Page 64 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

His hand tightens on mine. “You’re running away.”

“Just mimicking you.” I glare at him and tug.

He releases me. “It’s because I don’t know how to help you.”

I blink.

“You’re hurting, for fuck’s sake, and I don’t know—” He turns away and runs his hand through his hair. “I’d like to think I know you. That you don’t want coddling. But if not that, what?”

I shake my head. “A hug would be nice.”

He yanks me forward, into him, faster than I expect. He wraps his arms around me, bone-crushingly tight.

“Like this?” he whispers into my hair.

It’s tight enough to hold me together for a moment. Just like Riley’s hug, but this one…

I relax into his hold, and his hand cups the back of my head.

“Now, if only we could stay like this,” he says.

I don’t say anything but slowly bring my arms up and circle his waist. My breath shudders out of me. Yes, I want to say. This could be a forever kind of thing.

“Do you remember what I said?”

I pull back just enough to meet his gaze. “You say a lot.”

His smile is faint. “I’m always going to find you.”

“I believe it,” I admit. It scares me as much as it comforts me. “But what if you find me and we both…”

“Go dark?”

I nod. I can feel it crawling through me. It’s a slippery feeling, addictive. And the worst part? It pushes out all my other emotions. I know he feels it, too. The rare times his demons have come out full force.

He lifts one shoulder. His grip on me eases, allowing me to take a small step backward. “So what if we do?”

I contemplate that.

“Ah, Margo, are you—?” Lenora stops in the middle of the hallway. “Caleb, glad to see you could make it. The doctor is going to talk to us, honey.” She holds out her hand to me.

I release Caleb and go to her, taking her hand. She squeezes it.

Nerves flutter through me, and I realize this is the moment. The one where we find out if Robert made it or not. If he’s alive or…

I take a deep breath. Breathing is important. How would it feel if one lung stopped working? If I started coughing blood?

I close my eyes for a heartbeat, and I replay blood spraying from Robert’s lips. The way he rubbed at his chest, like he couldn’t get enough air.

The car.

—What did you do?—

I don’t realize I’ve stopped moving until Caleb puts his hands on my shoulders, propelling me from behind.

“This is a fear we need to face,” he whispers in my ear. “But you’re not in this alone.”

I shake my head. “If he dies, I’ll never forgive myself.”

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