Page 39 of Alan

“Shall we return? You are greatly missed.” He stood, holding out his hands.

I hesitated. It seemed so sudden. “Do we have to go right now? Can’t we hang around here and talk for a while more?”

I wasn’t only throwing out excuses for us to avoid going back to the real world, either. I liked having him to myself. So strange.

“We can talk when we’re back, I promise. But I do have to discuss things with Selene, as we sort of left everything hanging. And I know Keira misses you.”

Keira. Yes. I couldn’t keep avoiding her.

I stood, then, and placed my hands in his. They were warm, strong, engulfing mine when he closed his fingers. That was nice. He was nice.

“Are you ready?”

“Do you promise…?” I ran out of words, it seemed. I couldn’t put together the questions I still had.

“I’ll promise you just about anything—anything in my power, that is.” He grinned.

“Promise I’ll be safe out there. I’m the only one… you know… like me.” I felt so small and insecure, it was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

“Rest easy,” he whispered, drawing me a little closer with our clasped hands between us.

I felt even smaller in relation to his size, but that hardly upset me. He brought to mind thoughts of protection and warmth and security.

“You promise?”

He looked deep into my eyes. “On my life, Emelie. I promise you will never need fear when I am with you. I will protect you more fiercely than I would protect myself.”

My cheeks flushed. A lot. Jeez, he was something.

And I didn’t hate it. Not one bit.

“All right,” I nodded. “Let’s go back.”

“You’re in control,” he murmured with a smile. “Simply open your eyes.”

I did.

The room was sort of glowy. It took a second for me to bring things into focus. There were candles everywhere, and a fire along one wall. It was cozy. And big, very big.

The pillows under my head were so soft, and the blankets were thick and warm. If I didn’t know I was alive, I’d swear I’d died and gone to heaven. It was so nice.

“Em?” Keira’s voice drew my attention. I turned my head to the left, where she sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re okay? You can hear me?”

I nodded. “I’m okay. And yeah, I can hear you, babe.”

“Babe?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Really? You don’t hate me?”

“I can’t hate you for being who you are. You can’t do anything about it—and there’s nothing wrong with it. I was just scared and freaked out and a mess. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. That was unfair.”

She swept a hand under her eyes to catch her tears. “No, no, I can’t blame you for anything. I’m just so glad you aren’t shutting me out.”

“I love you. I just needed to get over the shock, that’s all. Alan helped.”

A warm hand closed over mine, on the other side of the bed. I smiled at the sensation because I knew whose hand it was. I had already felt it, after all.

I turned to him, smiling. “Hi.”

“Hello.”

“That was weird.”

“It was quite outside the ordinary,” he agreed. “But worth it.”

He was right. It really was.

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