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22
LIV
The cottage was quaint and just as beachy as the main house had been. The sound of the waves breaking on the sand not too far was soothing, and the sun painted the sky in splashes of orange and purple in a brilliant sunset.
I showered, and while I stood under the hot spray, I tried to make sense of everything I’d just learned about my past. It was hard to wrap my mind around the facts. I was half angel, half fae. I would live for hundreds of years. I had magic. Those were the positive things.
Others wanted my blood. Angels didn’t want to live on Earth because they were hunted. I couldn’t live in the Overworld to stay safe because I had fae blood, too.
I didn’t know what the Overworld was, so that was a moot point, but to be in danger for the rest of my life was tough to accept. I’d worked so hard, fought for survival since I could remember, and I’d made a good life for myself, given my circumstances. How could none of that mean anything now? How could I be in more danger now than ever before?
When my head started to ache, I stopped thinking. I turned off the hot water before I finished it, dried off, and got dressed.
Colter sat on the loveseat that faced a small television, but he wasn’t watching anything. He looked as pensive as I felt.
“There’s hot water for you,” I said. “And then I think it really is time for bed.”
“There’s only one bed,” Colter said. “I’ll sleep here on the couch.”
I stared at the wooden loveseat. It wasn’t nearly big enough for a beast of a man like Colter to sleep on. It barely looked big enough for me to sleep on unless I curled into a ball, and that was no way to spend the night for either of us.
“Why?” I asked. It wasn’t like we hadn’t already done it all.
“You’re going through a lot. I just… don’t you want your space?”
I flashed him an incredulous look. “I prefer you close.”
“Okay,” he said and flashed a smile at me.
He got up and walked to the bathroom to shower before we got into bed.
I walked to the bedroom and peeled back the thin sheets—thick covers were out in this weather—and climbed in. I’d made it sound like I was being nice by offering Colter a place to sleep, but the truth was I was terrified of being alone tonight. Not only because apparently I was being hunted, but because I felt lost and alone. I’d hoped knowing who I was would make it less, but it had just become so much more.
I lay in bed, listening to the sound of the waves and the sound of the water running in the shower in the dark of the bedroom.
When Colter stepped out of the bathroom, the light illuminated his silhouette. He wore just a towel, and no matter what I thought of Colter as a person, there was no denying that he was drop-dead gorgeous.
I could stare at him all night.
I closed my eyes, forcing myself not to go there.
Colter moved quietly around the room, getting dressed.
When the mattress dipped next to me, he wore a pair of boxers, at least, but nothing else. It did little to hide his perfect body, but the lights were out, and if we were sleeping, I wouldn’t think about how incredibly drawn I was to him.
“Are you awake?” he asked softly.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I didn’t know she knew your parents.”
“I don’t think anyone did.”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I… don’t know.”
We lay side by side in the dark for a while, before Colter took my hand and squeezed it.
