Page 106 of Waging War
I grab the palm resting on my thigh and I hold on so tight that I’m afraid I may hurt him.
“I’m proud of you, Hazel. Not many people would have had the courage to do what you did.”
I laugh lightly, wiping my eyes.
A beat of silence settles as he roves his brightening gaze over my face.
“What?” I ask when he smiles to himself.
“Nothing. It’s just that when I was fading, I watched you standing off with Bruce and I saw something.” He shakes his head.
“What was it?”
“It sounds crazy… but you had wings.”
“Wings?”
“Yeah. Big black ones with feathers.” He smiles. “There was a woman standing behind you, too.”
I jerk my gaze back to his, forcefully overwhelmed with a buzzing sensation.
It can’t be… Can it?
“My mom had black wings tattooed on her back, just like mine.” I place a hand over my left shoulder. A dull ache spreads beneath my sternum as I think of her. “Maybe she was there protecting us.”
Ben smiles tenderly. “I bet she was.”
I wonder then if the universe had planned all of this. From the moment Ben started working for Bruce, to his falling out with Jack, and then him walking into that apartment where I was being held.
A cold rush of goose bumps pinches my arms and I smile, thinking about Mom having a hand in any of this.
“You realize saving my life means you’re stuck with me, right?”
I laugh loudly, coaxing that familiar flame into his gaze as he watches me snort. “I guess this is the part where I say I’m up for the challenge?”
Those heated blues steal my breath when he says, “Damn right.”
A promise builds between us, and it’s as powerful as it is unbreakable. We’ve been to hell and back, and somehow, we still managed to find our way here to each other. There’s nothing we can’t handle as long as we’re together.
I lightly poke his leg. “Wanna give me a little preview?”
Snatching my hand, he guides his mouth back down to mine. “With pleasure.”
A mischievous smile curls his lips just before he seals our promise with a kiss.
EPILOGUE
Ben
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Cassidy’s panicked voice comes from the farthest room down the hall. “My bouquet is missing. What am I going to do?”
Juliana curses. “It’s alright, don’t panic. You finish your makeup, and I’ll go find it.”
“Oh! I think I saw it in the hall,” Hazel says.
Sure enough, I spot Cassidy’s peach, cream, and light-blue bouquet sitting innocently in a vase on the table next to me. Part of me wants to tuck tail and run, knowing I’m about to get caught eavesdropping, but I’m willing to risk it to get a glimpse of my girl.
Speak of the devil, here she comes.
