“One more night,” I say. I clutch the container in my hands. “One more night to be together and not have to think about the rest of the world. I know we’ll have to, but just…not yet, all right?”
I feel like a coward. Maybe I am. But when Secora sighs, it’s a happy sound, and I can’t bring myself to feel sorry at all.
“One more night,” she agrees.
She turns back to the final container. The steady sound of sand against glass fills the silence, until finally, we’re ready to leave.
25
IS THAT A BAD THING
CORA
When I left the manor with Elliot, I convinced myself I knew what I was getting into, in more ways than one. I believed I could get the ingredient without revealing any memories. Then, I believed I could keep Elliot without revealing his. I was wrong, on both counts, but it’s hard to feel bitter about either. I ended up with Elliot, the ingredients,anda light conscience. I didn’t even know my conscious was capable of feeling light.
My greatest lie upon leaving the manor, however, had nothing at all to do with Elliot, and everything to do with the shadowed man I see now.
“Fuck,” Elliot breathes. “Is that…”
“I wonder how long he’s been standing there.”
I swallow and shake out my hands, determined not to tremble once I reach him. We’re far enough away that he won’t see me cowering now, but he’ll eat me alive if I step onto his stoop with buckling legs.
“Is there a chance he’ll try to hurt you?” Elliot asks. He looks sweaty and exhausted, which means I undoubtedly look worse. It was faster walking downhill than up, but not by as much as wehoped. We were racing the sun all day, and we’re only now getting back.
The sun is setting.
Another hour, and we would’ve been caught in darkness.
“I can handle Sebastian,” I say.
Elliot stops abruptly, catching my elbow.
“I know,” he says. He lowers his voice, pulling me closer. “But if he tries to hurt you, I’m going to lose my mind, and we both know how that ends.”
I smile despite myself, despite the seriousness of his expression. It’s not that I doubt him. It’s that I know he would. Forget the consequences, Elliot would absolutely kill the vampire king to protect me.
“He’s not going to hurt me,” I say softly. “Sebastian is many things, but he’s not stupid. I’m his best defense when it comes to the witches. He needs me.”
I start walking again, clasping my hand around Elliot’s. It’s one of the few times I’ve so much as touched him in front of someone else, and that fact alone makes my cheeks heat. I don’t drop his hand though, even as old insecurities flare to life. I might not deserve Elliot, but he loves me all the same.
“You sure?” he asks.
“He’ll know anyway,” I say. My cheeks, impossibly, burn hotter.
“I can keep my emotions in check.”
“First, I highly doubt that’s true, given weboth know how that ends,” I tease. My bravado falters as we cross the final stretch to the manor, crossing its rocky, neglected landscape. The falling sun surrounds the manor with warm oranges and purples, making the stone structure look even bleaker than usual.
Sebastian descends the porch steps. To the ordinary person, his expression looks blank, but I’ve known Sebastian long enough to read his subtle tells. The flare of his nostrils. Thetwitch of his left eyebrow. The way his fingers stretch, resisting his urge to clench them into fists.
“And second,” I say, my voice dropping. “He can already smell it.”
Elliot’s pace stutters, and he nearly loses his footing over the rock pathway. I give his hand a final squeeze before we stop, only feet in front of Sebastian.
“Master,” I say. I offer him a stiff nod. Polite, acknowledging, but certainly not cowering.
Sebastian’s nose crinkles. He looks from me to Elliot, back to me. I’m doing everything in my power to keep my expression controlled, but Sebastian knows me as well as I know him. I’m sure he can hear my heartbeat and the way I can’t quite regulate my breathing.
