Page 149 of Bitten & Burned
And, for the first time in what felt like days, I believed it.
And then I looked up at him again, the words on my tongue so heavy and certain they practically ached.
“I love you,” I whispered.
His expression shifted—like the whole world stilled around him, and he was afraid to even breathe.
“I love you,” I said again, firmer this time. “I do.”
He blinked. Swallowed. And then I leaned in close, kissed the corner of his mouth, and whispered it a third time against his lips.
“I love you.”
The sound he made was almost a laugh, but it broke at theedges. “You’re going to ruin me,” he murmured, kissing me softly. “Gods, what a way to go.”
We lay there after that, no more words needed. Just the quiet beat of hearts pressed together. His fingers traced idle patterns on my back. My nose was tucked beneath his jaw.
And when sleep came, it came easily—the sigil blessedly quiet, if only for now.
Finally.
Twenty-Two
DÉJÀ VU
Kravenspire, Sol, Verdune
27 Ebry, Year 810
Three sharp raps.
Then nothing.
I frowned as I opened my eyes.
Hadn’t I done this already?
Anton pulled me close with a quiet grunt. “Shhh, go back to sleep.”
Three more raps. Louder this time. More insistent. And then a voice—Vael’s.
“Anton?”
Anton groaned and rolled halfway towards the nightstand. “What time is it?” He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned again. “Nine in the morning? What fresh hell…”
Another knock. Even louder. Vael again, less patient now.
“ANTON, is Rowena with you? Her father’s here?—”
Gods.
In the process of losing myself on the floor with Anton, I’d somehow forgotten that my father was on his way.
Fuck.
“I don’t want to see either of them,” I muttered, dragging the blankets over my head. “I don’t even know how Vael found me.”
“He didn’t. He wants to know if you’re here. I can lie. I’m very good at lying.”
