I couldn’t answer any of those questions because I didn’t know what I wanted. Everything was too fresh, too confusing… I just… I swallowed. I just wanted to talk to Cam. Determine who he might be now. Who we might become together.
Then I could decide.
But I couldn’t do any of that with an audience.
Which I still had because everyone was staring at me.
“We’ll meet after dusk,” I said, echoing Cam’s final words. “But if you hear from Ryder before then, please let me know. I would like to know if he and Damien are safe.”
“Of course,” Jace replied softly.
I nodded and stood, my throat working as I fought the emotions clawing at my insides.
“Izzy,” he called after me.
I paused but didn’t face him.
“We’re here if you need us,” he said after a beat.
I nodded again.I know,I thought at him, the words suddenly too heavy for me to speak. He wouldn’t be able to hear me, but hopefully he understood.
Rather than wait to find out, I followed in Cam’s footsteps.
I needed a break as well.
To breathe.
To think.
To simply exist.
And maybe even to forget. Just for a little while.Until dusk.
Then we could start all of this again.
Because it seemed Deirdre City had just become the official base camp for the rebel party.And so it begins…
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CAM
I pressedmy forearm against the tiled wall and let the water pour down my back.
It was hot. Scalding, almost. And exactly what I needed.
But when I heard Ismerelda’s resolve to join me, I reached over to cool it down. I didn’t want to burn her or chase her away. She’d been standing in the bedroom for the last five minutes, debating what to do.
I’d said nothing, waiting for her to choose on her own—which ended up being toescape.
She wanted to forget for a moment. To relax. To be free and exist only in the present.
I turned as she entered, my gaze automatically memorizing her sensual form.
Beautiful,I thought.So fucking beautiful.
“I don’t understand why I never turned you,” I marveled aloud, the comment one I’d already made to her—at least in our minds—but it was worth repeating. “You would make a stunning vampire.”
“But what would you eat?” she asked, taking a tentative step toward me. “I’m your immortal blood source.”
