Page 104 of Boxed In

She looked into his eyes. “The same way you love me. For a month we watched each other and wondered. I know you thought you couldn’t have anything personal with me because of your job. But I know you wanted to. The same as I did. Then the Poisoned Ones came, and you got me out of their death trap. You kept me alive while you tried to bring the box back to the temple. You could have easily left me along the way, but you didn’t. Just like I’m not leaving you now.”

He pulled away and looked her in the eye. “Not me. This isn’t just about Luke Garner.”

“I’m not forgetting about Zabastian. The two of you were working together. He couldn’t have done it without you. And when we were safe in your friends' house, we had time for the two of us. You made love to me—and I found out how I really felt about you. And so did you—about me. Didn’t you?” she challenged.

His face contorted. “Zabastian wasn’t thinking about the two of us. He was thinking about controlling the uppity woman.”

“You’re not going to push me away by saying that kind of stuff. That wasn’t what Luke Garner was thinking, was it?”

He swallowed. “No.”

“Do you love me?” she demanded.

“Yes.”

“I want to hear you say it,” she murmured. If this ended here, she wanted to have that much. “I want to hear the words.”

“I love you.”

Before she could rejoice, he went on, “But that doesn’t change anything. Zabastian is still inside me. He won’t go back to the living hell of the box.”

“Father Delanos and I talked about that. The father realizes the punishment was too much for anyone to endure. He says Zabastian doesn’t have to go back into solitary confinement.”

His expression changed, and she knew that she had been speaking to the warrior as well as to Luke. He had been there all along, inside Luke, taking in the conversation.

“Father Delanos wouldn’t lie,” he said, his voice gruff. Zabastian’s voice. “But it is still too late,” he added with grim finality. “The energy blast fused Zabastian and Luke Garner together. We cannot be separated.”

Olivia wanted to scream. Instead she managed to hang on to some shreds of calm as she addressed herself to the warrior. “Zabastian, what if you could live?” she said, emphasizing each word. “What if you could live through Luke? In his world. Experiencing what he does. Like you’ve been doing. Only Luke would stay in charge?”

She held her breath, waiting for both men to consider that idea.

When they spoke, it was hard to hear them above the rushing of blood in her ears.

“I cannot accept that,” Zabastian said.

oOo

Olivia had dared so much and come so far. But with those words, her temper snapped, and she screamed at him. “Why not? You’re getting a chance to live—not die.”

He glared at her. “What if you were in danger? Would you expect me to stay in the background and let you get hurt—when I could save you? Or what if Luke needs my advice. What if I know something that he doesn’t—and he needs the information?”

She breathed out a sigh. “Is that all you’re worried about?”

“Not all. But that is the main thing. And it is enough to make what you suggest impossible.”

“Why don’t you let Luke speak for himself?” Her gaze locked with his, she asked. “Luke, if he came back with you, would you agree to let him take control—if you or I were in danger.”

He nodded gravely.

“And . . . would you take advice from him?”

“That’s a little harder to swallow. But yeah, I think I could. I’ve been doing it. And we’ve learned how to cooperate—in a weird sort of way.”

“Then come back with me. Both of you. Please.”

She saw that he was still hesitating. “Is there still some problem?”

“Father Delanos said he would not put me back in my prison. But you asked the wrong question.”

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