Page 27 of Lost Fate

“The picture…” She gulps. “I’ve never shown anyone. And mine is kind of creased, so I can’t see the guy in it. I always thought he might be my dad, but I never really knew.”

“He is,” I affirm softly. “And they both look so happy in the one I had.”

Ember looks at me with wide eyes. “That’s why you said I looked like her.”

I nod. “Yeah. That’s why.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Guilt twists through me. “I got hit in the head by a tree, Ember. I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. I didn’t remember everything right away. I didn’t remember that he was your dad, and I didn’t know… I didn’t want to be here for… a bad reason,” I confess.

She tilts her head, and I look away. “If I was sent here to hurt you or something, I couldn’t live with myself,” I whisper.

Ember sighs. “I have so many questions, Leander.”

“I know. I’ll answer them. But I swear, I didn’t want to tell you until I knew something that was for real. And I should have told you before I called him.”

She snorts. “Yeah. You can say that again.”

I need to tell her how I feel. I can’t lose Ember over this. “Besides,” I say, “I didn’t really want to remember everything.”

“What?”

“I like this, Ember. I like being here with you. I like you, and I didn’t want to remember something that would make all of this end,” I say quietly. I take a huge breath. This part feels like jumping off a cliff, but I have to tell her. “The only thing that I knew, and that I still know, is that I think…” I pause.

She turns her head quickly, her eyes locking with mine.

“I think I’m falling in love with you. You’re smart. Strong. You’re the coolest woman I’ve ever met, and honestly, I’m supposed to convince you to come back to Fort Myers because of your dad, but Ember…”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to come back to be with me,” I tell her. “I want you to come because I want us to be there together. Not because he’s your dad or because he’ll probably fire me as his beta if I don’t bring you back. But because I want to show you what my life is like, too.”

“I’m not sure… I mean, this is a lot,” Ember says.

“I know. And I love staying in this little cabin with you. I love working out with you in the morning and eating bacon. This is great. And I also want you to meet my mom and my dad, and when you’re there to meet your dad for the first time, I want to be there with you. I want to drink beer watching the sunset and spend all night with you because you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and…”

I don’t finish. Ember moves her head up, swiftly kissing the rest of my ramblings away.

I release her hands and moan as she slowly runs her nails along my scalp. She tugs my head closer, and I deepen the kiss. When we break apart, she’s looking at me with eyes that are huge. “You’re falling in love with me?”

“Yeah,” I say with a little curl of my lips. “I think I’d like to fully fall in love, if that’s okay with you.”

Ember nods. She stands up, and she pulls me up, too.

“I…”

She pauses.

I look down as, between us, something happens.

Chapter 9

Ember

Holy shit. The space between Leander and me is… glowing.

I watch, partly horrified and partly fascinated, as the glow engulfs both of us. I feel weird, kind of tingly, and I can feel my hair starting to float around me. Leander’s eyes are wide as he watches me.

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