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He sputtered. Though he felt no physical pain, he still recoiled in surprise. She stood stiff in his arms with a tight frown on her face, wet with tears and her breaths short. He watched a single tear trail down her cheek and followed its path back up to see the pain and confusion in her gaze.
He nodded in understanding. “You thought I was gone.”
“Of course, I thought you were gone!” She tried to push at his chest, but he held her tighter to him.
“I'm sorry, Stacia. I'm so sorry.”
“No! No, you were gone and I wasn't ready! I—” She screamed into his shoulder and pushed her hands against him until the force she used weakened. Her body fell into him as she let the tears turn into sobs. Her arms wrapped around his waist and locked behind him, her face pushed up against his neck. “I thought you passed on and I didn’t get to say goodbye. There was nothing. I’m— I can’t lose you like that.”
He closed his eyes in an attempt to control his emotions, pressing his lips against the top of her head as she continued to cry. Guiding them over to the couch, he lowered himself down and pulled her onto his lap. Her breaths reduced to hiccups, and she cleared her throat.
“I deserved that,” he whispered to her.
She chuckled, head nestled under his chin before pulling away to look up at him again. “You did. But I have a feeling it wasn’t completely your choice to leave like you did.”
“Not completely.” He narrowed his eyes. It was his choice. To protect her. Not to leave.
“You said you never left?”
“Gatekeeper.” He nodded, holding up the hand not supporting her back. “They weren’t here to hurt us, or me. They’re gone now, but they seemed to forget I can’t go through salt.”
“Partially my fault. Sorry.”
“Where did you go when you left the apartment?”
She slid from his lap onto the couch next to him, his arm lingering over her hip. She picked up a few of the papers and showed them to him. “I was with a friend trying to find what we needed to nail Knight to the wall.”
“And what friend would that be?”
“Dominic was a gentleman, as usual. I would say he would send his regards, but he doesn’t know you exist, so...”
“You sure we can trust him?”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Knight has pushed him too far. He wants Knight behind bars as much as we do. He was the only one I could think of who would have at least a little on Knight’s unscrupulous dealings. I’m making sure the bastard doesn’t get away with killing you and then trying to pin it on Dominic or someone else.”
“What did you two dig up?”
“What, no argument? No running?”
“No running. You’re too stubborn and I’m tired of fighting you on it. I’ll take the time we have left. I’m going to make sure you survive through all of it now that I know the Gatekeepers aren’t harvesting me, so let’s get going.”
“You said you have a laptop somewhere?”
“Guest room.” He nodded.
She got up to get the computer, pausing to look back before she lost sight of the living room as she gripped the door frame.
He smirked at her. “I won’t disappear again. The laptop's on the desk.”
Her head bobbed and she returned quickly with the laptop in hand. She set it on the far side of the table, plugging it in to make sure Mel didn't draw power from it. She side-eyed him, his hand still very solid at her back.
“You’re not drawing much energy and you’re still very solid. New trick you learned while you were gone?”
“I wasn’t going to question it. To tell you the truth, I thought you were going to fall through me when you came running at me, but I haven’t had trouble interacting with solid items since I’ve ‘come back.’”
“A different focus maybe?”
“I don’t know. My focus has shifted from my murder to your safety. Maybe it’s all about you.”
