Safe at Last (Slow Burn #3)

She’d given him a goofy smile and said, “Don’t be sad, Zack. I’m a Valkyrie.”


She nearly groaned as that memory came back to her. God, could she have been any more ridiculous? And apparently she hadn’t been particularly quiet with her declaration because she’d heard laughter from several different sources.

Despite not minding the state between awake and sleeping, she forced her eyelids open and saw Zack slumped in a chair right next to the head of her bed. Her arm was outstretched and his hand was curled around hers through the bars of the bed rail.

She studied their clasped hands a moment, pondering how right it felt. As though they hadn’t spent the last twelve years apart.

As if sensing her silent perusal, his eyes opened and then he became more alert, leaning forward so his face was closer to hers. With his free hand he smoothed his palm over her cheek, so much love and concern in his eyes that for a moment she couldn’t breathe.

This was not the look of a man who’d brutally betrayed her.

And so she had to ask. Because she had to know. It was suddenly the most important thing in the world to her.

“Zack?” she said softly.

“Yes, baby, I’m here. Are you all right? Are you hurting?”

She shook her head but stopped when that did hurt.

“Where did you go?” she asked in a quiet voice.

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand, nor did he ask for clarification. For a moment his eyes went so hard that she shivered. His hand trembled around hers and he swallowed several times as if trying to compose himself.

“I intend to tell you all about it,” he said in a controlled voice. “There’s a lot we need to talk about, Gracie. A lot you have to know. But not here. Please give me that much. The doctor said you’ll be discharged soon. They aren’t keeping you overnight. Just sending you home with antibiotics and pain medicine and instructions to rest and not aggravate your wound, which I fully intend to ensure you do. I swear to you, I will tell you everything when we’re alone.”

There was a pleading look in his eyes and for a moment he looked so very vulnerable. Her heart clenched and she squeezed his hand just to have an anchor.

“Okay?” he whispered.

“Okay,” she whispered back. “How is Eliza? And Ari?”

His lips quirked into a half smile. “Eliza is raising hell because they want to keep her overnight for observation and she’s not having it. However, Wade has threatened to sit on her and they’re currently in a standoff and neither is budging. The rest of us are just staying the hell out of the way. I think Wade is going to win this one.”

Anna-Grace smiled, imagining well the clash of those two stubborn wills.

“And Ari?” she prompted.

“Beau took her home,” Zack said. “She was okay. Just very weak.”

Anna-Grace heaved a sigh of relief.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he said starkly, abruptly switching the focus to her. “Don’t ever do that again, Gracie. My heart can’t take it. Do you have any idea how helpless I felt knowing I couldn’t get to you in time? Why in the hell did you do it?”

She shrugged. “It was the right thing to do.”

Zack closed his eyes. “Jesus.”

“I couldn’t not do anything,” she said defensively. “Eliza helped me. She was there because of me. Being tortured because of me.”

She couldn’t control the pain in her voice and she broke off, averting her gaze from Zack.

“For whatever reasons, my powers reasserted themselves when Eliza needed us the most. Maybe it was God’s way of saving her. I don’t know. But I knew that between me, Ramie and Ari we could find and save Eliza, and I was not going to just sit there while they killed an innocent woman. Especially a woman who has given so much of herself for others.”

Zack smiled ruefully. “I shouldn’t have even asked. Of course you would. You’re incapable of turning a blind eye to anyone in need.”

He caught her gaze and again she was consumed in a wave of so much love that she trembled under its force.

“You’re still my Gracie,” he whispered. “You haven’t changed a single bit from that beautiful girl I fell in love with so many years ago. That I still love. Will always love.”

She stared at him in shock, incapable of responding. How could she respond? What was she supposed to say?

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It just remained open as she stared helplessly at him.

He pressed a gentle finger to her lips. “Shhh. Not now. You don’t have to say anything right now. It will wait. Until we’re home and I can explain everything.”