Until the World Falls Down

Chapter 22

22

F rom the void of a shadow, a door materialized, and Enver led me through it. “Thank you,” I breathed into its darkness, and I swore it held me for a moment, responding to my gratitude before spilling us into Enver’s washroom.

I helped Enver strip out of his shirt, carefully peeling away the bloodied fabric, my heart skipping a beat at the wounds on his chest and shoulders. The bleeding had already stopped, but the damage was still evident, his skin swollen and red around the puncture wounds left by the daggers. Somehow, they had all already closed, the edges knit together, crusted with dried blood.

He caught me staring, tilting my chin up. “Do not worry,” he told me. “I cannot die. The curse of the labyrinth can benefit me from time to time. It has already begun healing me.”

“I thought you were weakened.”

“I suppose your touch has mended me.”

I frowned as he smirked. “Enver.”

He sighed. “I cannot explain it, even if you ask. A wound caused by iron does not heal as swiftly. It weakens me momentarily. Even the labyrinth struggles to heal the effects of it at the same rate as wounds caused by other means. I do not have an explanation for why. It is something else my memory fails me on.”

I didn’t respond, and he retrieved a small cloth and a wooden bowl before returning to the tub. He turned on the faucet, adjusting the temperature until satisfied, and then took a seat on the edge of the tub, pulling me to stand between his thighs as he filled the bowl with water.

“Fortunately, the cut does not appear too deep,” he said as he mixed some kind of herb into the water and cleaned the area where Isla had pressed her dagger into my throat.

I bit the inside of my cheek as my wounds stung from the mixture. Isla had more than one chance to kill me when she had me pinned, and she hadn’t. I didn’t know what to make of that. Would she really have if it came down to it? Or…

Enver’s touch was gentle as he took my hands in them, picking the smallest shards of glass out of my palms with tweezers before disinfecting the cuts. When he finished, he didn’t release me immediately. His gaze remained focused on my palms, and then he brought them up to his lips, kissing them softly before letting go.

Then he dumped the old water and found a new cloth for me to use on him.

I filled the bowl with water again before emptying it over his back. Red ran in streams down his skin before cascading to the tub floor and washing down the drain. I poured more water over his chest, trying to wash away as much blood as possible before filling it once more and adding the antiseptic herbs. He tensed as I dampened the cloth before gently cleaning the drying blood from his back and shoulders, rinsing every few moments until his body was clear of the crimson stains.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I moved the cloth to his chest, watching as he adjusted his position so the water would fall into the tub, not the floor.

He groaned, his eyes squeezing shut as I brushed the cloth over his pecs, across the fresh wound there. “Wait.”

I stopped immediately. “What’s wrong?”

“I am still sore.”

I pulled back and examined the stark reminders of the daggers once embedded in his torso. “Then?—”

He caught my hand and brought it back to his chest. “Not there. I believe I know how you could make me feel better, though.”

“Where does it hurt?” I asked, worried now. “How can I help?”

He cracked an eye open, tapping his lips. “Here. A kiss from your lovely lips should soothe the ache.”

I scowled at him, pushing the cloth harder against his chest. This time, his groan was real. “You must be feeling better if you can joke around.”

“Perhaps not as much as I thought,” he said, his fingers enclosing around my wrist. “I am in great pain. So much so that I fear I could die without your kiss. I might even expire on the spot, full of regret for not having tasted you one last time before I fade from this world?—”

“Enver,” I cut him off, my voice tight, my hand shaking against his scars. But the image was already in my head. His lifeless body, bleeding out on the throne room floor. All alone. “Please. Don’t joke about you dying when I thought you just were. I…”

Enver rose from the edge of the tub, all traces of humor gone from his face. My throat felt thick as he cradled my cheeks in his warm hands. “Forgive me, Nell. I did not intend to upset you. I am fine, I promise. I will not be going anywhere.”

“I am, though,” I said, taking an unsteady breath.

And I realized why I imagined Enver dying alone just now .

Because I was leaving.

I would no longer be here with him. If any danger came to him again, he would face it alone. He would face everything alone the minute I escaped his labyrinth.

“If what happened with Isla counted as a layer of the labyrinth, then I only have one left,” I told him, trembling. “I’ll be gone soon. You won’t have me, and I won’t have you. If you get hurt again, how can I heal you?”

His thumb traced circles on my cheek. “I was always aware of the threat Isla posed. It was only a matter of waiting until she struck. It will never happen again. You need not worry about me.”

My hands shot to his wrists, and I clung to him. “How can I not? What will happen when I leave? When you’re all alone again? What if something happens to you?”

“That is not something for you to worry about. Do not concern yourself with me after you leave.”

“If,” I said, my pulse stuttering.

“When,” he said, firmly.

“Enver—”

“Nell,” he interjected, his tone harsh, making me fall silent. His demeanor softened a moment later, his voice turning gentle. “You are not gone yet. For now, you are still here. With me. We can still enjoy our time together. Put to rest the thoughts of leaving and what could happen to me when you do. Only think of us. Of now.”

I clenched my jaw, trying to calm myself. His lips brushed across my forehead. My nose. My lips. Each kiss unraveled me a bit more, the tension slowly leaving my body, replaced by a welcome warmth. “I’m sorry,” I said after he finished kissing me.

“Do not apologize, my little lover. I…” he trailed off, his fingers digging into my cheeks briefly before he let go. “I believe you are forgetting you could still fail my labyrinth and th us be forced to remain here with me. Do not let overconfidence become your undoing.”

I waited for his words to instill fear in me like they had done so many times before, but as I thought, it never came. Overconfidence wouldn’t be my undoing. He would.

I finished cleaning the blood off Enver, and then he double-checked the cut on my neck, treating it with so much tenderness and care it made my heart squeeze in my chest. He then filled the bath and dragged me close as we both settled into the hot water. He took his time washing my hair, and when I glanced over my shoulder back at him, I caught the content smile on his face. Like there was nothing else in the world he would rather be doing.

I forced myself to look away from him. The way he took care of me and the way he treated me continued to open my eyes, making me realize how poorly I’d allowed myself to be treated in the past. He and everyone else I’d met during his labyrinth showed me how things should be. How I now wanted them to be.

I knew that when I returned home, I would not be the person I’d been when I left. I would be a woman who no longer accepted anything less than what she deserved. And I would learn how to love and be loved. Properly this time.

But for now, I was with Enver. I would enjoy the time we had left together and face my last challenge with everything I had.

I would.

My stomach knotted.

I would, wouldn’t I?

Enver would always remain in my memories. I would at least have him there. I would cling to that thought, but I still wanted to know more about him. I wanted more to remember him by.

After Enver finished washing me, I turned to him, straddling his lap and dispensing some of the floral-scented soap into my hands. He made a satisfied sound as I massaged his neck and his eyes closed. “Enver?”

“Yes?”

“Do you remember when your birthday is?”

He cracked an eye open. “My birthday?”

My hands moved to his shoulders, working the muscles there. “You said there are some things you remember. Is your birthday one of them?”

“No,” he said, relaxing further into my touch.

“I’m sorry.”

“Do not be. It is not your fault. But what about you, my little lover? When is your day of birth?”

“It’s actually really soon,” I answered. “October 16th.”

“I see. We are under the Ember Moon now. Your day of birth falls right before the Frost Moon rises.”

Ember Moon? His answer threw me for a moment until I realized the calendar system here was probably much different from the one in my world. “You can remember what your months are called?”

Enver leaned toward me, his face pressing into my neck as my hands slipped around him to wash his upper back. “Not exactly. I have come across that information over the years of searching for participants for my labyrinth. I pick up on things from time to time.”

“Is that why you speak so formally?”

“Do I?” he responded, his voice muffled by my skin.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes. Very much so.”

Enver pulled back at the sound of my laughter, surprise flickering in his eyes before he cupped my cheek, thumb caressing my bottom lip. “I thought nothing could rival your smile, but your laughter captivates me just as deeply.”

I pressed a kiss against his thumb. “There you go, saying pretty words again. ”

“They are not merely pretty words. They are the truth.”

“Have you ever heard of contractions? Slang?”

Enver dropped his hand, water splashing up on us as it broke the surface. “I have spent most of my years here reading through the books stored in my library. It is possible that is how I formed this habit of speaking formally, as you put it. Does it bother you?”

“No,” I told him. “You just sound like me when I was in college trying to hit the word count needed for an essay. It’s actually pretty cute.”

“Cute?” Enver repeated, tilting his head, his nose scrunching up. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Yes. Is there something else you prefer?”

“Handsome?” he offered. “Charming? Irresistible? The most desirable lover you have ever laid eyes on?”

“You’re so full of yourself,” I teased.

“And soon you could be full of me,” he murmured, his fingers sliding to my inner thighs.

I splashed water on him, blushing. “Stop it.”

He chuckled, his hands going to stop mine from spraying him with more water. “Very well.”

“Let’s move on. Do you have a favorite color?”

He straightened, the corners of his lips tugged up into a smile. “I can answer this one. I may not remember what my favorite color was originally, but now I am torn between two colors. White.” He delicately lifted a strand of my hair before letting it slip through his fingers like silk. “Or perhaps blue.” His thumb traced the curve of cheek, lingering just beneath my eye. “The vast sky, the shimmering stars… neither could ever contend with the radiance of your beauty.”

My heart skipped a beat. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Let me add pink to that,” he said, eyes trained on my blushing cheeks. “What is your favorite color? ”

“Black,” I responded immediately, causing his smile to change into a smirk.

“Perhaps you enjoy my shadows a little too much.”

I playfully pushed against his chest. “Or maybe you enjoy using your shadows on me a little too much.”

“Never enough. I have more plans for you and my shadows, my little lover.”

A rush of excitement went through me. “You do?”

“Mm. But that will have to wait. I am enjoying this. Keep asking me questions,” he encouraged, closing his arms around me again, chin on my shoulder once more. “I might not be able to answer, but the longer you speak, the longer I get to enjoy your voice.”

I smiled. “Favorite food?”

“I am partial to peaches. And your?—”

“Don’t even.”

He chuckled again, and I couldn’t help but join in, too. I loved the sound of his laughter. The vibration in his chest. I loved seeing him relaxed and happy. It was something I wished I could experience every day.

I considered my next question, aiming for one he could answer without reminding him of his missing memories. “Favorite place in your castle?”

“Any place where you are.”

“Enver,” I chided, earning another lovely rumble of laughter.

“Very well. If it has to be inside the castle, then the observatory.”

Where I had found him after completing Dio’s labyrinth. “It was beautiful there.” Even in the middle of a thunderstorm.

“I will bring you back there.”

“So then, the garden is your favorite place outside the castle, right? ”

He nodded. “Correct. It is also the only place outside the castle I can go, but that does not make it any less special.”

“Do you have any questions for me?” I asked.

He hummed. “Do you have any pastimes?”

“Reading,” I said. “That’s pretty much it.”

“Ah, something we have in common,” he responded, eyes crinkling. “I also enjoy literature.”

“I kind of doubt we read the same kind of things,” I muttered, thinking of all the… mature books I preferred to read.

“We will have to share recommendations.”

I briefly wondered if Enver would like reading about alien sex or vampire sex more. Did those kinds of books even exist in this world?

“Do you have a profession?” he asked, changing the topic.

“Yes,” I said. “I do design work, but I hate it. It pays well, but I’m miserable doing it. The money is the only reason I stay.”

“Is there something you would rather do?”

I hesitated. “I’m not sure. I used to have other interests but never pursued them. It was easier to stick to something safe and comfortable, even if it left me unhappy and unfulfilled.”

Like my relationship with Julian.

“You deserve to be happy, my little lover,” Enver said, the sincerity of his words seeping into me, filling my chest, and warming my heart.

I breathed out shakily, trying not to feel the weight of his statement. It would only lessen my resolve to leave further. “Do you think you have family somewhere, Enver?”

He shook his head, his hair tickling my skin. “I cannot remember. If I do, though, I wonder if they have lost their memories of me as I have lost my memories of them.”

My hands slipped around him again, feeling the muscles of his back ripple under my fingertips as he adjusted his position to move away from the edge of the tub. Was someone waiting for Enver? Like Aki waited for Cas? Was someone looking for him desperately, as Luliana had searched for Dio? Would I be that person to Enver once I left here?

“Your family must be missing you,” Enver said.

“No,” I responded, my chest tight. “I don’t think they are.”

“How could someone not miss you?” he asked, pulling back to look me in the eye, his brow furrowed. “I crave your presence again within moments of you leaving me.”

I looped my arms around his neck and slid closer to him, our chests pressing together, my chin tucking into his neck. “My dad left when I was sixteen, and my mom decided it was my fault. She kicked me out as soon as she legally could. But only me. Not my sister. Only me.”

His fingers stroked my hair, his other hand on my lower back, long fingers splayed against my skin. “Your mother is a fool, then, to deprive her life of someone as precious as you. As is your father.”

“I don’t think my dad was happy, though,” I said. “I remember I didn’t blame him for leaving. I still don’t. My mom used him for his money. She cheated on him multiple times, and he eventually got fed up and left. We never heard from him again. I… I just wish he hadn’t left me behind.”

I tensed as I said the words, not intending to reveal so much. I’d never told anyone that before. Any of this. But with Enver, everything seemed to slip out. I didn’t feel embarrassed to tell him anything. And now that he had some of his emotions back, I knew he could understand me, and we could have conversations like this.

But Enver didn’t speak. He simply held me, our bodies molded together. But it was enough. The comfort. The support. The safety. A lump rose in my throat. How could someone who emotionally couldn’t care for me, who could never love me, make me feel more cherished than those I’d known for years?

I breathed in his scent, letting it wash over me. “My sister was the only constant in my life. ”

“Was?”

“The night you found me at the club is when I found out Julian was cheating on me with her, remember? That’s why I was so desperate. They both betrayed me. I thought Veronica cared about me, but who does that to someone they claim to care about? And worse, my mom knew all about it. And is okay with it. I don’t understand why they would do that to me. What I did to deserve it. They were using me…” I bit my lip to keep myself from saying more, afraid of admitting more things I didn’t want to face.

Enver was silent for a moment. “If I could take away your pain, I would,” he said quietly. “You deserve to be surrounded by those who cherish you, not those who take you for granted. You are not a thing to be used, Eleanora. You are a treasure—one worth fighting for. One worth keeping forever. One worth loving unconditionally. And I am sorry you have been hurt by those who are undeserving of you.”

“No, it’s okay,” I said, putting space between us again so I could cradle his cheek in my hand. “I don’t regret it happening. Not anymore. Everything that’s happened to me has led me here. To the labyrinth. To you.”

“Eleanora.”

“I now realize I wasn’t happy before,” I said, my voice wavering. “I accepted what I thought I deserved. I was desperate to be wanted and needed. By family, by lovers. But I know better now. I won’t let it happen to me again. Whether it was your intention or not, you’ve changed me by bringing me here. For the better.”

His eyes met mine, soft and affectionate. “You have changed me as well. Forever, my little lover. Much as the scar upon my chest marks my flesh, you will be forever branded upon my soul.”

“I won’t forget you,” I promised. “I won’t forget what you’ve done for me— to me. ”

“I will ensure you do not,” he responded, before his lips descended on mine.

It took us a long time to leave the tub between stolen kisses and touches. Once we did, Enver scooped me up into his arms, carrying me back to his room, where he retrieved fresh clothing for us.

Seeing a dress in his hand made my stomach churn, but I ignored it, allowing him to dress me. I couldn’t stop the realization lingering in the back of my mind, though. That these dresses more than likely belonged to Enver’s past lover. The one Isla claimed he killed.

I had to resist the urge to tear it off my body. I wouldn’t ruin my remaining time with him by feeling jealous of a ghost.

“I am an archery master,” Enver said abruptly.

I raised an eyebrow at him, watching as he pulled a pair of cotton pants over his hips, the fabric clinging to him in ways that made my pulse quicken. “What?”

He frowned, seemingly as surprised by his random statement as I was. “The thought suddenly came to me. I remembered I am an excellent marksman.”

“What were you thinking about just now?”

“My frustration at how powerless I felt when Isla attacked you,” he responded, his brow furrowing. “Something prevented me from fighting at my full potential. I am missing something, but I cannot quite figure out what.”

“Like a bow and arrow?”

“No,” he answered, “but perhaps my line of thought prompted that memory to resurface.” He stretched out his left hand, looking down at it, his shadow ring shimmering on his finger. A ball of darkness materialized above his palm a second later, then morphed into an arrow. “This curse may have taken more from me than just my emotions and memories.”

Anxiety settled in my chest. “What will you do about the curse when I’m gone? ”

His silence answered my question, and the shadow arrow dissolved into the air.

“Won’t you at least try to break it?” I pressed.

“I am willing to make an attempt right now,” he said, walking up to me. “Care to assist me, my little lover?”

I nodded vigorously. “Of course?—”

He kissed the words from my lips, his arm snaking around my waist to hold me to him. I parted my lips, welcoming the kiss, and deepening it. A groan rumbled in his throat when I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth, nipping at it lightly. He pulled away, forcing me to release his lip, his heated gaze meeting mine.

“Did it work?” I breathed.

“No. I suppose a kiss of true love cannot break a curse when the one cursed cannot love,” he murmured. “A pity. I am up for attempting it again, though. And maybe once more after that. Or an infinite number of times more. Until you grow weary of me.”

A teasing smile hinted at his lips, but I was too distracted by the reminder that he couldn’t feel love to react. I couldn’t help but think he’d brought it up on purpose—to remind me not to lose myself to him. It was a reminder I didn’t want.

One I always needed.

“I wish to check on the mess in my throne room,” he said, when I didn’t respond. “Let us return.”

Was this a test? He wanted to bring me back to an inescapable room. Did he expect me to say no? “Let’s go, then,” I said.

A flash in his eyes had me questioning my assumption of his intentions. He didn’t seem disappointed in my response. Instead, he seemed pleased. I caught the faintest smirk on his face before he turned from me to form another shadow door.

We returned to the throne room through it, and I blinked, stunned by its appearance. Light flooded it again, revealing no evidence of what had transpired. A new chandelier hung from the ceiling, pristine and bright. The floor was clear of broken glass and debris—not one single blood stain or crack tarnishing the glossy marble.

“The servants are as efficient as always,” Enver commented, wandering around the room, his hands clasped behind his back. “Good. I worried the mess would be a distraction for you.”

I glanced at him. “For me?”

He turned toward me, a smirk now fully on his lips. He slowly approached me, steps measured and purposeful, and my stomach swooped in anticipation. “Yes. For you. Nothing could distract me from what I am about to do to you.”