Page 39 of One Last Touch

“He could pierce the veil.”

I nodded and Sage blew out a breath, playing with my hair absently as he looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t like this. I especially don’t like that your energy seemed to temporarily make my heart beat. If I had taken all of your energy, would I be alive right now?”

Alarm bells clanged loudly in my head as I remembered Jared letting me go beneath the water. Was that why? Had he intended to wait until I was on the cusp of death before stealing my life—literally, and rejoining the world? Would that be a permanent solution? Or would he eventually have to… top it up?

“This is bad.”

Sage’s jaw was tight and I found myself fascinated by the small freckle at the bottom of his cheek. “You need to go.”

“What?”

“This is worse than we thought. He’s not just planning on killing you, he wants to try to be alive again. We can’t let that happen. It’s unnatural.”

“There must be something else we can try—”

“If there was, we’ve run out of time to find it. You need to go, as soon as possible.”

“I don’t want to,” I whispered and he smiled as he turned to face me.

“I know.” Then his mouth was on mine and his fingers were in my hair and I pressed closer until there was no space between us, like my body was trying to fuse our souls into one being. “I wish we had more time.”

“Me too.” My breathing was ragged as I kissed him again, slower, softer this time.

“Do you regret ever coming here?”

I considered his question for a minute and shook my head. Despite all the bad, Alswell felt like home. Or maybe that was just meeting Sage. “I’m exactly where I need to be.”

I didn’t want to leave the house, Sage, or the others. It didn’t feel right. I had a decision to make but I wasn’t sure I was ready to make it.

“Give me a day,” I said eventually. “Just to make sure there’s nothing else I can do.”

He nodded slowly. “A day.”

The fire popped and I jumped, giving him a sheepish look when he grinned. “How long was I… asleep?” Unconscious sounded so much more serious and I didn’t want to dwell too much on how close to death I’d been.

“Not that long, a few hours.” Sage stroked my hair and I sighed, stretching my legs beneath the covers.

We were quiet after that, just basking in the fire and each other’s company. The night stretched on and I found I didn’t want it to end. Not yet. There were too many things in this place that I didn’t want to let go.

“Where do you think you’ll go next?” Sage asked finally and there was a pained expression on his face when I looked at him that told me he both did and didn’t want to know.

“I’m not sure. Maybe somewhere warm, though truth be told, I’ve grown fond of the rain.”

He smiled. “You know, when you first arrived I was shocked twice.”

“Oh?”

“Firstly, when you could see me. I’d grabbed you out of instinct, spoken as if it mattered, and then you turned around with your eyes practically glowing like you’d commanded the universe to see and so you did.”

“And the second?” I said softly and he pressed a kiss to my hair.

“How beautiful you were. It felt like it had been a long time since I’d seen any beauty beyond the gates of Alswell and then all of a sudden, there you were. It felt a little like the universe or god or whoever was fucking with me. Showing me everything I couldn’t have.”

“I’m yours anyway.”

Sage’s fingers slid between mine, a contented breath leaving him as I relaxed, my eyes sliding shut. “My soul is yours in every sense of the word.”

Chapter Sixteen

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