Kat
His body crumpled to the ground, lifeless. I slid my fingers under the noose at his neck and pulled it over his head, throwing it to the side.
“No,” I moaned. “No, please, no. Don’t die.”
He wasn’t breathing. I pressed my fingers to his wrist, feeling for a pulse. My own heart was pounding so hard that I couldn’t hear anything.
“Come on, Gav,” I whispered. I bent down and pressed my lips against his. My breath lifted his chest, filled his lungs. My hands pressed down on his chest, hard and fast, desperate to draw the life back into him. Lips to his, I breathed again.
Again.
I couldn’t lose him.
I couldn’t.
Gav
Slowly at first, the fog seeped away, then faster, drawing all of the nothingness away with it. Taking away with it my peace. Her voice was louder, clearer, right in my ear. Her hands beat at my chest, her sobs audible.
“Come back. Don’t leave me. Please, Gavriel. Come back.”
Clinging to the darkness, I felt her hand grasp at my fingers. I knew she was reaching for me. I could have tried to stay gone forever, but the ground was being pulled away from under my feet.
There was no fog anymore, only the darkness without peace, and I knew that this was not a place I could stay in. Somebody was calling.
I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing, but when has that ever stopped me?
She reached for me, and I could not wait forever. Scared, unsure, I took her hand and let her pull me back into the light.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Kat
With a gasp, his eyes opened. I fell back, sobbing, as his lungs drew in ragged gasps of air. His skin pinkened, the color coming back to his lips.
“Gav,” I whispered, my hands holding his. The rope had left a mark around his neck, a deep red gouge. He coughed and rolled onto his side.
I waited for him to catch his breath. His fingers were splayed out on the floor, and I pulled back away from him. Now that he was back— He was dangerous.
No.
He was a killer.
No.
What are you doing? Run. Run!
I shook the thoughts from my head. The muscles in my right arm ached, and I realized that I had strained myself when I swung the knife into the bedpost. I didn’t care. Nothing mattered except that he was alive.
Gav pulled himself up, slouching against the bed. He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath, then exhaled. I waited, scared, sitting on the floor.
Finally he opened his eyes. His voice was scratchy, hollow. He could barely speak.
“Why did you come back?” he whispered.
My heart beat fast in my chest.
“I realized what you were doing. I knew you wouldn’t let me go for any other reason. I figured out what you were going to do.”
He smiled, the motion making him wince in pain. He rubbed his neck with one hand.
“Kitten, that doesn’t answer my question. Why did you come back?”
The real answer slipped from my tongue before I could stop it.
“I love you.”
He looked at me, his eyes softening.
“That’s why I let you go,” he whispered.
“Because…”
“Because I love you. It’s a weakness, isn’t it, kitten?”
He smiled. Oh, lord, he smiled.
I nodded slowly, my heart swelling in my chest.
“Yes. A good weakness.”
His breath came back to him. He reached for the rope and took it up in his hand, turning it over and over.
“I was almost there,” he murmured. “Almost dead.”
The thought sent ice through my veins. Just thinking about his body hanging from the ceiling made me want to scream again.
“Did you see anything?” I asked.
“Nothing to see,” he said, tossing the rope off to the side. “I suppose now we simply have to live.”
We.
The word was a fingernail plucking my nerves. Vibrating them. He coughed again.
“What happens now, kitten? Have you thought that far?”
I hadn’t thought that far, but apparently my subconscious had started to. The pieces clicked into place one by one as I thought about it.
I moved over to where he was sitting against the bed and sat with him, shoulder to shoulder. The explanation came to my lips mechanically. I ticked off the points one after another.
“I tell everyone I had a panic attack. I ran away to be alone for a while with my friend.”
“A friend?”
“A secret friend, one I’d never told anybody about. You get away scot-free. And…”
“Yes?”
“And you pay for me to go back to school in the fall.”
“Oh?” His eyebrow raised.
“It’s a fair trade.”
“A trade? What do I get in return?”
I paused. There was no hesitation in my heart, but I didn’t know how he would take it. His head turned to the side, and he stared into my eyes.
“Me.” My hands pressed into the floor, holding me still. “All of me.”
“All of you.”
His hand lifted. His knuckles grazed my elbow. He moved his hand down, brushing his fingertips along my arm.