Page 46 of Savage Sacrifice
“I’m sorry for running,” I rasp, and he frowns.
“Don’t be.”
I exhale slowly, stroking my thumb over the back of his neck. “How did you find me?”
“Honestly?” he asks, and it’s my turn to frown in confusion this time.
“Why would you lie?”
“So I can take all of the credit,” he admits with a shrug, and I snicker.
“How very Lincoln of you,” I muse, and he winks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so relaxed and carefree; it’s disarming.
“Tatum told me to look for the greenery,” he offers, and my eyes widen in surprise, but really, I shouldn’t be shocked.
A soft smile takes over my lips. “Is he okay?”
The crinkling of his nose is my answer before he even speaks. “After watching you die and then me not long after? No. I think he’s going to need some time to recover, even if we are still breathing,” he admits, and my heart aches, but I’m locked on the words he said.
“You died?” I breathe, and he grins.
“Heroic, right?” Amusement dances in his eyes as I shake my head in disbelief.
“Why would you do that?” I rasp, and he gives me a pointed look.
“For you.” He lifts a hand to stroke my cheek, and once again, I lean into his touch.
“That’s insane, Lincoln,” I mutter, and he raises his eyebrows at me.
“So is killing yourself to save my sister. At least I had someone else kill me,” he grunts, and my heart clenches at the reminder.
“Is Minnie okay?”
He holds me tighter somehow. “She will be, Midnight. We all will be,” he promises, and I nod, believing him wholeheartedly.
With a kiss to my forehead, he lowers me to my feet and I catch a glimpse of a mark on his arm. I grab his wrist before I even think, then blink up at him. “Your blood kin, who is it?” Iask, waiting with bated breath, watching as his eyebrows gather in confusion.
“That marking was gone when I woke up,” he breathes, twisting his arm from left to right before reaching for mine, but when he flips it over, it’s bare. His lips purse as he taps his foot before exhaling slowly. “Maybe it’s because I was tethered to the other side.”
“You’re what?” I ask in confusion, and he offers me a tight smile.
“A lot happened,” he admits, and I nod.
“It sounds like it.”
He grins again, draping his arm over my shoulders as he pulls me into his side, and I go willingly, desperate to breathe him in. “The guys are on their way, do you mind if we discuss it all together? I just want to bask in your presence first,” he asks, and I feel my cheeks heating as I nod.
“Sure.”
Without a word, he walks me over to the fallen tree and waves for me to take a seat before he drops down onto the spot beside me. His arm remains around my shoulders as we take a moment to sit with the peace and calmness that envelops us.
Every second that passes, I become more in tune with the man beside me. Every breath, every skim of his thumb over my shoulder, every flicker in his facial features, I document it all, determined to commit it all to memory in case I happen to decide to do something so careless again.
“I’m an asshole,” he blurts, cutting through the silence, and I immediately shake my head.
“You’re not,” I insist, and he scoffs.
“You’re delusional if you think I’m not when I know I am, and I’ve never been an ass more than when it comes to you,” he grunts, a tic fluttering in his jaw as he fails to contain his irritation with himself.
