Page 40 of Fence

16

Fence

“We’re all set, then?”I glanced at Ciera, who sat by the window with her feet tucked under her.

She twirled a strand of hair around one finger as she read, lost in thought. So deep in whatever it was she examined, that she didn’t notice me watching her.

“We’re good,” Pierce confirmed. “And she understands everything?”

“Everything. We’ve been over all of it.”

He paused. “It’s not too big a sacrifice for her?”

“Did you ask Jasmine that same question? Or Alina, or Cari?”

“Fair enough. But still. I had to ask.”

Another look at Ciera, still deep in her book.

She would be right at home in Smoke’s library. I wondered if I’d ever see her again once she set eyes on it.

She was the one we’d been waiting for, the dragon and me. He was finally satisfied, for the first time in my life. He rested in deep contentment—probably exhausted after pouring all of his energy into this—me, her, mating—which we had done four times in less than a day. If it wasn’t almost time to leave for the airport, I’d happily throw her onto the bed again. He wouldn’t complain.

She was one of the few things in my life that I’d ever been fully sure of. I understood why Pierce was willing to take such risks in saving Jasmine’s life. Why Smoke took the chance of looking for Alina. Why Cash dared to rescue Tommy, all because he knew Carissa couldn’t live without her nephew.

When a dragon knew what he wanted, there was no stopping him. It would be as big a waste of time to try as it would be to try and change the tides.

Pierced and I were just about to hang up, just about to say goodbye when something stopped us both.

The quiet, almost nonexistent sound of a heartbeat.

I held my breath, desperate to be sure I wasn’t only hearing what I wanted to hear. I was afraid to breathe. Afraid it would go away if I did. It was so very faint.

“Do you…” Pierce whispered into the phone.

“I do. You do, too.”

“Yes.”

I ran to the door and threw it open—only to find both Gate and Miles rushing down the hall from their rooms.

Both of them wore expressions like what I imagined mine to be. Almost afraid to believe it was real.

“Pierce hears it, too,” I said, pointing to the phone still against my ear.

“What do you think it means?” Miles asked. I turned the phone’s speaker function on and motioned for the two of them to enter the room and close the door.

“You still there,” I said into the phone’s microphone.

“Yeah. Smoke’s here, too. He hears it. It’s definitely there.” The excitement in Pierce’s voice was impossible to miss.

“It’s never been so faint before, though,” Gate pointed out. “It was always audible. So very audible. Now, I can hardly make it out.”

“I can’t imagine what that means.” Smoke’s uncertainty was clear. “I’ll look through my books, but I can say that I don’t remember ever reading about a lessening of the heartbeat.”

“Then again, it never disappeared before now, either,” I reminded him. “This is a first, all of it. But I think it’s safe to assume somebody’s still alive. Somewhere out there.”

“And you didn’t find anything that could provide a clue as to what happened?” Pierce asked, as though he had never asked before.

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