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He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close. The kiss on the top of my head had a sob leaving me and I buried my face into his shirt.
“That’s because in a way, we have. I showed you my memories of us again last night.”
“That’s right. High school. I’m sorry. I can’t think straight these days.”
Hunter turned us, walking toward headquarters at a slow pace. “That’s because your plate is full of responsibility. Ruling a race isn’t easy work, you know. Not to mention everything else you do. You need to feed, and then you need rest.”
I nodded, hearing his words, but barely processing them. Since Marko’s death, I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. We were in hiding again here at Axis, and we’d stay that way for at least another century until we braved going back to our underground world. Days were spent training our gifts. Growing them so we could establish our foundation again. We were off to a good start, but it was hard work.
The humans were still on guard—still patrolling and killing us off. They had luck with large groups that didn’t make it to us in time, but even now, almost two months later, vampires were showing up at our door. They didn’t know that when they arrived. Axis was always hidden, even from our own kind, but the pull would always be there for us to find.
I made sure of that.
I made sure of a lot. Maybe too much.
My eyes squinted as more thoughts rushed in. Ones I was thankful to even be having. Aetas has screwed up my mind good. Even now, after all this time, I still didn’t recall my past. At least, not any of it that didn’t come from Hunter. I was a mix of truth and lies fed to me by my former leader. Deciphering truth from fiction was almost impossible. All I did know for sure was my love for Marko. The emotion was real, even if I couldn’t recall the majority of our life together.
“Mistress Price was meant to put a call out to the cities this morning. I forgot to remind her. Do you know—?”
“She took care of it,” Hunter assured. “I talked to her just after she finished.
“And the enforcers? How’s the recruiting going?”
Hunter brought us to a stop, turning me to face him. “You talked to Colin yesterday. Nothing much has happened since then. Calm. Everything is going smoothly. You worry for nothing.”
My arms wrapped around him and he angled my face up, brushing his lips against mine. “I love you, and you’re doing an amazing job. Please try not to push yourself so hard.”
I sniffled, meeting his eyes as more pain nearly crippled me. “I’m so afraid.”
“There’s no reason, I promise. Aetas is dead. We burned his body. His ashes are guarded by enforcers just to put you at ease. We just checked, they’re there at the memorial now. There is nothing to fear.”
“It’s not that,” I choked out.
Hunter made a sad expression, turning us to head back toward the elevator.
“Then I will put your mind at ease.”
Silence last between us until we got off the elevator and made it to the main stairs. When we started down the long hallway, my feet rooted to the floor and I couldn’t continue.
“Why do avoid him so much? He misses you, Tessa. You saved his life. You didn’t leave his side for weeks. Now you rarely go to his room.”
Another sob left me and I felt myself falling to pieces. “This is my fault. I killed him.”
“You saved him,” Hunter stressed. “He lives, baby.”
“Barely. Jesus, help me. He teeters on life and death I just know I’m going to lose him for good. I go in the middle of the night. I sit with him and I confess my love. I cry, and he doesn’t wake for me. I’ve tried everything and it makes no difference.”
“It makes all the difference. Do you not see him get better when you’re around? He has more color. He breathes easier. You have to go to him. You have to be there for Marko. He needs you, Tessa. And he does wake now. Not for long, but he wakes. He’s getting better. Come see.”
Hunter’s hand lightly settled around my bicep and I let him lead me down to the end of the hall, regardless that I was afraid. Could I do this? See what I had done to the man I loved? Why had I even stayed with Aetas? Shouldn’t I have known something bad was going to happen? My fault. I had failed Marko.
The door opened and Hunter had to physically pull me inside. My pulse was pounding and I felt like I was going to be sick. When my eyes settled on Marko’s pale face, my heart constricted just as it always did when looking at his beautiful features.
“Lay down on the bed with him. I’ll get on the other side. He needs to feel his mates. We are everything to him, and he is everything to us. We love him and he has to know that.”
My mouth opened, but I was already walking, already being pulled in by the love within. What I told Hunter was true. I may have avoid and buried myself in work during the day, but I always came at night. Always begged him to return to me. Each time he didn’t, my soul mourned even more.
Deep breaths lightened as I approached and I stole a glance at Hunter as he moved in sync with me on the other side of the bed. When I climbed onto the mattress, he joined me.
