Page 71 of Tempest’s Torment

I reach for the cards. "Best of five?"

She smiles. "You're on."

Her bedroom door opens just after half two. I watch as she pads across the apartment in an oversized T-shirt, her hair loose around her shoulders. She doesn't seem surprised to find me awake. "Couldn't sleep?" she asks.

"Didn't try."

She disappears into the kitchen and comes back with two glasses of water. She offers me one.

"Thanks."

She sits on the sofa, and I stay by the window. "You been standing there long?"

I shrug, not sure what to say. "Long enough."

"You know Ghost told you to stay with me."

"I am."

She smiles. "I meant... you don't have to stand guard every second."

"I do."

She watches me for a moment, then gets up and crosses the room until she's standing beside me. "You really mean that, don't you?"

"What?"

"That you'll stay, always on guard, as long as it takes."

I turn to look at her. "I don't know how to do this halfway, Lilah."

She searches my face. "You've known me nine days."

"I know."

She gives me a wry smile. "You barely know me."

I stare at her, watching her beautiful face. "I know."

"So why?"

Because somewhere over the last nine days she'd stopped being the woman Ghost asked me to protect, she'd become mine to worry about. I don't tell her any of that; instead, I say the only thing that matters. "Because you're safe with me."

She blinks. "I don't know if I remember what safe feels like."

I take one step closer. "You don't have to." She frowns at my words. "I'll remember it for both of us until you do."

She looks up at me. "You make that sound easy."

"It isn't."

"No?" she asks, surprised.

I shake my head. "No. I meant what I said." She looks at me with a questioning look. "You're safe with me."

A tear slips down her cheek; she laughs quietly as she wipes it away. "I know.” She glances away, and when she looks back, her eyes are clear once again. “You should try and get some sleep," she says quietly.

"So should you."