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She smiles back, the beauty of it lighting up the room.
Even with the scars on her face, Rosario is a beautiful woman. There’s an inner light that emanates from her. I don’t know what her life has been like, but I suspect it hasn’t been good, even before she met Orpheus.
Maybe now she’ll get a chance to let it shine.
My gaze goes back to a blood-soaked, naked Chase, muscles and veins bulging beneath his pale skin. The animalistic roars coming from his throat moments ago die down as the devil lies on the ground, unmoving and mutilated.
I look away, the sight so ghastly, bile rushes up my throat.
Gazing out the small window of the exam room, I realize the storm has ended, leaving the world in muted shades of gray.
Feeling his gaze boring into my profile, I turn to him.
The rageful fog blanketing Chase has dissipated, leaving behind the damaged man I know and love.
A smile blooms across my face as he drops the knife. “We’re going home.”
The smile on Chase’s crimson-stained face matches mine. “It’s over, angel. We’re going home.”
51
MACKENZIE
My eyes fly open, my heart pounding so hard I’m dizzy. I gaze around my childhood bedroom, relief slowly filtering through my panicked system.
It was just a nightmare, Kenz. You’re home.No longer in that house of horrors, the police station, or the hospital.
It’s been three weeks since that fateful night when we finally escaped captivity. While I’m grateful as hell to be home, dealing with the aftermath of the trauma hasn’t been easy.
I slowly sit up, gazing around my bedroom. A smile curls the corners of my lips when I see the familiar boyish figure slumped in the chair beside my bed. Chase must have snuck in here at some point during the night. His bare feet are propped on the edge of my mattress as he dozes, unaware of my nightmare. For once.
Relief and adoration rush over me and I nearly weep from the mere sight of him, slumbering beside my bed, my personal savior.
My entire world. My everything.
As if he feels my stare, Chase stirs, lifting his head. Whiskey eyes latch onto mine in the darkness, the nightlight beside my bed illuminating his face as he smiles at me. His voice is raspy as he shifts his weight in the chair. “You okay, angel?”
“I am now.” Lifting the covers, I pat the mattress beside me. “Why are you still sitting in the chair? Get in bed.”
I’ve barely finished speaking before his feet hit the floor. The bed dips as he slides beneath the covers, pulling me against his warm, muscular body. A sigh of pure contentment escapes my lips as I lay my cheek against his chest, his heartbeat as familiar to me as my own.
“Another nightmare?” His low voice is thick with sleep, the sound comforting and sexy.
“Yeah. I don’t think they’ll ever stop.”
“In time they will.” The confidence in his voice makes me pause before I tilt my head to look at him.
“Have yours stopped?”
He stares at the ceiling of my bedroom, a long sigh leaving his full lips. “No.”
We lie there, lost in our thoughts. There’s nothing either of us can say to make things magically better. The trauma we endured hangs over us like a veil that we can’t escape from.
All Chase and I can do is try to find some semblance of a life now. Two damaged individuals who can’t ever go back to who they were before the cult kidnapped us.
Not that I’d want to go back to who I was before.
The old Mackenzie wasted so much time denying the things she wanted. She was held hostage by grief and fear and was too afraid to take risks.
