Page 325 of Eternal
“That’s already a lot,” she breathes. Another silence. Softer this time. Then she turns slightly toward me. Her voice is steadier. Honest. Fragile, but soft...
“You know… we often think that when it’s all broken, when we can’t even love ourselves or forgive things we never even did. That maybe no one else could possibly do it for us. But sometimes, someone shows up. And that person helps yourealize…you don’t deserve all that weight you’re carrying. You can live. You’re not as broken as you believe.”
I don’t move. I take in her words like warm air on an old wound.
She smiles, eyes glinting slightly, then adds, “I think your partner would be happy to help you see that. To prove it to you.”
I let out a short, almost bitter laugh. “That’s not what you think. It’s not possible… between us.”
Zanae doesn’t answer right away. She gazes back into the hall. Where Elijah stands.
She smiles gently, with that odd serenity only people who’ve known war and chosen love can showcase. “Trust me. When it comes to‘impossible,’ I know plenty.”
Her eyes find mine again. “But as long as there’slove…there’s hope.”
Before I could answer, the balcony door creaked open. Elijah stepped out looking at his woman with soft eyes.
“You’re going to catch a cold,” he said, voice tender and warm, as he draped his coat over her shoulders.
She smiled up at him, her fingers brushing his hand. “I’m okay.”
“Doesn’t mean you won’t catch a cold.” Then he looked at me, gave a curt nod. “You should both come inside.”
“I’ll stay a bit longer here.”
He pressed his lips together before speaking. “Damir’s in the room upstairs. He might want to talk to you.”
My brows knit together in confusion, but when I turned to look behind us searching for him I didn't see him. He was already gone.“Okay. I’ll go. Thanks for telling me.”
I started to leave, but Zanae reached out, placing a hand gently on my arm. She leaned in close, her voice a soft whisper against my ear. “Don’t let the world convince you that you’re too broken to deserve happiness. You’ll lose enough to this life as it is. Don’t let it take that too.”
Her words are echoing in my head when I start going upstairs and searching every room in this house.
I pushed the last door open, only a crack at first, and it was really dark inside, only the outside light of the moon and the garden’s lights.
And there he was.
Damir, sitting on the couch, one arm slung over the backrest, a half-empty glass in his hand.
Shirt unbuttoned, stained with blood, hands and jaw smudged like he’d wiped them and didn’t care.
He didn’t look surprised to see me, he simply watched every movement with empty eyes.
I stepped in quietly, shut the door behind me and walked toward him like I wasn’t sure why I was walking at all.
He shifted slightly, making space for me, and so, I climbed into his lap, one leg on either side of his. My knees against his hips, his free hand slid around my waist, holding me in place.
I lifted a hand, fingers brushing along the blood at his jaw.
He flinched, and it hit me in a way I didn’t expect, it made my chest ache.
Because he shouldn’t flinch at kindness. Nothim. Not someone who gives it to me every day like it costs him nothing, when I know it costs himeverything.
Because he doesn’t know what it’s like to be held gently. He only knows how to offer it. Never how to receive it. And I hate that for him.
God, I hate that for him, as much as I hated it for my younger self.
“Are you hurt?” I asked.
