Until Death Do Us Part

Thirty-Four

~Call Out My Name~
The Weeknd

"I claimed you so proud and openly.
And when times were rough,
I made sure I held you close to me."

The sky was clear, no hint of turbulence shaking the plane. But my heart rattled inside my chest, my anxiety ripping through me like my own source of destructible wind. Tom's hand in mine was the only thing that kept gravity from crashing me into the ground.

"Do we need to run through the plan again?" My father downed the rest of his whiskey. The thought of having anything to eat or drink made me feel like I was going to throw up.

I nestled in closer to Tom, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, holding me together when I barely had enough energy to keep myself from breaking. I didn't know how I was going to get through this without him. He gave me the strength I needed in order to do this, but would all of that strength vanish once he left me alone?

"No. I've got this," I said, the words desperately trying to sink into my flesh. Maybe, if I said them enough, I'd actually begin to believe them.

"You do," Tom reassured me, tightening his grip on me.

I took a deep breath, trying to stop my hands from trembling as I looked out the window. We were beginning to descend, and then everything that had just been talked about for a few days would actually happen.

When the plane landed, my mother was already prattling off everything that needed to be done. "Alright, let's make this quick. We don't want to waste any more time. If Raptis found out you left Greece and then came back, he'll know something isn't right. The faster we work and get out there, the better." She waltzed to the car as if we were just heading to another charity event.

"There's no we in this. This is all on me," I muttered as Tom and I climbed into the back. My mother shot me a glare, her eyes narrowed with an icy warning. I either stopped complaining, or I was out.

I tightened my lips to stop me from saying anything else.

The drive to the house was silent. The tension in the air was all too tangible. I felt as if I could lift my hand into the air and it would be forced down by the power of it. Everyone was on edge, even if our parents tried to pretend like they weren't—even if I tried to pretend like I wasn't.

My knee bounced relentlessly. The only time it stilled was when Tom would place his hand over it, his thumb making absent-minded shapes along my bare skin. Heat flushed through my body every time, replacing the terror in my mind with want, with need.

I closed my eyes, letting myself be soothed by his touch and my mind wander to the memories of our past few days together. Those memories of warm embraces, tender kisses, whispered secrets and confessions—they would be the ones that got me through my time in the Raptis fortress. So I committed them to memory, so vivid that it felt as if they were happening in real time all over again.

"We're here." My father's voice was a bucket of ice water splashed at my face. My eyes flashed open, reminding me of where I truly was, of what was coming.

"Y/n, go get yourself ready. We'll meet by the door in ten minutes." Nikki's expression was gentle, sympathetic, as if I really only had five minutes, but she was giving me more time.