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Kipp shook his head. “Like I said, everyone appeared to be sleeping.” Then, he shrugged. “Although, the second I saw Max wasn’t dead, and felt you coming here, I came, too. I can’t say what happened after I left.”
A gentle breeze swept over my skin, and I wondered why my mind picked a night, with a dark road, as the backdrop in the Netherworld. At least the wind was warm and eased the coolness lacing my veins, which made me wonder if that’s why I picked a warm, breezy night.
Besides, I doubted my mind could come up with a sunny day, considering my present mood. And the road seemed right; fate could take me down two very different paths, but right now, I stood in the middle unsure where to go and how to get there.
I blew out a long breath, focused on the important stuff, and looked at stony Kipp. “But what if Wayde is butchering everyone right now—including me?”
“What could I do about it, Tess?” Pain filled Kipp’s eyes. “I can’t stop a living person.” He clenched his fists at his side. “But I won’t leave you here. Now that we know you might not come back.”
The awareness of the truth behind his statement forced me to shut my eyes and inhale sharply to offset the sheer worry descending through my body. While it seemed like one big assumption, we didn’t know all of the side effects of my coming into the Netherworld, nor if it would eventually trap me. We didn’t know exactly what had happened to Nettie, and by all appearances, her travels to the Netherworld ended with her death.
With my eyes closed and the wind easing the iciness lacing my veins, I wondered how much I could possibly take before a mental breakdown was appropriate. I concluded one was well deserved long ago.
Suddenly, warm, powerful arms wrapped around me, and I was pulled into a hard body I never wanted to move away from. The breath I held whooshed from my lungs and I leaned my head against Kipp’s chest.
As his tight hold chased the cold flickers of ice in my blood, I found the strength to whisper, “Do you think I’m stuck here now?”
“I don’t know.” Kipp leaned his face down into my neck and his warm breath fought against the chill inside me. “But until this spell is removed, we won’t be able to tell.”
I leaned away, and glanced up into his troubled eyes. “Because I can’t wake up for us to find out?”
“Exactly.” His eyes searched mine as he tucked my hair behind my ear. “But I don’t sense any change in your energy. You feel like you always do. I have to assume that means nothing has changed and you can still go back.”
Thinking it over for a moment, I realized I didn’t feel any different either, except contentment from being in Kipp’s arms. If I had been trapped in the Netherworld, I had to assume I’d feel different. But everything felt exactly the same; a little lighter, the coldness surrounding me belonging to this world, and also my love for Kipp. “Okay, so that’s good, then?”
He chuckled. “Very good.”
His expression softened, sending heat to slide down my spine at the adoration in the depths of his eyes. But the concern resting heavy in his features stopped the heat from turning wicked hot. “You look so tired.” He feathered a finger under my eye. “You’ve been through a lot.” His eyebrows furrowed. “Too much.”
“For this…” I leaned into his hold, rested my head against his chest, and stated an undeniable truth. “It’s never too much.”
He held me a moment longer as the wind continued to flutter around us, and then he moved away and caressed his knuckles over my cheek. “Why do you love me like this? Go through all of this?”
Like with everything, when some things could be so complicated, some other things were completely straightforward. I stared into the handsome face that had snagged me at first look. I gazed into Kipp’s unique colored eyes, his kissable mouth, and even his scruffy hair that suited him. “Because I do love you.”
His mouth twitched. “That simple, huh?”
“Yes, Kipp, it’s that simple.” I lost myself in his twinkling eyes, noticing the warm hints of passion, but also saw something much stronger. When Kipp looked at me, he showed me in expression how much he loved me—each and every time. I stood on my tiptoes and cupped his face. “I love you for the same reasons you do me.”
He grinned. “Because it’s right.”
“Precisely.”
Kipp studied me for so long, almost as if he examined every detail of my weight loss, paid attention to the dark circles under my eyes, and noticed my crinkly hair. His focus finally returned to mine and he brushed a finger down my cheek. “The question has to be asked, is it time to give up? How much can you possibly take on?” He lowered his head to mine, and his eyes darkened in misery. “This is draining the life right out of you.”
I tightened my hands around his cheeks. “I’ll—we’ll—never give up, not until you are back in your body.”
Sudden tears welled in Kipp’s eyes. “But at what point do we realize that might never happen?” He brought his face even closer to mine, his breath so warm against my skin. “At what point do we say that saving me might kill you, either by outside forces, or because to do so is too draining?”
The sight of his tears made my own rise. “No point.” I’d never stop until I had forever with Kipp. “We keep going and always look for answer to fix you. There has to be one.”
His eyes became gentle, and then he leaned his forehead against mine. “But trying seems to continually put you in danger. The more we try, the more we hit a dead end every time. I’m starting to wonder if that means fate won’t allow it.”
As the wind increased around me and raised a shiver, I had to wonder if Caley had gotten to Kipp. His concerns had matched ones she’d recently shared with me. But I knew that was impossible since they couldn’t talk to each other. I amounted it to that Kipp loved me, and of course, he’d hate the danger I was constantly in.
“Fuck fate, then.” Breaking away from him, tears continued to rush down my cheeks. “We haven’t gone through all this to fail now. So, no more talking about it.” My voice became hard with conviction. “I can’t even discuss this as an option. The only option is to get you back. Okay?”
He brushed my tears away with his thumbs and drew in a long breath, desolation resting so heavy in his eyes. Then he glanced up at the starry sky, and I thought for a moment that he might refuse me. He might take this matter into his own hands and vanish forever because his love for me. To see me healthy and happy again would make him act not for his own needs, but what he thought was best for me.
