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“I don’t give a fuck about the house,” Joss said. “She’s going to combust.”
Cain chuckled. “She won’t. She’s just exercised an immensely powerful act. It’ll take a while for her body to stabilize.” He smiled. “I’ve never seen anything like it. The house imploded. We didn’t even feel the blow. Truly amazing. Totally against the laws of nature.”
Her head spun. She heard their voices, but all she could feel was the heat inside her mind, the flames that burned and cleaned.
“Cain, stop fucking delivering a scientific speech,” Joss said. “We’ll have time for this later.”
Fighting the urge to give in to the darkness, she pushed forward, trying to get to Joss, to Erwan, but Cain’s hands held her still.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and then the heat inside her body and mind turned to ice.Chapter 39Clelia woke up in Joss’s bed in the castle with a throbbing head and a tongue that felt like sandpaper. When her memory returned, she jackknifed into a sitting position.
“You’re awake,” Joss said as if it amazed him.
She blinked. He was naked. They were naked.
“I had to wash the ash from us.” He reached for a bottle of water on the nightstand and handed it to her with two pills. “We had to give you a tranquilizer.”
She frowned. “You stabbed me with a needle again?”
He brushed the hair from her face, his smile grim. “Your body had gone into shock. Your teeth chattered so hard, you were biting the insides of your cheeks.”
“The injection…” she said, her mind wrapping around the fact that she was alive. “I thought it was poison.”
“Why would it be poison?”
“I thought you’d kill me.”
A deep line cut between his eyebrows. “Why would I kill you?”
“Because of what I did.”
His tone was resigned. “You did what you had to.”
She looked toward the window. It was dark outside. “For how long have I been out?”
“A couple of hours. How are you feeling?”
She was feeling amazingly well, which probably wasn’t a good sign. It meant she was either dreaming, or there was something wrong with her.
“I’m fine. Where’s Erwan? Cain?”
“They’re both here.”
“How’s Erwan doing?”
“He’s resting.” Concern flashed in his eyes. “Cain is waiting to see us.”
“About what?” Clelia asked, even if she had a good idea. When Joss didn’t answer, she said, “You were supposed to kill me.” She scrunched the blanket in her fists. “What do you think will happen?”
He dragged a hand through his hair, messing it up. “As my wife, you’re protected. He won’t lay a finger on you.”
Her stomach clenched. “But?”
“He may ask me to quit the force, and then neither of us will be protected.”
Open targets. “He can’t do that. This is my fault. Oh, Joss, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not, no matter what happens.”
There were so many things that could happen, bad things, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on whatifs. “Lupien?” She had to be sure.
“Ashes. Couldn’t find his remains in the debris. Even the walls are ash.”
“Snow?”
“Cain took him to the vet. His wounds are only first-degree burns. He’ll stay on pain medication until he’s recovered enough to come home. We’ll go see him later.”
She exhaled in relief. “How did the dogs find us?”
“Siril said they came sniffing around the castle, cornered him inside, and then took off. They must’ve followed your trail after we visited the cottage.”
She inspected his arms and chest for burn wounds, but there were only the rough edges of his muscles and the smoothness of his golden skin. “Did Lupien hurt you?”
“No.” His jaw tightened. “But what he wanted to do to you… When I saw you there in that house with him I died ten times over. What it did to me, I can’t even begin to describe. I can’t go through anything like that again, do you hear me? You’ll never put yourself in danger.”
“It’s over.”
His expression darkened. “It’ll never be over.”
Yes, she knew that, but it wasn’t a truth she wanted to think about right now. The other, much bigger truth, the one that had hit her when she’d seen Joss trapped in the flames, made her wrap her arms around his neck and pull him close.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a husky voice.
“I realized something today.”
She traced the seam of his lips with her tongue, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth. He watched her through hooded eyes, wary and … uncertain. Joss was uncertain of her. For the first time since she’d known him, he looked vulnerable.
“I realized that I didn’t want to lose you,” she said.
He searched her eyes. “Do you mean that?”
“Would I say it if I didn’t?”
“No. Not that it would’ve changed anything. You’re mine today just like you were yesterday, and you’ll still be mine tomorrow.”
She leaned back to stare up at him. “Are you ever going to change?”
“I doubt it.”
