Page 61 of The Whims of Hate

“I think he was relieved to learn that you survived. Even after everything you did, he still has affection for you.”

It feels like my heart is being crushed under a rock. A rock as big as a mountain.

Jude must have seen the devastation on my face, because he comes closer and puts a hand on my cheek. I close my eyes. The world is too bright.

“I also told them that I had you on a tight leash, and they didn’t need to worry about you,” he says. There’s mirth in his voice.

I laugh. “That’s entirely true.”

I drop to my knees in the dust and hug his thighs. I don’t care if the entire world sees me like this. They could make a painting of me at Jude’s feet, and I would pay good money to put it up for all to see.

“I love you. You know that, right?” I say to him, my face hidden against his body. “More than anything.”

Those are the words that we usually utter in the dark, when we’re raw and the night shelters us from reality.

But the sun is bright right now, and my heart is swelling to the point of bursting.

Jude’s hand tightens around the back of my neck. “I know,” he says.

And he drops to his knees too and kisses me.

On the horizon behind him, theBeetledisappears behind a rocky hill.

The End.