve never been more fucking terrified in my life.”

“You’re in my soul, Wren. I take a breath and feel you in my chest. You’re inside of me. You have been since I was a kid, and the thought of losing you…”

Yours is the only life that matters. I will rip anyone’s throat out, burn the entire fucking world down, if it means keeping you safe and—” “I love you, too.”

“I was trying to prove my love to you, asshole. And I did a stupid, impulsive thing. In my defense, I didn’t think many people would be seeing my bare thighs. I’m usually wearing clothes unless I’m with you.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. “For what?” “Not letting them kill me. Coming with me. Being my best friend since I was six years old.”

“I’m still in your head, Daisy. You can talk to me whenever you want, you know that. I love you. I will never leave you. Ever.”