Page 38 of One Last Touch

“Is she breathing?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Get her warm.”

“And then?”

Ms Weathers sighed. “And then we’ll see if she wakes up.”

Chapter Fifteen

I woke to a heat so stuffy that it was oppressive.

“Christ,” I muttered as I tried to push the duvet and what seemed like five blankets off of myself.

“Georgina.” Sage’s voice was coloured by his relief and he immediately moved up from his perch at the end of the bed to stretch out beside me. “You’re awake.”

“I’m roasting.” I heard a familiar crackle and widened my eyes. “You lit the fire too? Are you trying to cook me?”

“You were freezing,” he protested and I shuddered, suddenly remembering the terrible cold, the dark. “What is it? Are you still cold?” Sage reached for the blankets and pulled them back over me, tucking them in tightly under my chin while I stared at him.

“You almost died,” I said quietly and his mouth dropped open.

“Are you joking right now? You swallowed half the lake before I pulled you out.”

“And you nearly faded out of existence,” I countered. “Completely unacceptable.”

He watched me, drinking me in like he’d thought he wouldn’t see me again, and then pressed his palm to my cheek as he raised my head to meet his lips. “You’re terrible,” he murmured against my mouth and I smiled before I pulled back.

“I thought it was about time I saved you for once, speaking of—you need to be more careful.” I glanced meaningfully down at where his hand still pressed against my cheek but he shook his head.

“I’m fine, practically the newly undead with the amount of energy you gave me.” His hand dropped as he shifted away. “I almost killed you. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know, I think it was more you than me—I just tried to open myself up to you, to offer you what I had. I’m okay, I think, but it would have been worth it to save you.”

Sage’s eyes flashed and his nostrils flared as he ground out between his teeth, “Don’t say that. How many times do I have to tell you that I’m already gone?”

“You don’t feel gone. Not to me.”

His face softened, his jaw relaxing, and he muttered something I couldn’t hear as he tucked me into his chest. “I don’t know how it happened.”

I sat bolt upright and nearly clocked him in the chin. “I had a thought.”

“Do tell,” he said dryly, leaning carefully away until I narrowed my eyes at him and laid back down.

“I knew it didn’t make sense before, that he’d push me but not follow to finish the job. I think it was a test.”

“For what?”

“To see if he could steal from me like he does from you all.”

Sage went very still. “You made my heartbeat.”

“I felt it,” I said quietly. It had probably been the most bittersweet thing of my life, to see the man I loved alive for one breath before I nearly died myself. I froze and Sage looked at me curiously as I swallowed hard. There was no use denying it any longer. I loved him. It didn’t matter to me that he was a ghost because our connection was real. I wanted to cry and laugh simultaneously and Sage pressed a hand to my forehead.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I said but my voice came out all weird. “Fine,” I tried again, sounding slightly better. Should I tell him? Was it fair to do that knowing this could never last? That we had no future? “Um, so yeah. I think you were right, he couldn’t manifest during the day normally but after stealing some of my energy…”

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