ELIA
The threat that Reth might say no had kept Elia on the edge of tears. She felt vulnerable and frightened in an entirely new way… as if being apart from him meant something was broken. She'd always wanted him, always had passion for him—and missed him, ached for him when they weren't close. But this was something different. A need for him born not of the heat of desire, or even love, but of connection.
He was the other piece of her and without him she had been incomplete.
Knowing what she faced and how easily it could all go wrong—acknowledging that they might have only days left together, that she might die having never been with him again—panicked her. It wasn't her body that needed him, as much as her soul.
