Page 121 of The Light Within

Cinn untangled himself from the contortion of limbs they’d created. He crossed the room to open the small chest that came with the place. Locating the desired object, he returned to Julien, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

“Are you ready to wear this yet?” Cinn dangled Béatrice’s locket in the air, spinning the cool silver chain around his finger. The oval-shaped locket’s stars twinkled at him. “I think it might help you. And I miss seeing you in it. But only if you’re ready.”

A complicated mix of emotions passed over Julien’s face, and Cinn tensed. He’d overstepped.

Julien reached for the locket, closing his hand over Cinn’s. “Merci,” he said. “I do miss wearing it.”

When Julien slipped the necklace over his head, it fell straight back into place upon his chest. Cinn’s face broke into a smile.There we are.

With a kiss to Cinn’s forehead, Julien slid off the bed. He straightened his back, then his eyes darted towards the window. Cinn’s heart plummeted. Julien’s anxious expression was back. Was this Cinn’s fault for giving him the locket?

“Come back to bed,” Cinn pleaded. “I need you here.”

Julien sounded genuinely sad when he replied, “I can’t,mon amour.” He twitched back the curtain, resuming his eagle-eyed watch. “I’m not letting them hurt you again. I’d rather never sleep again.”

“Both of the attacks were in Paris,” Cinn protested.

“Oui, but he has men everywhere. Who knows if his stretch reaches Salvatore Gallo and the gendarmerie even?”

Trying to muffle his sigh, Cinn closed his eyes. “Wake me up in a bit then, and I’ll have a turn. Don’t stay up all night, you’ll go mad.”

Cinn stretched his arm out to Julien’s side of the bed, now cold without him in it.

The pull of sleep beckoned him, tugging on the edges of his consciousness.

He loathed to leave Julien alone, glaring moodily out of the window.

Particularly as a feeling was growing in the pit of his stomach.

A prickling sensation, like something was slightly amiss.

But he could only fight sleep for so long before he succumbed to the darkness.

He would have to deal with whatever was on the other side, on the other side.

twenty-eight

Julien

It was half-past five in the morning when Julien was ready to leave.

The sun wouldn’t rise for hours yet. By the time the first light touched Cinn’s road, Julien would be dozens of miles away.

Staring down at Cinn’s sleeping body in the fragment of moonlight—stark naked, entangled with the duvet as if it were a passionate lover—Julien wavered in his decision. It would be so much easier to unpack his bag, undress, slip back into the bed beside him. Hold his warm body close. Kiss the spiderweb on his shoulder. Be there when he woke up, giving Julien that small smile he always blessed him with, before pretending to be grumpy at being awake.

Instead, he was sentencing Cinn to wake up alone.

His heart gave a painful squeeze, as his mind conjured the image of the moment Cinn realised what he’d done.

Putain, he’d probably kill Cinn if he did this to him.

Julien was going to be in so much trouble.

But this was the only way to keep Cinn safe. The man who he loved more than anything. The person who, quite curiously, loved him back.

He’d keep him safe if it was the last thing he did.

Julien couldn’t spend the rest of time at the window, anxiety coiling in his stomach, waiting for the next strike. He couldn’t wait for Eleanor’s half-baked promises of protection.Non, he needed to do what he always did, and take matters into his own hands. Be in charge of his own destiny.

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