Chapter 77: Grounding (Her POV)
I woke to an empty space beside me. Malvor's pillow was still warm, still carrying his scent. He'd left quietly. Sweetly. With a kiss pressed to my forehead I'd slept through. For a moment, I smiled into the sheets. Something cold slid under my skin. Not a memory. Not a thought. A presence. Aerion, not here, not close but awake. In the divine realm. A pressure like a hand around my throat, not choking, just reminding me it existed.
My breath caught. My heart stuttered. The rune on my leg pulsed once, weak, but enough to make my stomach drop. He was back. My breath came fast, shallow, so wrong. I sat up too quickly, the world tilting. A cold sweat ran down my spine. The house reacted instantly. Soft light blooming, runes humming warm, but even Arbor couldn't drown the echo of Aerion's awareness brushing mine. I whispered, "No. Not now. Please, not now—"
Fear crawled higher in my chest. Aerion's rage. Aerion's hunger. Aerion's memory. I pressed a hand to my sternum, trembling. I didn't want Malvor to feel this through the bond. I didn't want him to come running. I needed grounding. "Tairochi," I breathed.
The realm answered before my voice finished cracking. I arrived shaking. Not panicking. Not unraveling. Just terrified in a way that felt too human. Tairochi stood waiting, the mountain of a man carved from stone. If he was surprised to see me early, he didn't show it. His deep eyes scanned me once, taking in everything. "Aerion?" The word scraped something raw inside me. I nodded. "Come," He didn't ask questions. Didn't tell me to breathe. Didn't tell me it would be fine. He placed his hand between my shoulder blades. The earth hummed under my feet. "You are afraid."
"I'm not ready," I whispered. "He's back and I'm not—"
"You are preparing."
"That's not enough."
"It is what you have today."
My throat tightened. "I don't want to feel him again."
"You don't have to," Tairochi said simply. "Not here."
He guided my palm down to the stone. "Match the rhythm."
I tried. Failed. Tried again. Slowly the trembling in my limbs eased. The pressure on my chest loosened. Aerion's echo faded. I swallowed a shaky breath, tears burning my eyes without falling. "Why does it scare me so much?" I whispered.
"Because he broke you," Tairochi said. Truth, not cruelty. "Because he expects you to be the girl he hurt."
"I'm not."
"No. You are becoming someone he does not understand. That terrifies him."
I blinked. "Him?"
Tairochi's gaze didn't waver. "Fear moves both ways, Asha."
I didn't know what to say to that. So instead I pressed both palms to the stone. Let it hold me. Let it quiet me. Let it anchor me. The earth hummed back like a heartbeat that had waited eons for mine to match it. When the warmth settled under my sternum, Tairochi nodded once. "You may go back now."
"You'll… be there? If something happens?"
"I am stone," he said simply. "I do not leave."
The words broke something inside me. Before I opened the portal, he rested one large hand over my sternum again. "This does not crack today."
I nodded and went home steadier. Not fearless. But centered. Ready to face whatever might come.