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She couldn’t tell how late it was, but they likely needed to get ready for their second attempt to leave. Rain was coming down harder now, and she wondered if they were cursed. Perhaps this was a good sign, though. The first time everything had gone right until it fell apart. Maybe this time it would all appear dismal until they stepped outside the wall, stepping into freedom.
She chose optimism.
Nik tilted his head back to look at her. He stared at her for an uncomfortably long time.
Her cheeks flushed. “What are you thinking about?”
“How lucky I am.” He took her hand in his and kissed each one of her knuckles. “Why do you love me, Ali?”
She pondered for a moment, taken aback by his question. How could she describe love? It was a feeling she knew deep in her soul. It consumed her in a way that almost hurt.
“I remember the way I felt when I first arrived here after losing almost everything. I felt like my life was over.”
He listened intently, his brows furrowed, and her heart began to race.
“And then I met you and…I don’t know.” She shook her head, remembering the first time she’d looked into his eyes. The way his voice had seeped through her veins.
“You made me feel safe. You made me feel protected. You made me feel desired. You comforted me, made me smile and laugh. And you did all this in my darkest moments. I didn't even realize it at the time, but you gave me something to hold on to. You made me feel like my life was just beginning.”
His lip curled up in a grin, and his steely blue eyes glimmered. “Our life is beginning.”
Ali smiled back. She liked the sound of that.
Any lingering doubt that Ali was only with him because she felt pressured to be completely evaporated. He could see that fire behind her eyes that said she was every bit as in love with him as he was with her.
He laced his fingers between hers and drew circles in the palm of her hand.
If it were up to him, they never would’ve left the bed that day. But as the sun began to set, he knew they needed to get dressed and prepare to leave. He reluctantly pulled away from her and slung his legs over the side of the bed.
His stomach rumbled, and it occurred to him just how little they’d eaten in the past twelve hours. They’d hardly moved since breakfast. He threw on a pair of shorts and left for the kitchen.
Ali was dressed and braiding her hair when he returned to the bedroom with two sandwiches in hand.
“For you, my lady,” he said as he extended one to her.
She finished tying off the end of her braid and took it from him, kissing him on the cheek in gratitude.
He ate his sandwich hastily and dressed in black pants with a long sleeve shirt and a thick jacket. It wasn’t completely waterproof, but it would help. The rain hadn’t let up all day, and he could see puddles of mud forming outside his window.
He tossed in a few extra changes of clothes for the road. If the rain kept up, they’d be grateful for the dry clothes. He was packing the last of their supplies when he heard a low rumble that shook the ground. They both paused.
“Was that thunder?” Ali asked.
Nik waited, listening for another sound to confirm or deny. He furrowed his brow. It had sounded different from thunder, but perhaps his heightened senses were messing with him. Making him hear things that weren’t real.
A second rumble ripped through the house, shaking the ground below them so much so that Ali grabbed the nightstand to steady herself.
“What was that?” She panicked. “You don’t think Eli would’ve—”
“Why would he detonate a bomb when we were this close to getting out together?”
“I don’t know. He just…he hasn’t been very optimistic about our plan. I don’t think he trusts you completely.” She frantically closed her backpack and slipped her feet into her boots.
Of course he didn’t. Eli would be a fool to trust Nik completely. But did he really despise him so much that he’d formulate his own plan without them? Without Ali?
“We need to go.” Nik slung his bag over his shoulder and slid the strap of Eli’s bag around his arm. “Now.”
He grabbed Ali’s hand, and they ran through the house and out the door. Although night was falling, the streets were filled with their neighbors who were also curious about where the noise was coming from.
