Page 95 of Dark Flame
Because, like it or not, we have eternity to figure this out, and I’ll be there every second of it trying to make you see reason.
“What if reason isn’t enough? What if I want love one day?”
There’s silence in my head for a moment. And then another. I stare at the alarm clock on Carina’s bedside table, watching the numbers tick two more higher before his mental sigh comes through my head.
As if you’d love me after everything I’ve done.
Could I? If I gave this an honest shot, could I change my emotions from hate to love?
Haven’t they already begun to? Shifting from hate to like, at the very least. If I truly hated him, I would have ended his life in the castle rather than knocking him out. I wouldn’t have cared that he’s safe from the sun tonight.
Before I can come up with an answer for both myself and him, he murmurs,Sleep, Hellion. You’re tired. Sleep…because we’re far from done, you and I, and you need your energy. I’ll stop talking.
I’m about to scream with frustration, but instead obey his command without a secondary thought, pushing away everything today has brought forth in exchange for much-needed rest.
Alec keeps his promise and doesn’t bother me for the rest of the night.
An hour later, I’m still awake wishing he would.
* * *
I sleep until mid-afternoon,my body catching up on its lost rest. The clock reads 1:02 p.m. when I wake, stretching my leaden body as I slide from the bed and peek between the white curtains.
For half a second, I forgot where I was, but the sight of the Rockies brings it all back. It’s so lovely here, open and natural. What a sight to wake up to each day.
I could get used to living in Banff for sure,I think, letting the curtain fall back into place.
Morning, Hellion.
I ignore him and head out of the bedroom, all but running into Morgan as she’s exiting the bathroom across from Carina’s room.
“Good morning! Afternoon, I should say. I placed a fresh towel in the bathroom if you’d like to shower. Figured you might.”
Considering I can’t recall my last one, yeah. It was sometime before bolting through a forest from a maniacal vampire, getting fucked within an inch of my life, and then my successful escape.
“That’d be great, thank you.”
She slides past me and heads for Carina’s dresser, pulling out jeans and a long-sleeved black top. “You’re about Carina’s size, so these should work. Incant them to adjust, if need be. I’ll have breakfast prepared when you’re finished.”
“Thanks.”
I wait until she disappears down the stairs before entering the bathroom, spotting a towel folded on the edge of the sink.
After a hot shower, it feels amazing to put on clean clothes. With a quick fix of magick, they fit. Then I head down with my dirty clothes wrapped inside my used towel and find Morgan in the kitchen, frying something on the stove.
Movement from the table catches my attention seconds before Carina’s head lifts from where it was buried in her cell. “Harlow, hey!”
“Carina,” I greet, shifting foot from foot, feeling awkward in front of the woman who apparently was once my friend, but having no memory to confirm this. “Sorry for stealing your room last night.”
She waves her hand. “Jasper’s been wanting to beat my ass in video games for a while now, so it worked out. He’s excited to see you.”
“He better not have too many hopes considering I have no memory of him.”
Keep it like that.
I tip my head towards the basement door, biting down on my smirk before Morgan notices. I wonder what she’d do if she knew he could get in my head. It feels like a secret I shouldn’t share with anyone else. Nor do I really want to.
Just because you’re back with the coven doesn’t make you theirs. This Jasper will learn that,or else I’ll rip the magick from his body and make him choke on it.
