Page 2 of Cherish

His voice is as rough as my aching heart as we both remember the tiny umbra he loved like a daughter. The one who sacrificed her life to save his. No, she isn’t dead. I have to believe she’s out there, waiting for Hudson to find her again.

“Don’t get all mushy on me now. It’s pure selfishness on my part,” I say, coughing a little to clear my suddenly tight throat. I pick up a thick roll of sparkly gold ribbon and study the package. “I need Smokey to like me.”

“Shedoeslike you.”

I turn from my contemplation of glittery red versus shiny pink ribbon to give him an are-you-kidding-me look. At which point, he hastily gathers up both spools of ribbons—and an extra glittery silver one as well—and heads for the nearest cash register.

“Maybe ‘like’ is a strong word.” He pauses to grab a box of cherry Pop-Tarts off the snack display on the way to self-checkout.

“Maybe ‘like’ is just a full-onlie,” I counter, taking out my credit card to pay.

But Hudson beats me to it, as usual, tapping his black American Express. I take the purchases to put in my backpack as we leave the store.

He doesn’t say anything else as we walk, but he’s holding my hand like it’s a lifeline.

I can’t help but wonder if he’s more worried about this trip than he’s letting on, but before I can ask him, he murmurs, “She’s going to be there, right?”

“She is,” I answer, squeezing his hand back extra hard. “We’re going to find her, Hudson. We’ll start at the farm, and if Smokey isn’t there, we’ll keep looking until we figure out where she is. She’s there, just waiting for you to find her again. And we will. I promise.”

He nods, but I can tell he’s still worried. And I don’t blame him. Smokey hated me, but I couldn’t help but love her, if for no other reason than she loved this boy who’d never known love but deserved it all. And now that I remember the Shadow Realm and everything that happened there, her absence destroys me. I can’t even imagine what it’s felt like for Hudson all these months.

“Hey,” I tell him, moving us into an alcove between buildings. “Listen to me. We’re going to find that ridiculous little umbra.”

I try to put as much confidence as I can in my gaze, hoping the fear that Smokey didn’t make it is buried down so deep that Hudson can’t see it. Because, as much as we know that time-dragon fire resets timelines and sends those who enter the Shadow Realm to the point they were at just before they entered Noromar…I have no idea what would happen to a creature who was actuallybornthere.

I grit my jaw against any thoughts that Smokey is gone forever and hold Hudson’s gaze, willing him to believe me about Smokey being okay.

When the corners of his eyes crinkle, a crooked smile lifting one side of his mouth, I let out a long breath of relief. He shakes his head. “She really is ridiculous, isn’t she?”

“So ridiculous. And if she wants to come back here with us, then we’re going to find a way to bring her back, too.”

“And what are we going to do once we get her here? She doesn’t exactly blend in.”

“We’ll hide her, of course. Like Lilo did Stitch—only a lot better.”

He laughs, exactly as I want him to, but I can still see the worry lingering in his eyes. It kills me. Hudson has done so much for me, has always made sure that I feel safe, even in the middle of the worst situations imaginable, and almost never asked for anything for himself. This is one thing that he needs—to know that Smokey is happy and healthy and okay. There’s no way I’m not going to move heaven and earth to make sure it happens for him.

He stares at me for a second, his eyes searching mine for the answer to a question he doesn’t even know he’s asking. “I love you, Grace.”

“Across time. I know,” I tease.

“Across everything,” he says, and he’s never looked more serious.

“I love you, too.” I lean in and kiss him, reveling in the little zing of sensation that works its way through me the moment our lips touch. “No matter what.”

He moves to deepen the kiss, and I let him, because I never want to say no where this guy is concerned. And also because I get lost the second he scrapes one of his fangs across my bottom lip.

Shivers shoot down my spine and my fingers curl in the front of his shirt as I give myself to him—to this—for just a few more seconds.

Then I force myself to take a step back, even though I want nothing more than to drag Hudson home and have my wicked way with him. Or the other way around.

But we’ve got things to do and people counting on us, so I smile up at him and say, “We need to go. Heather and Eden are waiting.”

He nods, then leans forward and nips at my lower lip one more time. I almost say to hell with it. They’ve waited this long—they can wait a little longer.

But then I remember Smokey and Mekhi and everything else we need to take care of. I reach for Hudson’s hand.

“Let’s go,” I tell him.

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