Page 73 of Sweetheart: Part One

EBONY

I counted every second that passed as if they were numerals carved my skin.

I picked up every strewn item in my quarters; tidying, cleaning, letting the time slip away.

Then I sat on the edge of my bed in silence. I just had to wait for the first light of morning.

Survive that long without stepping downstairs and leaving my signature on that contract, and I could sleep.

When I woke, it would be over.

That shouldn’t be hard. The theory wasn’t hard.

No one else had told her they’d sign her. If they had, she wouldn’t have come to me tonight with such a desperate play.

Survive until the morning, and I was safe.

But as the night crept on, my mind began to spiral, demanding of me what I knew I shouldn’t give.

There was a feral part of my brain that needed her. I’d felt alive tonight, for the first time in memory.

Truly alive.

Yet, that was power I could never give to another.

So, I sat in silence until the first sound of a birdsong, and the lightest crack of dawn.

At last, I lay down, shut my eyes and let sleep steal me away.

TWENTY-ONE

Day Seven

DRAKE

“Are you okay?”

Those words, along with gentle hands, shook me awake.

I blinked tired eyes and found myself in the office, slumped against the resin table. I turned my head, stiff and uncomfortable, searching for the source of the melodic voice.

I ached everywhere.

I’d never been as physically strong as the others. I wasn’t built for fighting—that’s what my mom always told me. Except, last night something in me had cracked for the pair of rich brown eyes holding mine in concern right now.

Rook hadn’t gone easy either, but I’d refused to go down.

The envelope was tucked beneath my arms.

Untouched.

“I’m…” My throat was raw and stiff.

I’d fought Rook…I’d fought my own pack mate, and I’d won. Despite my aching body, I felt strangely… alive. Like I was myself in a way I hadn’t been in a long long time.

And that meant nothing, because I knew Vex would hate me forever.

“I’m… sorry.” My voice was rough.

---