“Oh,” I said, my brain foggy from sleep. “That’s a relief.” I burrowed back into his warmth as I yawned. His arms braced around me, tugging me close. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. I’ve been out at least eight hours. You should’ve woken me up sooner. We have a lot to talk about.” I slung a lazy arm around his torso and snuggled deeper.
“You were too cute to wake up.” He pulled the sheet up around us. “You kept making little growling noises and gnashing your teeth. It was like watching a puppy have a nightmare.”
“Very funny,” I mumbled, smiling into his neck. “You purr like a cat when you’re out cold, so we’re even.” He laughed, whipping me effortlessly onto his chest. I leaned in to kiss him. “Mmm, I love the way you taste.”
His irises sparked. “You don’t taste half bad yourself.”
I nipped his bottom lip.
He groaned, angling his head up to kiss me, but he broke away too soon for my liking, so I protested with a loud growl.
“Believe me,” he said, “all I want to do is kiss you senseless, but you’re right. We have to talk first. I need to know what happened when you were with Juanita. We can’t put it off any longer.”
I sighed, resting my cheek against his broad chest. “I know. But first I have to tell you I’m sorry I worried you again. Juanita said it couldn’t be helped. I know seeing me unresponsive is hard for you.”
“Jessica, I thought I lost you again when I kicked the door down and first saw you in that state.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure how many times I can see you like that and keep it together. I thought Enid had taken you. I’m pissed they threw me in the lake, but they probably did the right thing. I pushed Marcy to wake you up even though she kept telling me she couldn’t do it without hurting you. I wasn’t in my right mind.”
I caressed his cheek with a thumb. “I know this has been hard on you, but I can’t promise that something like that won’t happen again. If it helps matters at all, I like you vigilant. I love that you have my back. You’re my rock. You were right to think it might have been Enid when everyone else was complacent to believe it was Juanita. In the future, we just have to make sure we work better as a team, and we have to know when to trust the people around us. Each of us has our own skill set. Marcy has to be the one with the last word when it comes to spells. We have to believe Ray when it comes to reaper things. Moving forward, that has to be our mind-set.”
He shook his head. “I agree with you. But fear made me irrational. Marcy told me the signature was Juanita’s. She’s the professional. But I didn’t listen. I just… couldn’t. Not after everything we’ve been through recently.”
“It’s okay, I don’t blame you for being fierce,” I said, leaning down to kiss his bottom lip, lingering there for a moment. “It’s not always going to be like this. It can’t be. We won’t survive long living in constant upheaval and danger. You and I are going to just have to keep moving forward. We have no other choice. But we will reach the finish line. Juanita told me something while I was with her, and the way she said it felt like there would be an ending. She said I’d find peace at some point, but in order to get things back on the right track, I did have to sacrifice something, but whatever it was I could handle it.”
“Tell me everything she said.”
I recapped the meeting as best I could, leaving nothing out, including the realness of the smells and how everything affected my senses. “The last thing she told me was we needed to find Kayla’s brother, and once I did, I would find my destiny. When she said the words, they filled me with hope. I had the feeling that if I succeeded in this next mission everything would finally come together. At least that’s how I interpreted it. I truly believe she thinks I can succeed and my death isn’t necessary. I have to as well. Being hopeless is not an option.”
“Damn right, we believe. Your death is not an option. I don’t care what Fate or Enid think. Juanita has been your champion since the beginning, by her own admission. She knows there’s a way around this and we are going to move in that direction. And once this is all over, the first chance I get I’m squirreling you back to the Ozarks and keeping you under lock and key for a while.”
I sighed, laying my cheek against his chest again. “That sounds like heaven.” I ran an open palm along his contours. “I fell in love with that place the first time I ever saw it.”
“I did too,” he grunted. “Kind of like the first time I set eyes on you.”
“Liar!” My head whipped off his chest. “You disliked me the first time you saw me! Don’t you dare lie. When you carried me out of that bar against my will, I was your burden—not your conquest. Admit it!”