Page 133 of Forsaken Oath

“Please,” I sob, my tears soaking into his skin. “Don’t leave me.”

His chest stills for a breath. One endless second. An eternity passes in that moment.

I tip my head back to the inky sky, my tears blurring the pinpricks of stars into shimmering streaks of light. A desperate plea tears from my throat, raw and aching. “Please,” I beg, my voice cracking. “Please don’t take him from me.”

As the desperate plea rips from my throat, a shudder runs through Beau’s body. For a heartbeat, I think it’s just my own trembling transferring to him. But then, like a miracle, his chest expands with a deep, shuddering breath.

The air rushes into his lungs, raising his chest beneath my hands. Another breath follows, and another, in a steady if slow succession.

My own breathing stops, caught in my throat when his eyelashes flutter, dark crescents against his too-pale skin. A low groan escapes his lips, and my heart leaps into my throat.

“Peach?”

“Beau?” I whisper, my voice trembling.

His eyes crack open, those brilliant blue irises hazy and unfocused. He blinks once, twice, before his gaze finally settles on me. A slow, lazy smile spreads across his face, even as his brow furrows in confusion.

“Oh, god, Beau.” I choke on a sob.

“Gotta say, baby, usually you’re a lot less clothed when I’m dreaming of you,” he rasps, his voice rough and gravelly.

A strangled laugh bursts from my throat, and to my surprise, I cried even harder. Sobs wrack my body, my breaths coming in choppy pants.

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s alright, baby. It’s alright.” Beau’s brow furrows deeper, and he lifts a shaky hand to my face. His fingertips brush my tears away with a gentleness that makes my heart ache. “C’mon down here, Peach, gimme one of those Spider-Man kisses, yeah?”

I let out a watery chuckle, shaking my head even as I lean down, drawn to him like a magnet. I brush my lips against his and whisper. “I love you.”

Beau’s lips curve into a smile beneath mine. “I know, baby. I love you too. Now hurry up and kiss me. We’ve got a race to win.”

59

BEAU

one week later

I watchwith amusement as Margot huffs and puffs, hauling another box up the stairs to the third floor of my house. Well, our house now.

“I still can’t believe neither one of you won,” she grumbles as she passes by.

Eloise just laughs, shooting me a playful wink. “Well, I’m just happy Beau’s okay.”

“As if he’d leave you so easily. Give me a break,” Margot calls back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. I can practically hear her eyes rolling.

“She’s so dramatic,” Viv murmurs from her perch on the couch next to me.

I shrug my one shoulder, my other one still trapped in a sling. “She’s not wrong. I’d drag myself from hell to come back just to be around your sister.”

Viv’s eyebrows raise before they plummet between her eyes. “Okay,” she says, dragging the word out like she’s embarrassed for me.

Living with a thirteen-year-old girl is going to take a little getting used to. But I’d do it and more just to see my girl happy. And she is.

It's been a wild week, to say the least. After the chaos and terror of that night in Black Hollow, everything else has felt like a whirlwind of change and new beginnings.

The first thing I did when I got out of the hospital was tell Peach I severed her ties to Seven Pines. I expected resistance, expected her to argue that she didn’t need a man coming in to rescue her. But to my surprise and relief, she just looked at me with those golden whiskey eyes, exhausted but determined, and said, “Yeah, I’m done.”

It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders in that moment. Like she could finally breathe again after years of struggling against the current.

When I suggested they should move in with me, Margot had whooped and started packing immediately. And once Peach nodded, Viv got excited too.

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