Lilly's POV
It was another morning of peace, I was starting to worry when it was all going to crash down. The settlement was lively with the laughter of all the kids and the small talk of the adults. The fog that has been growing since the other day was heavy today.
I stood in the garden with dirt under my nails, the scent of the damp earth and herbs was heavenly. Scarlet was working beside me and humming off key while Hailey chased Levi around the garden. I loved our routine but I had a strange feeling that it was going to come to a end soon.
I couldn't stop my mind from wondering to Kael, the man who is starting to take root into my heart. I caught sight of him across the gardens, he stood near the gate with his broad frame outlined by the sunlight. His hair was messy today the dark strands brushing his collar, I wanted to run my fingers through the silky strands.
Liam was next to him bent over a table with what looked like a map, they were having a very serious conversation by the looks of it. I knew I should look away but Kael has a pull towards him that I can't seem to ignore. My world seemed to tilt on it's axis every time he was near and I wanted to know why.
Scarlet nudges me with a smirk and said, "You've been staring for five minutes."
"I have not."
"Oh, yes you have," she giggled, "And if I didn't know any better I would say you are working up the courage to go talk to him."
"Maybe I am," I sighed and stood while brushing the soil from my hands.
Her grin softened as she told me, "Then go do it, you have been wondering about him since day one."
She was right I needed to know who I was starting to trust my life with and maybe more.
Kael looked up as I approached and for a moment that calm look he always supported was replaced by something softer, something that made my pulse go haywire.
"Lilly," he said softly, "You should be resting."
"I have rested plenty, I want to talk."
Liam nodded politely and excused himself leaving us alone near the gate.
Kael turned back towards me and seemed to want to reach out towards me, but he clenched his fists near his sides and said, "You're troubled."
I hesitated and replied, "I have been feeling something strong between us."
His expression didn't change but the air around us seemed to still as he asked, "Strong?"
"It's like a pull I don't understand. It isn't just me right?"
Kael's gaze lingered on me for a long moment, the kind of gaze that felt like it could see straight through me. Then he looked away with his jaw clenched and stated, "You shouldn't be feeling that."
"But I do, there is a connection between us."
He exhaled slowly and said, "The connection is dangerous, we can't mess with it."
"Why?"
"Because it isn't human," he continued, "And neither am I remember."
The words settled over me feeling heavy and final, but I wouldn't let it be final.
"I know what you are," I said quietly. "A fallen god, but I don't know why or what you did."
He turned away from me then and walked a few steps towards the wall. For a moment I thought he wasn't going to answer, but when he spoke his voice was low and edged with pain.
"I broke the first law."
I waited knowing he was going to continue.
"In the beginning when the realms were divided the gods ruled through balance. Creation and destruction, life and decay and the Aeschylus of them held their place. I was born of war and my purpose was to protect the human world from what lurked beyond it."
He looked back at me and his eyes held a deep hurt as he continued, "But power twists when it is used for too long and I began to crave battle for the sake of the power. When the gods of decay sought to unmake what we had build I met them not as a guardian but as a conqueror."
He smiled bitterly and said, "The war burned for centuries and when it ended there was nothing left for me to protect. So they stripped me of my place and cast me down to walk among the ruins I had created."
I could hear the regret in his words, the guilt and the exhaustion that no divine punishment could cleanse him of.
"You are fallen because you fought too hard?" I asked softly.
"I am fallen because I forgot why I was fighting at all," he said. "There is a difference."
"I don't think you are the monster you believe you are," I told him after a few minutes of silence.
His gaze returned to mine and something like disbelief shone in his as he whispered, "You don't know what I had done."
"Maybe not but I know what you are doing now," I said and gestured to the settlement. "You are protecting them, you are protecting me."
He said nothing for a long time, then he whispered, "You sound like someone who still believes the world can be saved."
"I have to because if I don't then what's the point in surviving?"
The faintest smile touched his lips and he said, "You are braver than most."
"I'm just tired of being afraid all the time," I reply.
Something flickered in his expression then, something dangerous. His hand brushed against mine and the world seemed to still. A current like electricity passed through me and I reached out wanting more.
The connection pulsed again the pull I've felt since meeting him is growing stronger with touch. I saw he felt it too by his expression but his expression was nervous like he was afraid of what was happening.
He pulled away first and his calm composure snapping into place like armor as he said, "You should focus on your duties and routine to keep your mind clear."
"Running from this won't bring you peace."
His gaze met mine as he replied, "You don't understand Lilly I can't.."
"You can't what?" I asked.
"Get close to you," he said in a voice barely above a whisper. "If I do you will be marked and my enemies will sense it, they will come for you."
"Then let them come," I said stubbornly. "They have been chasing me since the world ended."
"You don't make this easy."
The sound of laughter drifted toward us from the gardens, Scarlet and Hailey were arguing over something trivial. The moment between us shattered like fragile glass.
Kael straightened and told me, "I will have Liam escort you back since there is more I need to prepare before nightfall."
"Kael, this isn't over."
He was already walking away but I know he heard me from the straightening in his spine.
Later that evening as the sun was going down behind the wall I sat on the steps outside the house and watched the sunset. The others were inside settling down after the long day of work.
I couldn't shake the echo of Kael's words, "I can't get close to you." But he already was because no matter how hard I tried to ignore it the connection between us pulsed steady and sure.
Maybe it wasn't just a bond maybe it was a warning, or maybe it was the beginning of something neither one of us could stop.