I deserve love
668 Words
Chapter 24
Camila drifted through darkness.
Cold, suffocating darkness.
Then—light. Blinding, warm, golden.
Elisha.
She was Elisha again.
Her body felt lighter, younger, trembling as she gasped and reached toward the lone figure standing in the radiance.
Varyon.
Not the masked merchant she met tonight—
but the Varyon from her past life.
The boy who once smiled like dawn, his voice gentle enough to soothe wounds that even time couldn’t mend.
“Elisha,” he whispered, stepping toward her. His hand reached out, steady and certain. “I found you.”
She felt relief crash over her like a wave.
Her chest loosened. Her icy loneliness melted.
Her fingers reached toward him—
He was her light.
Her only companion in a life filled with shadows.
The one who held her when she cried, who shielded her with his own body, who whispered,
“I will protect you, even if the world burns.”
Her heart ached with old affection.
Warm tears slipped down her dream-self’s cheeks.
But then—
The light flickered.
The warmth faded.
His eyes—once soft—turned cold.
Empty.
As though the soul inside them had been wiped clean.
Her breath shattered.
“Varyon…?” she whispered.
His hand, the one that had reached for her, stilled mid-air.
Then slowly—like a serpent uncoiling—his other hand lifted.
A dagger glinted in the dimness.
“No…”
Her voice broke, trembling.
“Not you… please, not you…”
He didn’t hesitate.
Not even a pause.
Not a flicker of remorse.
The blade sliced across her throat, swift and merciless.
Pain exploded.
Cold flooded her veins.
Her vision blurred as she collapsed, reaching for him—
for the light that betrayed her.
As blood pooled around her, she saw it:
A smile on his lips.
Faint. Beautiful. Terrifying.
Her heart cracked open.
The light she trusted…
was the one that killed her.
---
Camila jolted awake with a strangled gasp.
Her chest heaved, sweat clinging to her skin.
Her hands flew to her neck, expecting to feel blood—
but there was none. Only her trembling fingers.
“Just a dream…” she whispered, voice unsteady. “Just… a dream…”
But it wasn’t just a dream.
It was a memory.
Her true past.
Her true death.
The moonlight washed the room in soft silver, calming the sharp edges of her fear. She turned—and her breath caught again.
Adrian was beside her.
He lay on top of the covers, still fully dressed, one arm draped protectively around her waist as though he had fallen asleep guarding her. His brows were slightly furrowed, lips parted in exhaustion.
He must have stayed there the entire night.
Watching her.
Worrying for her.
Caring for her.
Camila’s heart softened painfully.
In her past life…
no one had ever cared for her like this.
No one held her through nightmares.
No one lost sleep for her sake.
No one looked at her as though she mattered.
Yet here he was—
her stoic, possessive, maddeningly warm husband—
sleeping beside her as if keeping vigil was the most natural thing in the world.
Slowly, gently, she slipped her hand into his.
His fingers twitched in his sleep and subconsciously curled around hers.
Camila’s chest tightened.
This warmth…
this safety…
this peace…
She had never known any of it as Elisha.
“I deserve this,” she whispered into the quiet night, her eyes softening. “I deserve to be happy… even if I’m afraid.”
Her thumb brushed his knuckles, tenderly, reverently.
“Adrian… thank you,” she murmured. “Please… let this life be different. Let the past stay buried. I don’t want to bleed again.”
Unable to resist, she scooted closer until her forehead gently touched his shoulder.
For the first time in both her lives—
she allowed herself to believe she might truly be loved.
And for a moment,
just a moment,
the nightmares stayed away.
- Writer
