Loren crossed the dark stone floor to his line of wardrobes and opened one near the door of his apartment. He took out a long black jacket and paused.
His pain was gone.
He looked down at his bare arms. The wounds on them seemed more healed now than they had been before he had taken Olivia, the red marks faded to pale scars. He felt stronger too. Being around her, close to her, had restored his healing ability and had given him back a fraction of his strength. Fascinating.
Loren focused on her. It was still very fuzzy, but he could sense her more clearly now, even over the enormous distance between them. He no longer had to exert his powers to the point that they drained him in order to feel her.
The distance between them diminished the effect of the bond though. If her heart rate increased, it wouldn’t affect him. He could feel a glimmer of her emotions, but not as clearly as he could before.
Was this boost in his strength and abilities temporary? If he remained away from her, would his strength fade again and his abilities weaken?
He knew much about bonds, but had never read anything about a bond between a mortal and an elf. He couldn’t risk remaining here in this realm long enough to discover the answers to his questions. He had to speak with his men and then return to her.
Not only to protect her and help her find a way to break the bond.
He wanted to see if spending time in her presence would give him back more of his strength or whether it had been something else, something more dangerous, that had restored his healing ability and a sliver of his strength.
Not closeness in the sense of proximity, but closeness on an emotional level.
He couldn’t allow himself to fall for her.
He couldn’t bear the pain of parting with her if that happened.
He slipped his jacket on and buttoned it down his bare chest. He straightened the stand up collar that almost reached his chin and did up the purple metal fastening across the front of it.
He had been wearing something similar the night he had met Olivia. When he had come around, it had lain shredded on the table beneath him. He hoped that this one fared better.
Loren smoothed the flat ends of the tails over his knees and studied the purple embroidery that depicted dragons locked in battle.
What had Olivia made of his clothing?
It must seem strange to a modern human. He doubted any of them wore a long coat such as his, fitted flush to his chest but looser at the waist, and then flowing down in four long rectangular tails, all outlined with fae symbols and with a beautiful depiction of fae life at the base of each panel. Would she think him handsome in it?
Loren pushed that thought away. Considering such things would only cause him pain. It didn’t matter what she thought of him. He would find a way to undo the bond, she would be safe from his brother, his full strength would return, and they would never see each other again. It had to be this way. She had said herself that she didn’t want this bond.
The way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t watching said differently though.
She had studied his body, lingering on his bare torso, and he had reacted fiercely to the heat of her gaze, his markings flashing violently in response. Her eyes had roamed back and lingered on him whenever he had begun to pace, trying to get his thoughts into order. She was afraid to look at him when he faced her, but couldn’t help herself whenever he left her to her own devices and lost himself in thought.
Her behaviour confused him.
He would call her shy, but she had stood up to him, fiercely at times, challenging him and even putting him in his place.
Loren couldn’t recall the last time someone had dared to do that.
Bleu tried from time to time, but his attempts were always weak, held back because of Loren’s position as his prince.
The last person to put him in his place was probably Vail, all those millennia ago.
Loren shoved those memories out of his head too because only pain lay down that road and he didn’t want to go there. Even the happy memories he had of his brother had become sources of sorrow for him.
He switched his thoughts back to Olivia. She hadn’t mentioned how long she would need to convince her people to allow him to come to the facility in an official capacity. He would go and speak to his researchers about finding a way to undo the bond and then he would return to her.
Loren closed the black wardrobe door and turned towards the main arched door of his rooms.
Bleu leaned there, dressed in similar garb to him, with rich blue embroidery on the jacket. The collar and top few buttons were undone, revealing the three jagged scars that slashed diagonally down the left side of his neck.
Loren shifted his gaze up to Bleu’s face and grimaced.
His second in command did not look pleased.
He waited, staring into his friend’s cool purple eyes as they slowly narrowed with the increasing frown that joined his black eyebrows.