“Don’t be sorry. Ali, I don’t know what I would have done... I couldn’t stand...” His arms tightened around me, squeezing me. “You have to tell me what happened in there.”
“Not now,” I said, even the thought threatening to immobilize me. “Please.”
“Okay. All right. But soon.”
“Soon,” I promised.
*
The first two days back at Mr. Ankh’s, I slept, my body doing its best to recover from the abuse it had suffered—but its best wasn’t quite good enough. My strength continued to diminish. I was vaguely aware of Nana coming to see me and clutching my hand, Emma pacing beside my bed and Mr. Ankh checking my vitals.
Where was Cole?
It wasn’t until the third day that I discovered he’d been sleeping in a chair in the corner of my room the entire time. I woke up crying and couldn’t stop. I cried until my tear ducts dried from overuse, and he rushed over, gathering me in his arms, whispering the sweetest words into my ear.
I missed you so much.
I tore the world apart looking for you. I wasn’t going to stop until I had you back.
You are so special to me. I need you.
I clung to him as if he were my only lifeline.
Just then, he was.
He told me Kat and Reeve were on the mend. That he knew Reeve had been the unwitting spy, and because of her, Ethan. He’d told the slayers everything that had been going on; they were eager to see me, he said.
“How is Jaclyn?” I asked.
“She’s at home with Justin, and he says she’s healing physically but not mentally. She refuses to leave the house.”
“They were terrible to her,” I said with a shudder.
“The were terrible to you, too. To all of you. Will you tell me now?”
“Tomorrow,” I whispered, not wanting the taint of dark memories to intrude upon this moment.
Then tomorrow came. My fourth day back. Mr. Ankh and Mr. Holland strode into the room, asked for details, and I told them everything I’d learned...and suffered. Cole held me then, too, and I was glad. Though he stiffened and cursed, he remained tender with me, sifting his fingers through my hair, whispering how brave I was when I thought I’d have another breakdown, telling me how sorry he was.
The adults were pale by the time I finished.
“Well,” Mr. Ankh said, then cleared his throat. Were his eyes gleaming with tears? “I’m sorry for everything you endured, Miss Bell.”
I nodded to let him know I’d heard him.
“But I’m afraid you’re not in the clear yet,” he added. “The antizombie toxin in your blood is higher than ever. We gave you more antidote, and it helped...for a while. You burned through it so quickly I believe you’re already developing an immunity to it. You’ll be able to use it another few weeks, is my guess, but not much more than that.”
So little time.
I gulped.
When the adults left the room, Cole parted my hair and held on to the pigtails he’d created, peering into my eyes. “Kelly isn’t going to get away with this. You have my word.”
He was so beautiful. So fierce. “Cole.”
“No, don’t say anything. You’re still recovering, and I want you focused on that. I just... I want to show you something.” He rolled to his back, leaving me on my side, and lifted the hem of his T-shirt to reveal the entire expanse of his muscled chest.
His tattoos were—oh, glory.
In big, bold letters, my name had been added among his plethora of tattoos.
ALI BELL arched from one nipple to the other, the pierced one, taking up far more real estate than any other.
“Cole,” I repeated with a tremor.
“I wanted to give you more than words. I wanted to show you that you’re it for me, that there is no one else, that there will never be anyone else. I don’t care what happens. I don’t care what the visions tell us. I just want you.”
No boy had ever made such a finite gesture for me. No boy had ever looked at me like this one did, as if I were the most important part of his life. As if he couldn’t not look at me. “I love you,” I whispered, my heavy eyelids drifting closed and my mind falling into a pool of black.