Page 35 of The Warlock's Kiss

Tears welled in her eyes, and after a moment, she looked toward the window. “Danny was in the car with them. They were coming to support me for the first round of my new treatmentwhen the quake happened. I was standing at the edge of the parking lot waiting for them when I saw them driving up…and saw the ambulance plow into their car. My parents were in the front seat and took the brunt of it. They…they were dead by the time I got to the car. Danny was in the back, shaken up pretty badly, but he didn’t seem hurt.

“I calmed him down as best I could and was helping him get out of the car when we heard a choking sound from the front seat. We thought maybe they were alive, maybe there was a chance to save them. We were at the hospital, so close to help. But the things in the front seat…those weren’t our parents anymore. They were like wild beasts, with glowing eyes and gnashing teeth and…” She shook her head. “They were trying to grab at Danny, making these inhuman, gurgling growls. It was like they wanted toeathim. But they couldn’t reach because they were pinned in their seats by all the mangled metal. I got him out of there as quickly as I could.”

She turned her face back to Merrick. Her gathering tears fell, rolling down her cheeks. “They were our parents, and that was the last thing he’ll remember about them.”

Frowning deeply, Merrick closed the remaining distance between them and settled his hands on her shoulders. That pulse of energy—which he’d already come to crave—raced up his arms, but he ignored it this time. “He didn’t mention any of that.”

“No, he wouldn’t have. I think he’s tried to block it all out, has told himself it didn’t happen. That he wasn’t there.”

“That’show he made it sound when he told me about it.”

“He has nightmares sometimes. He never talks about them, but I’m pretty sure it’s about that accident. Even with all the other things we’ve seen, that was theworst. The most traumatic. To see the people you love most killed, and then to see their faces contorted in rage and hunger, to seenothingleft of who and what they were but their…their soulless husks…”

Merrick slid one hand up along her neck and over her jaw, settling it on her cheek. He brushed his thumb lightly across her cheekbone, wiping away her falling tears. Her skin was so smooth, so soft, reminding him again of how delicate and precious she was.

“And you fear it will happen again if he is still with you when you succumb to your sickness,” he said in as gentle a voice as he could; the words hurt to speak aloud.

Adalynn nodded. “I don’t want him to see me turn into one of those things. I don’t want him to stay with me and get hurt.”

Her voice held an unsettling degree of certainty that made Merrick’s stomach churn. She had no question of what would happen to her—only of what would become of her brother afterward. Everything within Merrick railed against it, but his magic couldn’t help now. She wasn’t looking for a cure, and he didn’t have one to offer, but he could provide some sympathy, perhaps, however inadequate it felt.

“I witnessed my parents’ deaths when I was young,” Merrick said. “Not much younger than your brother. I carry that pain, carry those scars on my heart, to this day. But it is possible to continue on.”

Her eyes searched his as she gently tilted her head, pressing her cheek into his palm. After a few moments, she lifted her hand to cover his. “I’m so sorry, Merrick. It’s hard to have lost people you love, no matter how long ago it happened.”

This was the second time in two days that someone had offered Merrick sympathy and condolences for the loss he’d suffered so long ago. It was no less strange than the first time, but he found a certain sense of peace with Adalynn that he’d never experienced before.

Despite their short lives, perhaps mortals weren’t so different from him as he’d told himself for all those years—or at least Adalynn and Danny weren’t.

“Daniel is strong,” he said, “just asyouare strong. It is not fair that he must deal with this world, especially that he must deal with it alone, but he’ll survive.”

“I know he’s strong, but I worry for him. This world…it’s so dangerous, and he’s soyoung. Nothing’s guaranteed out there. Nothing but…but hardship and death and terror. He doesn’t deserve that.No onedeserves that. And if I can’t even be there to protect him…”

Fresh tears spilled from her eyes, running hot over his hand.

Merrick shifted his hand to hook his finger beneath her chin, guiding her face up so he could look into her dark, glistening eyes. He’d come down here to tell Adalynn she would have to leave tomorrow. He’d come down here because he couldn’t risk growing attached, because he couldn’t risk the potential danger she posed.

But it was already too late. Even if he hadn’t realized it then, he’d been attached to her from the first moment he saw her.

“So stay here, Adalynn.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes flaring. “What?”

“Stay here—you and Danny—for as long as you’d like. I can offer you safety, security, comfort…all the things you don’t have out there.”

She grasped his wrist. “You mean that? You want us to stay? With you?”

The way she clutched his arm was oddly satisfying; he wanted her to need him, wanted her to depend on him, because in the back of his mind he knew, somehow, thatheneededherregardless.

He nodded. “I do. This house…it’s been so quiet, solifeless, for so long. Of course,” he hastened to add, “my offer cannot be without stipulations.”

Her expression faltered as a hint of wariness entered her eyes. She stiffened and pulled away, and the distrust she must’ve harbored toward him from the beginning was suddenly palpable.

“I will not lie to you, Adalynn. Iwantyou. But I will ask nothing untoward of you in exchange for what I’m offering.” Merrick lowered his arms to his sides and clenched his fists to keep from reaching for her, to keep from pulling her back, from drawing her against him.

She frowned. “Sorry. It’s just that…people have offered food or supplies before, but what some of them asked for in exchange…”

“I would never ask that of you,” he said, swallowing a sudden surge of possessiveness and anger. “As I’ve stated, my study and bedroom will remain off limits. I expect the two of you to clean up after yourselves and be responsible with the food stores. And…I would ask that you and Daniel contribute. There is not much work to be done, but the harvest is approaching, and assistance in the garden would be welcome.”

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