Page 84 of Reap the Night
He blinks at me. “What?”
I lightly touch Arabella’s hand, and suddenly I’m the one in his arms, looking up at him through Arabella’s eyes, speaking with her lips. “None of this was your fault, and we made the best of an awful situation. I forgive you for keeping me with you, and I thank you for having the courage to let me go, and I’m sorry…sorry I wasn’t strong enough to endure with you. But Ezekiel, I’m no longer that woman.” I sit up, pulling free of Arabella’s form and sighing as it mists to shadows around us. I cup his face. “I’m stronger now. Wiser now. I willneverleave you.”
His golden eyes brighten. “Orina…”
“Yes,” I laugh through my tears. “It’s me. Come back with me now. Please. I need you. I miss you so much.” The cell vanishes, and we float in warm darkness. “Can you do that? Will you do that?” I kiss the corner of his mouth.
“I don’t…don’t deserve?—”
I kiss him with every ounce of longing in my soul. He melts into my embrace, and the world falls away.
“Orina…” Hemlock gently shook me. “Wake up. Look.”
I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to stay with Ezekiel and?—
“Highly rude to awaken me and continue to sleep, Miss Lighthart.”
Ezekiel? I bolted up, gaze flying to the cell to find him standing by the bars, hands clasped behind his back looking as composed and in control as always.
“You’re back.”
His smile lit up his golden eyes. “Yes, Miss Lighthart, it would seem that I am.”
Chapter 31
All the emotions of the last few days, the fear, the uncertainty, the pain I’d witnessed rushed through me as I slowly approached the cell. His shoulders tightened, but he didn’t move as I reached the bars and gripped them, devouring him with my gaze.
“Are you okay?” My voice trembled, and his gaze softened.
“That’s a complicated question, but…I believe I will be…in time. My mind is…crowded.” He stepped forward, and I felt Hemlock behind me.
“Easy…” he warned us.
Ezekiel frowned his way. “I won’t hurt her, brother. You should know that.”
Hemlock exhaled sharply. “You do remember.”
Ezekiel’s smile was small and tight. “Yes. I remember. Everything. Each rising as if it were yesterday. And before that…our life and my captivity and…” He closed his eyes briefly before settling his attention on me. “I can feel the sun. Sleep is pulling at me.”
Panic flared in my belly. “No. Don’t go again.”
“It’s all right,” Hemlock said. “It’s dawn, and he’ll sleep a regular sleep. It will help to consolidate his newfound memories.”
“Forever the man of alchemy and science,” Ezekiel said almost fondly, then with a fresh frown, “Where is Ordell?”
“Around,” Hemlock said. “He’ll be here when you wake.”
“Good because we have much to discuss. Much to…celebrate…” He lightly touched my cheek. “You’ll be here when I wake?” There was a thread of vulnerability to his tone that I had never heard before.
“Yes. I’ll be here. I won’t leave you.”
He gently gripped my chin and nudged my head up to look deep into my eyes. “It will be different this time, little silver. I can feel it.”
“I don’t remember the other times, but I believe you. I believe in us.”
He dipped his head and pressed a featherlight kiss to my lips through the bars, leaving me warm and tingling before releasing me and taking his place on his cot once more.
“At sunset…” He sank into sleep so quickly it was scary.
