Page 286 of The Nightmare Bride
“Yes. And now I want...you. I want to stay with you. I want you to stay with me.”
Emotion swirled in his face. He blinked hard. “Well, lucky for you, we’re married. Which means you’re stuck with me, whether you like it or not.”
I laughed. “Honestly, how are you so perfect? Justhow?”
He gave me a saucy smile. “I was born this way. Well, no. That’s a lie. I worked very hard at it. But my raw charisma didn’t hurt. Or my overwhelming good looks.”
A scuffed chuckle warmed my chest. This man. I would never tire of his arrogance.
He cupped my face, and I tilted my cheek into his touch.
“How are you?” he said.
I knew what he was asking—whether the nightmare was about to crack my defenses and carry me away on its bitter flood. But the distorted shadows, for all that they scrabbled at my skirts, seemed distant.
“I’m...quiet, I think,” I said. “Safe. Inside myself.”
His half-smile bled into something wide and deep. “Gods above. How areyouso perfect?”
I shrugged. “Just pure, dumb luck, I’m pretty sure.”
He chuckled. His thumb smoothed across my cheekbone. “So now what?”
“Now, you should take me somewhere and make love to me. As soon as possible.”
Brightness flared in his eyes. “That can be arranged.” His gaze fell to the wounded hand clutched against my chest. “Let’s just take care of that, first.”
Before I could ask what he intended, he stalked toward Vick, who lay chained between two trees. His voice had gone. He writhed and thrashed, his mouth open in a never-ending scream. But only hoarse silence emerged.
Kai fiddled with Vick’s belt. I frowned, but when he straightened, he held the dagger.Mydagger.
My conduit to Zephyrine.
Hope—that horrible, treacherous, wonderful thing, fluttered into my throat. Would the blade still work? Allow me to talk to the goddess? Maybe to Amryssa? Were they even different entities, anymore?
Kai came and handed it over. I took the knife with my good hand, relishing the feel of the familiar antler handle.
It hummed, no different than before.
A star kindled beneath my ribs.Hello?
Harlowe.Amryssa’s voice slid into my mind, wider and deeper and more...more, somehow.My sweet friend, my forever-sister. I’m here.
A joyous sob throbbed in my chest. “It’s her,” I cried. “I can hear her.”
Kai grinned.
I breathed my way through a spiky riot of emotion. First relief, then a pang of love so fierce I had to steady myself with a heaping dose of husbandly eye contact.
What do you need?Amryssa asked.
Nothing,I told her, still looking at Kai.I have everything I’ve ever wanted. But...I wouldn’t exactly hate it if you could stitch up this cut on my hand. It does hurt like a bitch.
Amryssa laughed. A moment later, warmth coursed into me. The line of fire on my palm faded to an ache, then a memory.
I marveled at my perfect, unharmed skin. The dagger went quiet, and I tucked it into the empty sheath at my belt.
“She’s not gone,” I said.
