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“That we do,” he says. “But you’re safe. Your parents are safe. They know you’re here. And Yanik and the Dark Order are dead. I think you deserve to get some good rest now. You deserve it.”
I stare up at him. “A week of sleep wasn’t rest enough?”
“Just because you were sleeping, doesn’t mean your heart wasn’t dealing with everything. You needed time to refill the well inside you. You need time to work on the rest of you.” He brings his hand down over mine and raises it to his mouth, kissing the back of it, my knuckles, my fingertips, his eyelids fluttering closed.
Heavy silence fills the room for a few moments.
I hear his heartbeat.
“I was so afraid I’d lose you,” he whispers against my hand, eyes shut. “I’ve lived for so long, so long, and yet I feel like I never really lived. That time was something that didn’t matter anymore, that there was no consequence to my life, no more beginnings, no fresh starts. No more chapters. But you…you brought a new chapter to my life. A chapter where my life has purpose.” His eyes open and he peers right into me, stealing my breath. “You’re my purpose.”
I hear the deep, classical strains of “The Poet Acts” start to swirl in my head, sinking into my heart, which is blooming bigger by the moment. My eyes grow wet, my chest expanding, my jaw sore from holding back sudden tears.
He reaches out with his other hand, cupping it against my cheek, and he’s gazing at me with wonderment and adoration, like he can’t believe it, that I’m here, and he’s here, and we’re together.
“I love you,” he whispers, his voice breaking. “I truly do. And I always have.”
A smile cracks my face, spilling the tears, and I’m crying.
“I love you,” I manage to say but it comes out like a sob.
I’m a fucking mess.
But he knows I’m a mess, and somehow he loves me anyway.
God, he loves me.
Solon loves me.
He leans forward, kissing me on the forehead, and I’m grabbing his shirt, clawing at him, needing him, and then he’s fully on the bed now. He lies beside me and gently pulls me up into his arms. Cradles me. Holds me.
And I cry because I love him and he loves me, and I cry because I almost died and I almost lost him, and I cry for all that I did lose.
He just holds me and keeps me safe until I’m falling asleep again, my heart finally feeling free.
* * *
“Lenore?”
I move my head to the side, blinking.
Solon is sitting in an armchair right next to the bed, a steaming cup of coffee on the side table.
I automatically smile at the sight of him, my grin from ear-to-ear. “Hi,” I say softly.
“Good morning,” he says, the tone of his voice matching mine. He nods at the table. “I brought you some coffee. We have a brand-new espresso machine and
Angelo is still getting the hang of it, so my apologies if it’s not up to snuff.”
I slowly sit up, noticing for the first time that I’m in a white nightgown, similar to the one that Solon first put me in. “How long was I asleep this time?” I ask, voice groggy.
“Just a day,” he says. “You’re looking much better, but you’re still weak.”
I reach over for the coffee and have a sip, but the hot bitter liquid in my mouth feels wrong. “Well, you can tell Angelo the coffee isn’t weak,” I tell him, swallowing. “Whoever that is. But I don’t think it will help me.” I put it back on the table with a shaking hand.
“Angelo is the groundskeeper here,” Solon says, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed beside me. “He’s been taking care of Odin. He’s like Yvonne, minus the warm personality. But he’s also a vampire, so that’s probably why.” He runs his fingers through my hair. “And you don’t want coffee because you don’t need coffee. You need me. You need blood, Lenore. It’s been too long.”
I glance at him. “What about you? Were you able to feed on me while I was asleep?”
