Page 38 of Wicked Enemy

Without thinking, I rolled over on my side and wrapped my arms around Eve. After what had happened today, I just needed to know that she was okay. That she was here. Alive. Safe. Pulling her close, I held her to my chest and rested my chin on the top of her head. Then I drew in a long breath, and finally felt that awful tightness in my chest loosen slightly.

“Levi,” Eve said, her voice soft.

I snapped back to reality. Alarm crackled through my veins as I realized that she might not want me to touch her like this. I was just about to yank my arms back and roll away when she spoke again.

“Don’t let me go.”

My heart cracked inside my chest. It was so painful that I couldn’t make my lungs work or get a single word out of my mouth. It felt as if needles were being rammed into my chest, but I at last managed to fight down a breath.

“Never,” I whispered against the top of her head before I could stop myself.

But luckily, she had already fallen back asleep by then.

Chapter16

Darkness pressed in on me from all sides when I woke up, and for a second, a flash of lingering panic shot through me. Was I still shackled inside that cabin with the clock ticking down on my life? Had Levi coming to my rescue only been a dream?

But then I felt the strong arms around me, holding me tightly against a warm muscular chest. My tense body relaxed again, and my mind calmed.

As my eyes began to adjust to the dark, I slid my gaze towards the window. The first time I had woken up in this bed, the light had been similar to when we escaped the cabin, so probably still morning or noon. But now, night had fallen over the landscape outside. I watched the stars twinkle in the dark blue heavens for a while.

I must have slept the entire day. Shifting slightly, I glanced up at Levi. I wondered if he had slept the whole day too. He had looked utterly exhausted after that battle in the cabin when he had slaughtered my three tormentors.

Memories of that absolutely insane fight floated back to me. I had never seen anything like it. It had been the most incredible display of battle magic I had ever witnessed. The sheer skill and power Levi possessed was beyond anything I could have imagined. But I wondered where it came from. Or rather, where that madness came from.

His skills and power had obviously been developed painstakingly with lots of practice over many years, but that inhuman expression that had descended on his features was something else. Where had that come from? And what had triggered it back in that cabin?

I studied his face again. Now, his features were smoothened with sleep, and there was no insanity left. He almost looked peaceful. Content.

Warmth spread through my chest, and I couldn’t stop the soft smile on my lips as I continued watching him.

He came for me.

Even after everything I had done, everything he had said, he still came for me.

On a whim, I reached up and brushed a few strands of hair away from his face.

He jerked upright and already had a blade in his hand by the time I had managed to summon a small flame and light the candle on the nightstand. Orange firelight flickered across his alert face when he swept his gaze around the room as if he was looking for enemies.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “It was just me. I…”

His intense gray eyes snapped to me. “Are we under attack?”

“No. I’m sorry, I just, uhm…”

The tension melted from his body, and he let the dagger he had summoned fade into nothingness. Dragging a hand through his hair, he cleared his throat somewhat self-consciously and then leaned back against the headboard. Worry blew across his features as his gaze flicked up and down my body.

“Are you okay?” he asked carefully.

Since I was also resting my back against the headboard, I drew up my knees to my chest and then slid my hands over the back of my thighs. I could feel the smooth scars there, like two long lines.

“Yeah,” I replied, letting my gaze drift back to his face.

He watched me as if he could see straight through my soul. “You don’t have to be strong all the time, you know. It’s okay to let other people take care of you sometimes.”

That one hit so close to home that it felt like a knife through the gut. But if I didn’t take care of me, who would? Ever since my father was killed, I had done everything on my own.

“I’m fine,” I said, trying to put conviction into my voice.

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