Page 70 of The Seeker
“We’ll finish them,” Rhys said. “Meera, go back to the truck.”
“No.” She opened her eyes and locked eyes with the first Grigori who had knelt at her feet. “Do it.”
The silver stilettos came out. The knives slid into the back of the Grigori’s necks, piercing their spines. Meera kept her eyes on the Fallen child locked under her control. She felt the tug of his surprise when the knife touched his neck. His eyes widened. His mouth fell open. The silver pierced him.
The Grigori crumbled to the ground and began to dissolve before her eyes.
Meera ran to the edge of the trees and emptied her stomach over a palmetto. She was bent over, crying and sick, when the cool cloth landed on the back of her neck.
“Come here,” Rhys said. “We had to do it. You know we did. They would have continued to hunt. We don’t even have a way to find the victims they’ve already killed.”
“I know.”It still makes me sick.
He enveloped her in his arms, his fingers holding the cool cloth to her flesh, but Meera needed his skin. She brought his hand up to her temple and leaned into his palm, letting the quiet of his touch soothe her. Rhys tried to tug his hand away, but she held on tight.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I need your skin. Just for a minute.”
Rhys fell completely still. “Why?”
Shit. Meera dropped his hand and moved away, instantly raising her shields.
Rhys followed her. “Meera, why did you need my skin?”
No no no no no.
She couldn’t deal with this. Not now. Maybe not ever.
She could see Roch from the corner of her eye. His eyes widened for a second before he walked to the truck and climbed inside, slamming the door behind him.
Rhys grabbed her hand and spun her around. “Stop.” He forced their palms together, though Meera refused to look at him. “Is this what you need?”
Heaven above, yes.She pressed her eyes closed, refusing to meet his penetrating stare.
“Is it?” He pressed her palm to his rough cheek. “Do the voices go silent? Can you hear my soul?”
She said nothing.
“Is it like a bell in the morning?” His voice was thick with emotion. “Is it, Meera?”
“Rhys, it’s not…” She opened her eyes and met his stare. She couldn’t bring herself to lie, but she couldn’t say the word.
“It’s not what?” he asked, his eyes wild. “Are you denying… You’re not denying it.”
She said nothing. It was too much. He was too much.
He is exactly what you need.
“Do you know?” he insisted. “Do you hear it?”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not talking about this right now.”
His lips twisted and he dropped her hand. “You selfish, self-centered, arrogant woman. I’ve been nothing but honest with you from the beginning. I’ve hidden nothing.Nothing.”
Rhys turned and walked back to the car, leaving Meera in the forest with the dust of the Grigori hanging in the air around her.
They rode backto the hotel in silence, Meera sitting in the back seat, trying not to stare at the back of Rhys’s head while Roch tried to catch her eye in the rearview mirror.
Awkward did not begin to describe it.
