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“It worked,” Kerrigan agreed.
And the part that she didn’t voice—she’d taken more.
She could feel it. When she had been reaching into the universe for all the power that would fill her, she’d been stopped. But the strange starlight woman didn’t fully stop her. She’d left enough in that well of power that Kerrigan knew she had more. More than she’d ever had before. And maybe with just a little bit more, she could take on the Red Masks and win this war.
Kerrigan was removed from the pool, which miraculously did not go back to regular water after she was out of it. Vera was muttering under her breath about whether or not it was ruined permanently. Cleora was arguing with her that it was a miracle and hardly considered ruined. It was a lively discussion that Kerrigan tuned out as soon as she was bundled into a towel and escorted back toward the house.
Summer had returned to the woods. No snow to tromp through. No beast to hunt her. Whether or not that was his purpose. Just a beautiful morning with bugs chirping as the sun began to set on the horizon.
Dawn.
She’d been there since dawn.
What was it that her mother had said? Time wasn’t linear here. She could have been under for days, and only a matter of hours had passed. And none of them had felt the passage of time. It was disorienting.
Keres and Fordham kept tight grips on her as they walked back down the well-worn path and inside. Danae rushed for a fresh change of clothes and hastily helped Kerrigan into something dry. When she came back out into the room on unsteady feet, everyone was staring at her expectantly.
“What happened out there?” Keres asked.
Kerrigan yawned instead.
Fordham put a protective arm around her shoulders. “She should sleep first.”
“We need to know …”
“Leave her,” Vera interjected. “She might be your daughter, and we might want answers, but look at her.”
Keres finally did look at her daughter. Kerrigan’s eyes were drooping. She could barely hold herself up. If Fordham hadn’t been there, she would have collapsed onto the stone floor. The events of the evening had caught up with her, and suddenly, she had nothing left in her.
Keres sighed heavily. “Vera’s right. You look exhausted. You need to rest. We can talk of this when you wake.”
Fordham hoisted Kerrigan into his arms and marched her back to the bedrooms. She barely had a brain to consider that he was taking her to his room.
“Sharing a room … again?” she managed to get out.
He kissed her temple and settled her gently onto the downy bed. “If you will allow it.”
Her eyes fluttered closed and then opened, half-lidded. She reached her hand out for him. “Stay.”
He kicked off his boots and slid into the bed beside her. “If you wish.”
“Forever,” she murmured.
“As long as you’ll have me.”
“Forever,” she repeated.
He smirked and kissed her hair. “Forever then.”
Daylight streamed in through the open window when Kerrigan awoke. She brushed grime out of her eyes and turned to find Fordham softly snoring beside her. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Mmm,” he murmured.
“Morning.”
“I think it’s afternoon.”
She laughed. “Could be.”
He threw his arm out across her stomach and drew her in close. “We don’t have to be up yet.”
“They’re probably waiting to hear what happened.”
Fordham opened one eye. “Are you ready to talk about what happened?”
She leaned forward until their noses touched. “No.”
“Then, we stay in bed.”
She giggled. A sound she hadn’t thought herself capable of mere hours earlier. “Since when do you buck protocol?”
“Oh, I’m not.” His body slid against the length of hers.
She’d shucked off her pants sometime in the middle of the night and now was just in the oversize shirt that Danae had given her last night. Fordham was bare to the chest with a cloth around his waist. Nothing at all left to her imagination.
“When a soldier is wounded—physically or mentally—rest is required.”
“Is that so? I don’t think I got that memo. Most of the time, they let us flounder. Both physically and mentally.”
“Not under my watch,” he teased.
His hand slid across her knee and then began to move up the smooth surface of her thigh before landing on her hip. She released a heavy breath as he cupped her ass in his hand and tugged her closer.
“I do believe that you have other things on your mind other than my mental health.”
“Mmm,” he said against her skin as his lips found her chin, then neck, then clavicle. “I have a deep interest in your physical well-being. I need to inspect it for myself.”
“Oh,” she gasped.
“Unless you don’t wish that.” His head dipped lower, finding the space between her breasts. He met her gaze. A finger pushed material aside to expose her breast.
“I … I wish it.”
He smirked before lowering his head to cover her nipple. She arched into him as his tongue did something miraculous to the sensitive bud. Another gasp left her mouth as he lifted the shirt fully out of the way and over her head before taking the other nipple into his mouth.
