Any other time I would’ve rather taken Nancy out to a romantic dinner than accept Archer’s help, but I said nothing when he lifted the blanket and draped it over us.
He left the room, and finally Kat and I were alone.
I watched her until I could no longer keep my eyes open. I then counted each breath she took until I could no longer remember what the last number was. And when that happened, I repeated her name, over and over again, until it was the last thing I thought before I slipped into oblivion.
…
Katy
I woke with a start, gasping in air and expecting it to burn me from the inside out, for the pain to still be there, ravaging every ounce of my being.
But I felt okay. Aching and sore, but otherwise okay, considering what had happened. Oddly, I felt detached from what the doctor did, but as I lay there, I could still feel the ghost hands on my wrists and ankles, holding me down.
An ugly feeling, a mess of emotions ranging from anger to helplessness, rattled my stomach. What they had done to prove that Daemon could heal fatal injuries was horrendous, and that word felt too light, not severe or heavy enough.
Feeling icky and uncomfortable in my own skin, I forced my eyes open.
Daemon lay beside me in a deep sleep. Dark shadows fanned his cheeks. Bruised shadows were under his eyes, a purplish tint of exhaustion. His cheeks were pale and lips parted. Several locks of wavy dark brown hair tumbled over his forehead. I’d never seen him look so worn out before. His chest rose steadily and evenly, but fear trickled through my veins.
I rose up on my elbow and leaned over, placing my hand on his chest. His heart beat under my palm, slightly accelerated due to mine.
As I watched him sleep, that ugly mess of emotion took on a new form. Hatred encased it, crystallizing into a hardened shell of bitterness and rage. My hand curled into a fist against his chest.
What they had done to me was reprehensible, but what they had forced Daemon to do was beyond that. And it would only get worse from this point on. They’d start bringing in humans, and when he failed to mutate them successfully, they would hurt me to get at Daemon.
I would become Bethany, and he’d become Dawson.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I exhaled a long breath. No. I couldn’t let this happen. We couldn’t let this happen. But in reality, it was already happening. Pieces of me had gone dark by what I’d done and what had been forced upon me. And if these ugly things kept piling up—which they would—how could we be any different? How could we not turn into Bethany and Dawson?
It struck me then.
I opened my eyes, my gaze traveling over Daemon’s broad cheekbones. It wasn’t that I had to be stronger than Beth, because I was sure she had been strong and still was. It wasn’t that Daemon had to be better than Dawson. We had to be stronger and better than them—Daedalus.
Lowering my head, I placed a soft kiss to Daemon’s lips and swore in that moment, we would walk out of this. It wasn’t just Daemon promising me. It wouldn’t just be in his hands to fix.
It would be us—together.
His arm suddenly snaked around my waist, and he tugged me against him. One startling green eye opened. “Hey there,” he murmured.
“I didn’t mean to wake you.”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “You didn’t.”
“You’ve been awake a while?” When his smile spread, I shook my head. “So you just laid there and let me stare at you like a creeper?”
“Pretty much, Kitten. I figured I’d let you get your fill, but then you kissed me and, well, I like to be a bit more involved in that.” Both eyes opened, and as always, staring into them had an exhilarating quality to it. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I feel great, actually.” Settling down beside him, I wiggled my head onto his arm, and his hand curled back, tangling in my hair. “How about you? I know that had to have taken a lot out of you.”
“You shouldn’t be worried about me. What they—”
“I know what they did. I know why they did it.” I tipped my chin down as I slid a hand between us. He stiffened as the back of my knuckles brushed over his stomach. “I’m not going to lie. It hurt like hell. When they were doing it, I wanted… You don’t even want to know what I wanted, but I’m okay because of you. But I hate what they made you do.”
His breath grazed my forehead, and there was a long stretch of silence. “You amaze me,” was all he said.
“What?” I looked up. “Daemon, I am not amazing. You are. The things you can do? What you have done for me? You—”
He placed a finger on my lips, silencing me. “After what you went through, you’re more concerned about me? Yeah, you amaze me, Kitten, you really do.”
I felt a grin pulling at my lips, and it kind of felt strange to want to smile after everything. “Well, how about this? We’re both amazing.”
“I like that.” He lowered his mouth to mine, and the kiss was sweet and tender, just as consuming as the other ones because it offered a promise—a promise of more, of a future. “You know, I haven’t told you this enough, and I should tell you every chance I get, but I love you.”
I sucked in a sharp gasp. Hearing him say those words never failed to affect me deeply. “I know you do, even if you don’t say it all the time.” I reached up and ran the tips of my fingers over the curve of his cheek. “I love you.”
Daemon’s eyes drifted shut, and his body tensed. He seemed to draw those words into him.
“How tired are you?” I asked after a couple of moments of staring at him like a goober.