Page 31 of A Twisted Gift

“He’ll hurt me if he finds me,” she says softly, and I don’t miss the fear in her voice.

“I won’t let him. You’re safe.”

Raina looks back out the window, but not before I see her tears fall. “As long as I stay out of sight. I can’t leave, can I? It’s exactly the same. I’m still trapped.”

“You can leave.” It causes me physical pain to say it, and I wish I could stuff the words back down my throat the second she perks up.

“Really?”

“Yes,” I rasp. It’d kill me, letting her go after fighting my way to her for so long, but I won’t keep her here against her will.

“You’d let me go out there alone?”

“If that’s what you want, little rose.”

I have to bite my tongue to hold in the truth. If she doesn’t want me, then I won’t force her to stay with me, but I’ll make sure she’s safe. I’ll follow her, a second shadow, someone to protect her from a distance.

Raina stands and steps toward me, her expression contemplative. “You told me last night that you never stopped thinking about me, even though it’s been thirteen and a half years.”

“Correct.”

“And you’ve snuck into my room every night for the past two weeks.”

She’s directly in front of me now, dressed in dark jeans and a plum sweater that I thought would complement her eyes. Dammit, it does, and I wish I could kiss her to see if her lips taste as sweet as I’ve always dreamed.

“I have.”

“And you devised a plan to take me away, right from underneath my father’s nose. You promised yourself you’d save me, and you followed through.”

“I did.”

Tilting her head to the side, Raina looks me up and down. Her hair catches the morning light as she moves, reminding me of how angelic I thought she looked the first time I saw her in the late summer sunlight. She was so beautiful that I’d stopped my hunt for butterflies to watch her.

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

Raina asks the question softly, and I almost laugh. I’ve never had someone call me on a lie so gently, socuriously.

“No, little rose.”

“But you thought I’d believe you?”

“I… I don’t want to cage you in. Don’t want to scare you, either.”

“But you won’t let me go.”

There it is.A hint of panic, layered with longing and confusion. She knows me, but she doesn’t. She trusts me, but she doesn’t. She wants me, but—

My heart clenches.

“You won’t, will you?” she whispers.

“You can leave.”

“But you said—”

“If I’m with you.”

“Oh.” She rolls the thought over in her mind, a frown forming on her features.

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