Chapter Text
Don’t let it be for nothing.
The words rang in the Sun Summoner’s ears as she walked towards the Darkling, who was staring at Mal’s lifeless body behind her. His eyes darkened, narrowing as his mind tried to work out what had just happened.
Her own eyes clouded over, the world going in and out of blurring at the edges. But still, she stood straight, stopping only when she stood a foot from the Darkling.
“What type of power is this?” He demanded, stepping towards her as if he was going to grab her. His hands were around her neck, thumbing where her collar used to be. It laid broken, in pieces, beside Mal’s body. She couldn’t feel the strong sense of power and surety she’d once felt at his touch. It was dimmed, somehow.
“What. Is. Going. On.” the Darkling bit out, voice growing more dangerous.
Alina smiled slightly. “I think you know what,”
“It cannot be,” He said shortly.
“It is,” She replied.
“ It cannot be ,” He cried, plunging them both into a shadow-like tent. Alina looked up, barely seeing the faint blue of the sky emerging on the Fold. Instead, she saw his shadows swirling around them, aggressive and erratic. Not unlike what he was feeling, she thought. His eyes looked crazed, confused.
She would’ve laughed at him if not for the precarious situation she was in. This had to go perfectly, but only if she played it out properly.
“How?” He asked.
“Mal’s like you, an amplifier,”
“That much I understand,” the Darkling said, laughing bitterly. “But how ?”
“Your ‘worthless’ otkazat'sya have a bigger part in your story than you’d like to think, Darkling,”
“No,” He said bitterly.
“Yes.” She replied simply. “Morozova accidentally turned his otkazat'sya daughter into his third amplifier. Mal... is the third amplifier.”
“ How ?” He asked, over and over again. “ How? How? ”
“I am not answering a stupid question,” She said simply, ignoring the crazed look in his eye.
“And what of you?” He asked again, taking her wrist, ridden of its fetter. “You killed him...that must mean you’re nothing now,” The shadows swirled more violently like they were going to close in on the two.
“No. I have always been something,” Alina replied. “But not something that you could use. I am the light, one medium that no one, other than me, has ever been able to control. And I have relinquished it.” I am ruination.
She looked at him, realization settling into his quartz eyes. He had lost. He was alone. There was nothing he could do anymore.
“This isn’t right,” the Darkling said. His voice sounded desperate. “You were meant.. you were meant to be like me,”
“No,” Alina said, shaking her head. “ You were meant to be like me . A balance,” She stepped forward, closing the distance between them, taking his hands in hers.
“You’ve still got a chance,” She whispered.
“At what?” He spat. “Tell me, Alina. Tell me what I have a chance at.” The Darkling’s voice dropped. The shadows enveloped them, close bodies and all. To those watching on the outside, it looked like it was a single person standing, not two.
“A second chance,” She whispered. Her breath hit his neck. “That’s what you have,”
“And tell me why I do,”
“You don’t. You shouldn’t, at least. But I’m giving you one. So take it,”
“You’re asking me to surrender.” The Darkling said.
“Not exactly. You’ll never do that,” She replied.
“Then kill me,”
She wanted to. She wanted to so desperately. It would be the quickest way to end this war, a simple plunge of a knife into his heart. Would it even go through? She wondered. Could steel penetrate the stone?
But that was not what the world wanted. That was not what she wanted. She felt it, even if she did not have her powers anymore. He was not over. They were not over.
“I will not do it,” She whispered.
“Cannot, or will not?” He whispered back. She shivered at how quickly his voice could change tones. One second it was dripping in danger, the next, incredibly vulnerable. Like now.
“Both,” Alina swallowed, lifting her head so she could look at him. She didn’t even realize just how close they stood against each other, like they were holding the other up.
“And what will you have me do? Go back to being a more revered servant for the Boy King? They’ll never accept me,”
She hadn’t wanted to think about that. “Not right away, at least. But in time.”
“I’d rather die,”
“No.” She said firmly.
His silver eyes flashed black, the shadows melting away, and they were back on the skiff.
“You don’t get to decide,”
“Yes, I do,” And she reached into her jacket sleeve, grateful for the shadows scattering around her, before plunging her knife into his side. Not very deep, but just enough that he was left unstable.
He regarded her with an almost amused expression as he fell to the ground, hands still wrapped around hers. Alina fell with him.
“Get him a Healer,” She called out as Tamar and Zoya came running towards them. “We’re taking him back to the King,”
“Alina we have no-” Zoya cried, looking up at the nichevo'ya that were still flying.
“Call off your nichevo'ya ,” She said. His hands gripped hers tighter, his silver eyes flashing. Then they were closed, and he nodded. Taking one of his hands from hers, he raised it shakily, and with a flick of his wrist, the shadow beasts disintegrated. Nikolai fell from the skies and landed in Tolya’s strong arms.
“Thank you,” Alina whispered. The Darkling nodded again, still unable to speak. He coughed, a trail of blood trickling down his chin. She reached out, moving her hands so one came to support the back of his head, the other flicked the blood off.
“You’ll be taken care of,” She said. He smiled before his eyes shut, and his body went limp.
-
“You have to be insane,” Nikolai said. They had reached Kribirsk in a daze, some drunk on victory, others drowning in misery. Alina tried not to stare at Mal’s corpse for too long. She still had a job to do, there would be time for mourning after.
“I’m really not,”
“No,” Zoya said. “You are. You want to give him a second chance?”
Alina looked away. She knew how this all sounded. Truly, she did.
“Not exactly. Not after everything he’s done...”
“But…” Zoya prompted, annoyance flaring.
“But… I cannot exist without him, and he without me. We are two sides of the same coin. Light and dark,”
“That makes no sense,” Zoya said.
“Yes it does. Think, Zoya. Two of the most fundamental things in our world. How can one exist without the other?”
“I assume they can’t?” She asked. Alina nodded.
“I don’t like it either. If I knew it wouldn’t bring more harm than peace, I’d have driven that knife straight through his heart,”
“I wish you would’ve,” Nikolai grumbled.
“He can also help you, you know,” Alina said, squinting in the dim firelight of the room. They were back at the palace in Os Alta, Alina having found her way to Nikolai’s study.
“How?”
“Your...affliction, Nikolai. It was born from his power, I’d assume he would be the one to rid you of it,” Alina said.
“How can we trust him to do that?” Zoya asked testily. “He’s The Darkling. The one who mutilated Genya, took control of you and wiped out Novokribirsk, killing everyone I loved, and who’s killed hundreds of others with absolutely no remorse. How can you trust him, Alina?”
“I don’t trust him, per se,” She began. It was true, she didn’t.
But she trusted the idea of what he could become, now that he had no one, or nowhere to turn to. He only really had her.
She almost jolted.
That's exactly what the Darkling had thought about her.
But he had been wrong. She had plenty of people. At least Alina was nice .
“Anyways, what's he going to do now?” She asked. Zoya didn't look convinced, but Nikolai was staring off, deep in thought.
“If he can turn me back from a murderous chicken to my old, immensely charming self, I suggest we let him stay, Zoya. We couldn't let him go even if we wanted to,”
Zoya rolled her eyes. “You're right, I suppose,”
“I'm always right, Nazyalensky,” Nikolai replied smoothly, then turned to Alina. “And what of you Sun Summoner? What will you do now?”
Alina took a deep breath. She didn't know what was next. Mal was dead. Her powers were gone. She didn't have much left.
Except.
“I'll stay here. Keep an eye on the Darkling, help rebuild the Grisha. I might not be one anymore, but I'm still here.”
“You'll always be one of us,” Zoya said fiercely. She said it with such emotion and sincerity that Alina bristled. She just shook her head sadly.
-
The next afternoon, they held the funerals for all those who died on the Fold. Pyres were built, laid in pairs in two rows. Mal had been placed in the one closest to her.
It was a lovely day, too lovely for all the death that stared Alina in the eye. The sky was blue, and birds chittered in the trees. Sunlight shone down, and she shifted so she was sitting directly in its path. The warm feeling soothed her.
She tried to call her powers, but it was no use. No light shot from her fingertips as it once did. She felt empty.
She heard the pyres being prepared to be lit. Never looking up, Alina slid into place beside Nikolai and Zoya. Genya stood with David at the side. People moved out of the way without being asked, like she was a bomb no one wanted to touch. It was true in a way- she had become a star. A living star, the sun. Even the sun would one day explode. She was like a supernova now- awaiting her final form, nothing really keeping her there.
Except for her black hole.
“Alina,” Nikolai said, interrupting her thoughts. She looked back down, the sunlight dancing in her eyes, her sight of the prince- now king- blotched in green and red.
“Alina, it’s time,”
She nodded, swallowing hard and let Nikolai guide her to the pyres. She was going to light Mal’s pyre.
His eyes were closed, a peaceful expression lay on his face. He had been ready to die and took it in full stride. Mal had died for her. For peace. For Ravka.
Someone had changed his uniform and cleaned the blood off his face and chest. She probably should have done that, but it was too late now.
Mal’s hands were folded perfectly across his chest. The hands that had once held hers and made her feel safe and warm, were now cold.
Death had taken too much from her.
“Alina,” Nikolai said again. Numbly, she accepted the lit torch he offered her.
The flame flickered, much like her own feelings. She wasn’t sure she could bring herself to light the pyre.
She didn’t want to say goodbye.
Nikolai leaned forward, so only she could hear him.
“I can do it, you know,” He said. “No one should have to burn someone they love,”
Alina shook her head. She’d have to do it, even if she hated every moment of it.
The pyre caught fire almost as soon as she held the flame to its base. Then it erupted, red and orange light blazing. It engulfed the pyre, Mal and another soldier included. She stepped back, the heat making her cheeks red.
The smell was awful. It was putrid, acrid, and even Genya had to turn away for a moment, gagging in her palm.
But Alina did not shy away from it. Instead, she just watched the flames with glazed eyes.
Her once greatest love, burning away.
He had died for what? A war that hadn’t even been properly won- one that would probably never be. The Darkling was still alive.
And she hated that she didn’t mind that.
Still, her Mal, stupid and stubborn as he was most times, was dead. Mal, who had been there for her when they were children, then through the army, and the war. Alina knew he never even tried to understand her powers- but she never had minded. She would’ve felt better about them being gone- if he was still here. They could’ve run off and lived the rest of their lives in quiet peace. Nikolai wouldn’t have stopped them, she knew that. At least Alina would’ve had purpose .
Mal was dead.
And he was not coming back.
-
She did not cry in front of them, they didn’t need to see that. Genya looked like she expected Alina would. A lot of people did. No, she would save her tears for the dark that night. The demons lurking in the shadows would be the comforting hand on her shoulder tonight, not her friends.
This is exactly why she found herself at the Darkling’s bedside. He was still injured, not allowed to get up. The perfect trap, he would be forced to listen to whatever she had to say. He had not been awake when she came, instead, he was sleeping peacefully on his side. He looked too comfortable.
She didn’t know how he slept so soundly- if she had committed all the crimes he had, she’d never sleep. Her nightmares would be plagued with the various faces of the people she had killed. How many had he killed by now?
Sitting down beside him, Alina took the empty glass on the bedside table and held it up to his mouth to make sure he wasn’t dead. His breath clouded the edge as he breathed out, then rescinded as he breathed back in. The Darkling moved, and his chin brushed against the glass’s cool surface. He jerked awake, his eyes darting around rapidly.
When they settled on her, she wanted to shrink in her seat.
“What are you doing here?” He asked coldly, shifting so he sat upright.
“I was in this part of the castle,” She replied, setting the glass back on its usual spot.
“Why were you holding a glass to my mouth?”
“You looked dead. Had to make sure you were still breathing,”
“I’m sure you wouldn’t be the first person to celebrate if I wasn’t,” The Darkling said. “Would you mind refilling that glass? I haven’t drank anything in hours,”
She raised her eyebrows. It was such a simple request.
“What? The Healers refuse to do any more than they absolutely have to, so I don’t get extra water. I’m parched.” He explained.
Alina sighed, but picked it up and walked to the other corner of the hospital room. A samovar and the day’s pastries still sitting in a wooden basket were on a table. She picked up the water jug and tipped it, watching the water fill the glass.
When she returned, the Darkling eagerly took the glass from her hand and drank the entire thing in seconds. She giggled.
“Why are you here, Alina?” The Darkling asked, placing the empty thing in his lap. The sun had long gone down, and the moon hung in the sky, basking the surroundings in white, milky light from the large windows. Her own face was half caught in the moonlight- the light crackled in through the heavy cloth curtains. The Healers had all gone to bed, and the Darkling never bothered to light a candle. It was perfect, she didn’t want to be seen, and neither did he.
“Why are you here?” He repeated. Alina looked up, staring at the starkness of him. He wasn’t wearing his usual black kefta, just a simple linen shirt and pants. His black hair, curling at the end, sat ruffled atop his head. His silver eyes glinted in the moonlight, the only part of his face that was illuminated. She could see the faint scars from their showdown not long ago.
“I don’t know,” She replied.
“You wanted to see me,”
“No,”
He chuckled. “Then you must need something. You’ve never willingly come to me,”
“Maybe that’s because you never made yourself approachable,”
“What?” He said mockingly. “I wasn’t approachable? I offered you the world,” He grinned.
“That’s exactly it, Darkling,” Alina said.
His smile faltered. “Darkling? Is that what I am to you now?”
“It’s all you ever will be,” She retorted. “The man who murdered mercilessly, the one who allowed others to die with no remorse, Grisha or otkazat'sya alike,”
“So that’s what this is about,” He said, shifting in the bed, grimacing. “Your otkazat'sya you burned today. I smelled it all the way from here. I smell it on you ,”
She nodded, not wanting to say anything else. Her throat felt closed up, like it always did when tears welled up in her eyes.
“And you blame me for his death,”
She nodded again.
“I didn’t kill him,” His voice sounded bitter.
“You might as well have,”
“As I recall, you were the one who-”
“Shut up !”
“I don’t want to fight you, Alina,”
“Then stop making it so easy.”
“ You stop giving in to the feeling. It’ll consume you,”
She scowled. “I don’t know why I came,”
“I know,” The Darkling said. “I bet you’re really wishing you could have stuck that knife into my heart right now,” She caught sight of his bandages where his shirt had ridden up.
“I value my own life over yours, but yes,” Alina smiled.
“I wish you could be able to do it,” He said. “Without it harming you,”
Her breath hitched. “Why do you care what happens to me?”
“You may not believe it, Alina, but a part of me truly did care for you. So yes, I care about what happens to you,”
“Did or does?” She asked quietly.
“I think we both know the answer to that,” He replied. Silently, he reached out for her hand, laying his on top. “Go to sleep, solnishka , you look exhausted.”
She bristled at the pet name. Sunshine . Far too intimate, yet far too welcoming. Alina watched their hands, both flat on each other. She didn’t want to pull away- in fact, she wanted to wrap her fingers around his.
That dimmed surety flowed mutely.
Just as quickly as the moment came, she snatched her hand back like he was a nasty chemical spill in the Fabrikator’s workshop.
“Goodnight, Darkling,” She said rapidly, getting up, her skirts swishing softly over the floor. Alina never turned to look back at him, but if she did she would have been met with hurt eyes, nothing like his usual cool.
Alina paused in the doorway, invisible to the Darkling as the moonlight didn’t reach there.
Then, very quietly, thinking he couldn’t hear her, she said:
“I care what happens to you, too,”
And she was off, he could hear her footsteps echoing on the stone floor in the hallway.
He wished she would come back, and just sit near him. They didn’t have to touch or talk. Just be in her presence.
The Darkling wanted her to come back.
Aleksander Morozova wanted her to come back.
These two new halves always tortured his brain, leaving him somewhere in the middle, the dark almost always more enticing.
“I need you, Alina,” He whispered softly, looking down at his hands and playing with the shadows.
Because, really, what was darkness?
A total absence of light.
-
Alina spent the next days in her quarters, never straying far from her bed. Genya would come bustling in, cheery as ever, carrying bowls of porridge and a cup of coffee.
“I’m not hungry,” She’d say.
“For later,” Genya would reply, fussing with Alina’s pillows.
Then Alina would grumble asking to be left alone, to have the curtains closed and the silence to herself once more.
And each time, Genya would stay a little longer. First, she’d try to brush her hair, but Alina would bury herself deeper into the sheets. Then Genya would ask her to go on a walk, to go visit David or Tolya or Tamar.
Alina wouldn’t respond, and soon, Genya would leave.
Others tried to come. Nikolai said his best jokes and Tolya tried to recite his poetry. Tamar would punch his shoulder, but even that didn’t get the Sun to shine again. The Darkling, she had been informed, was still bedridden.
Apparently, the knife had gone deeper than she meant it to.
Every time she closed her eyes, Alina would see Mal. Sometimes he’d be engulfed in flames, other times he was standing upright, walking towards her. When it was like that, he’d fling her into his arms and twirl her around.
“We’re home,” He would say. His voice sounded too distant, too echoey, and then she’d be met with nothing again.
She missed him. No matter what capacity their relationship was in, Mal had always been there. Even when he was being stupid, he was there.
Nothing could rid her of her guilt for letting him die, for him staying dead. And for seeking out the Darkling for comfort.
Alina rolled over in her bed, so she was facing the ceiling.
“ Don't let it be for nothing ” She repeated in her brain. Not like she'd ever forget it.
The door opened, and thinking it was Genya again, Alina threw her pillow across the room.
“Watch it, Starkov, it wouldn’t do for the King to be killed by an ex-Grisha, they’d have to charge you with regicide,” Nikolai said, coming to stand at her bedside.
His shadow loomed over her, blocking the sunlight.
“What do you want?” She asked.
“It’s been a week and a half, Alina. People are thinking you’re dead and that we burned you along with the rest of them,”
“Well, I’m very much here,” She grouched. “Unfortunately,”
“I need you to do something for me,” Nikolai said.
“So there is something you want from me!” said Alina triumphantly. She sat up, and Nikolai laughed at her white hair, sticking up in tufts.
“I’m afraid it’s not very exciting,” He began. “They cleared the Darkling, he doesn’t need bed rest anymore. It’s time for our very lengthy chat,”
She scowled. “I don’t know why you need me for that,”
“Alina you were the one who suggested he stay. If you’re not there, Zoya will strangle him in a second,”
“He deserves it,” She replied darkly.
“I’m not saying he doesn’t, but you should still be there,”
“Fine,”
“Good. I’ll see you in the War Room in an hour,” He said, turning around, his hands clasped behind his back. Alina watched him walk to go out. Nikolai looked tired, even though the dark shadows that laid underneath his eyes had receded when the Darkling called off his nichevo'ya .
“See you then,” She replied. She said it with as much enthusiasm as when Botkin told her to run laps around the Palace grounds.
And now, she found herself at the table with the Grisha Triumvirate, Nikolai, and the Darkling. An odd cast of characters. The Darkling, as usual, looked as arrogant as ever. Some things didn’t change.
“So many of my old friends, gathered in one place,” He said, looking around the War Room he had once solely commanded. “Feels like a welcoming home party,”
Alina nearly slid out of her seat. He was not helping himself.
Saints , she begged mentally, hoping he could still hear her through their connection. Please, shut up . If he heard her, he did not show it.
Zoya looked ready to attack him. Genya was squeezing David’s hand so hard the man looked like he wanted desperately to be anywhere else.
Nikolai cleared his throat, Tolya and Tamar straightened up in their posts at the door. “Welcome to the first official government meeting of the new Ravka,”
“There are quite a few things waiting to be discussed so I’ll get right to them,” He looked at the Darkling. “Or rather, who we have to discuss,”
The Darkling shrugged his shoulders. Why couldn’t he have been the same man from that night a week ago? That man was very different from the overbearing one sitting in front of Alina now.
“The only reason,” Zoya bit out, “You haven’t been executed is because it would kill Alina too. Stop acting like you used to, and humble yourself. It’s like you’ve gotten even more conceited,”
“I try, Zoya.” He replied.
“I am General Nazyalensky to you,”
“Very well, then, General ,”
“If you are to stay here, and you really don’t have much choice in the matter, there are some things we need to get straight,” Genya said. “You will not wield the same power you once did, and you are only serving as a guide to the King and the rest of us,”
“Seems about fair,” The Darkling replied.
“And,” Nikolai said, leaning into the table, “You will help me with my affliction,”
“Which one?” He asked innocently, those quartz eyes gleaming.
“You know which one. The one that turns me into a murderous beast who hunts down anything with blood in its sight,”
“That one,” The Darkling replied. He shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t actually know how to get rid of that,”
Alina groaned. Stupid man . Genya glared at him, and Alina could practically hear Zoya’s desire to choke him.
“What?” He asked. “I wasn’t really banking on you to survive that- or really for you all to have won, but-”
His face was met with a rogue pen.
“Well, I wasn’t ,”
“Please,” Alina begged. “Stop talking.”
At her words, he softened a little, shrinking back. “Fine. I truly don’t know how to help you, unless you give me access to Ilya Morozova’s journals,”
David looked affronted. “ You will not be laying your hands on those.”
“Do you want me to help him or not?”
“If you even try to use merzost to-”
“I’ll behave myself, I promise,” The Darkling said.
“Let him, David,” Nikolai said. “However, if you so much as step one bone out of line, I will chain you to a cell in the dungeons. And Alina can’t stop me,”
“I never would. In fact, I’d probably help you,” Alina said. The Darkling scowled.
“Good,” Nikolai said. “You will also serve as an advisor,”
“For what?”
“You’ve been in command of a government and army before, I have not. At least you know how to do it,”
“Fine,”
“And you will help General Naszyalensky and Miss Safin in whatever they need at the Little Palace,”
“Fine,” The Darkling said again, bored.
“I think that’s it, then, for now,” Nikolai nodded his head, and everyone stood up.
“Wait,” Alina said. “There’s something I have to say. Or rather ask.”
“Go ahead, Alina,” Nikolai beckoned, his gold hair bouncing.
“I’d like to leave for a while,”
“What?” Genya asked.
“To find the other Summoners I created. They must be scared out of their wits, and I can help them,”
“But you’d be away ,” The Darkling said. She forced herself to look at him, wounded expression and all.
Don’t let me be alone .
Was this her own form of punishment towards him?
“Exactly,” She smiled sadly, then turned to Nikolai. “Please, I can train them. Bring new meaning to the Soldat Sol .”
She knew Nikolai wouldn’t deny her.
“How long?” He asked.
“As long as it takes to find them. And win their trust. And train them.”
“Okay,”
“Okay,” Nikolai replied, then turned to the Darkling again. “One more thing. I am not calling you the Darkling, Darkling. So what shall we call you?”
The Darkling looked startled, and he leaned back in his chair.
“You just called me that,”
Nikolai rolled his eyes.
It was silent.
Alina held her breath. He would never reveal his true name to them. Only she and Baghra had had that privilege.
“Morozova.” He said. Nikolai raised an eyebrow, and David slapped the table.
“You cannot take his name!”
“He is a...distant relative. I can do whatever I please with his name,”
“Morozova,” Nikolai said, interrupting David’s protests. “Report to this room in three days time for your first day,”
The meeting ended after that, everyone trickled out slowly, until only Alina and the Darkling remained.
“Why must you leave?” He asked softly.
“Because I have to. I can’t explain it, but I need to do it,” She replied.
“You’d be leaving me.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve done that,”
“Nor the last,” He said matter-of-factly. “I don’t think I can do this if you’re not here, Alina,”
“Yes you can.”
“What?” He laughed. “I’ll go back to being nothing more than a glorified servant. That’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen,”
“I’m afraid you don’t decide that anymore,” She snapped. “This is better than what you deserve.”
“Everyone seems to agree on that front,” He replied sarcastically.
“Why can’t you show people you have a heart?” Alina demanded. “Like when we’re alone?”
He rose from his seat, quiet footsteps padding on the shiny wooden floors, until finally, he was kneeling in front of her.
“That is only for you to see, solnishka ,” The Darkling whispered.
“They have to trust you,”
“And they will,” He replied hardly.
“Trust, not fear,”
“Is there ever a difference for us?” He asked. “They will always fear us,”
“You will be fine,” She replied.
“Please stay,” He pleaded.
“You really don’t want to be left alone with them. You’re a bit scared of them too, admit it,”
“Yes,” He breathed.
“I will not stay, I cannot,”
“I need you, Alina,” He said, looking up at her. He looked like Aleksander, not the Darkling or the Black Heretic. Just Aleksander.
“No, you don’t,” Alina pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, but he just reached for it and pulled it back down.
“I need to find them, Aleksander,” She whispered. He paused, and he shivered at the use of his name.
“I know,” He responded, even more quietly.
“I will come back. I won’t leave you,”
“Okay,” She knew he didn’t fully believe her, and truth be told, she didn’t really believe herself either. The urge to run away completely felt stronger than her urge to find the new Summoners.
“Be safe,” Was all he said, and they both got up to get to the door. He limped, and she glided.
“Tell me it will work out,” He said. She stopped and leaned against the door.
“Of course it will,” She sighed. The Darkling moved closer, until his hands cupped her cheeks. She wanted to pull away.
But she didn’t.
“I want you, Alina,” Their noses were almost touching, and she could feel his soft breaths against her lips. He was fighting every desire in his body, as was she. The air pulsed.
“If you want me, Aleksander,” Alina said, bringing her own hands around his. “You must earn me. Prove to me that Aleksander Morozova still exists under there, not the Darkling.”
And she tore his hands off, and walked away briskly, leaving one confused man in her wake.
He stared down at his hands that had held her cheeks. She felt different to the touch than before…
No.
She couldn’t be.