Page 69 of Kiss the Dawn
Urgh. I took a deep breath then typedOkayand hit send.
Long minutes passed as I stared at the screen. Fuck this. I turned off the phone and shoved it into my bedside table drawer.
Life had been much less complicated when relationships were off the table. I rubbed my arm where my blessing used to be, and a hollow sensation filled my chest because I missed it. I missed the conviction and the comfort of the path.
Now the path I was on was filled with uncertainty and potential heartache. It was a path I’d chosen under duress, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever reconcile with it fully. But I was a woman who stood by her decisions.
I turned out the light hoping that my dreams would deliver me to Ezekiel and onto the path that could save us all.
The sea churnedbeneath a frothy gray sky, and Ezekiel waited for me, his back to the room, his gaze on the vista.
I joined him as the sun broke through to bathe the salty spray beneath, taming it with its golden rays.
“I was selfish,” Ezekiel said. “Instead of comforting you, I sought to comfort myself by coming to you. I triggered your rage.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. Hemlock was there to…help.” My cheeks heated, and I fixed my attention on the sea.
“I know. He spoke with me. Explained the connection you have.”
My stomach dipped. “He did?”
“It’s better than having to kill you, which has been the case every time before, it seems.” A wry smile accompanied his words.
The queasy sensation in my belly subsided. “Have you heard what happened to Ordell?”
“Yes. Hemlock told me that too.”
Hemlock was playing the messenger while avoiding me completely.
I felt Ezekiel’s gaze on my face. “You seem to have conquered my brothers’ hearts as well as mine.”
My neck warmed, and I lifted my chin to look up at him. “I’ve conquered your heart?”
The corner of his mouth lifted. “Yes, Orina. I’m in love with you. Have been for some time, although it took a dive back into hell for me to understand what I was feeling.” He turned me to face him and cupped my face. “I loved your soul once when you were Arabella, but although your soul remains the same, each incarnation has been different. Each time I have been attracted, intrigued, but never have I been so captivated, so enraptured as I have with you.
“You challenge me in ways that make my blood sing. I’ve craved the sensation of sunlight on my skin for too long, but I don’t need the sun when I have you. You are my ray of sunshine.”
My throat pinched, eyes pricking, and a bubble ofemotion expanded in my chest. “I love you too.” The words exploded from my lips in a rush of relief.
There, I’d said it. Was something meant to happen? Was the curse broken?
His eyes dimmed. “No. Not yet you don’t.”
“But…I do. I do love you. I want to be with you all the time. I think about you all the time, and I want you to touch me, to kiss me and?—”
“You don’t need to say the words for it to be true. If you loved me, then the curse would already be broken.”
The bubble popped, and I sagged. “I don’t understand. I feel all these feelings for you and?—”
“I killed your friend.”
My pulse spiked, and anger flickered in my belly.
“I don’t think you’ve forgiven me for that, and I doubt you ever will.”
He was right. I hadn’t forgiven him, and I wasn’t sure I could, but if that was standing in the way of my loving him, then we had a problem. “Your humanity was gone. You were…you weren’t like you are now.”
“But that isn’t an excuse for murder, is it?” He canted his head.
