Page 40 of The Raven
Myravenhad been circlingHadleighPeakfrom the minute we returnedfrom thewarehouse, trying to find whereGrimwas hiding, but to no avail. Herwingwas stillinjured, and every time she flapped it,painshot through my arm, reminding me of the consequences of what would happen ifGrimdiscovered she was my weakness.
“No,” I replied, not turning to face Mason, because the second I did, I knew the dam would break. “Are you feeling better?”
A pang of guilt added to the torment already swallowing me. I hated thatMasonhad been hurt earlier. It was exactly the reason I didn’t want him involved.If I hadn’t jumped in front of Grim’s bullets. If the car hadcrashedwhen we werechasingPyro.
If, if, if…
“Hey, what’s wrong?”Masonsaid, hearing the distress in my voice that I’dfailed to disguise.
He moved behind me, placing his hands on my hips and turning me to face him. His hair was still damp, and he’d forgone a shirt, deep purple bruises tarnishing his gorgeous bronzed chest and ribs.
Taking in his injuries, the first tear spilled over, quickly followed by the next. Mason swiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumb, his featherlight touch sending tingles through my body.
“Talk to me, Blackbird,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine.
A rock-solid lump of emotion caught in my throat, preventing me from replying. I swallowed, trying to push it down. “I don’t…” I started, failing to stop another tear from falling. “I can’t say goodbye to you.”
With both hands,Masontenderly cupped my face,placinga light, delicatekisson my lips, pulling away far too soon. Only now, his beautiful brown orbs werefilledwith determination.
“Raven, there’s…”he started, but trailed off, squeezing his eyes closed.
“Mase?” I urged.
When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with sorrow.“I don’t know how to say goodbye to you either.”
I held hisgazefor a long second. He’d stopped himself from saying what hereally wanted to, but I didn’tpush.
This was hard enough on both of us.
Leavinghis unspoken words hanging between us, I battled against thepainin my arm as Irestedboth hands against hischest, his heart beating furiously under my palms.
His grip moved from myhipsto mylowerback, hugging me closer to him,and for a fewseconds, we stayed like that, the two of us lost in our thoughts.
When a few moresecondspassed,Masonbegan to gently sway us, ourhipsgrinding against each other in a sensual, musicless dance.
“Do you remember what I told you when I left Hadleigh Peak all those years ago?”
I shook my head, my stomach lurching. I didn’t want or need another painfulreminderof our past.
Masonliftedthe hem of mytopandrestedhis palm against the skin of mylowerback, hissoftcaresssendinga shiver through my body.“I told you we weren’t sayinggoodbye.Goodbyeis final; it’smeantfor people whose paths will never cross again. But that’s not us,Blackbird. It couldneverbe us.”He pulled back to look down at me, his eyes shining with unshedtears.“I told you that it could never be us because what we have will last farbeyondany distance put between us. Farbeyondthe time that passes. When our souls found each other, they became entwined forever, in ways that not even fate can untangle.”
Thememorymaterialized in my mind, and suddenly, I was transported backto the moment fifteen-year-old me stood under a tree in the field where I’dfirstmetMason. Fattearsrolled down mycheeksasMasonheld me, softly swaying, just like he was right then.
“This isn’t the end for us,”Masoncontinued, repeating the words he’d oncesaid to his heartbroken girlfriend.“This is just a pause. A temporarybreakin our story. We won’t say‘goodbye,’we’llsay,‘see you soon,’and know that, one day,we’llfind our way back to each other.”
“We have to,”I said, speaking the words he’d once said to me.“Becausesomething thisdeep, this real, it doesn’t fade. It waits.”
“And I’ll be waiting too,”we both said together.
We gazed at each other,neitherof us blinking,neitherof us moving. Butwhen the need to feel more of him consumed me, I reached up, my lips brushing against his as Iwhispered,“I need you,Mase. One last time.”
As if he’d been waiting for permission, hegrabbedmy ass andliftedme intohis arms, my legs wrapping around hiswaist. Our mouthscrashedtogether as he carried me inside, and mymemoryfrom the day he’d leftHadleighPeakchanged once more, returning to theimageof two children at thebeach.
It was the same boy withMason’shair, and the little girl with black hair,only this time they were laughing because an older man who looked identical toMasonwaschasingthem. When hecaughtup to them, hegrabbedthem in his arms. The little girl squealed, her high-pitched voice traveling thelengthof thebeachas she called him, ‘Daddy.’
I realized then that what I wasseeingwasn’tamemory. It was a glimpse ofthefuture.Mason’sfuture.When I was gone, he would go on to have children. He would have a wife. He’d findhappinessagain.
Without me.
