mind about someone I liked?" He made a soft mmmm of sound, and my fingers drifted down to his chest. "I meant thank you for understanding that this isn't forever."
He gathered me closer, my arms folding between us. "Nothing is forever unless you make it so," he breathed. "I don't want to be alone. I need you, Rachel. And for now, you need me. I pray that I'm not parted from you until you don't need me anymore."
I went up on an elbow again, looking at him. "What do you mean, until I don't need you anymore? You think I'm going to throw you away like an old sock?"
Smiling, he pulled me back down. "You're going to live forever, mistress witch. I want to see you happy while I'm here on earth. Leave it at that."
Eyes wide open, I settled back against him, shifting my back to him now that I'd let go of him and I could. His arm was warm around me, and we spooned, the line that we'd been connected to washed through us again, a gentle flow to warm us both. It was how I'd woken up, but now, everything was different.
Live forever - Newt had said the same thing, andAl. Were they serious?
Chapter Thirty-three
The cadence of Pierce's breath shifted, and I woke. Eyes flashing open, I searched the dim confines of the hole. It was silent, a soft glow of natural light showing where the ventilation hole was and that the sun was up. Pierce's stubble, too, said it was tomorrow. I was still lying beside him, his arm over me protectively and one of my legs atop the blanket. It had gotten warm. Pierce was awake and listening, and when he made a soft sh-h-h-h of sound, adrenaline shocked through me.
"Morning," he whispered, eyes on the ceiling. "Someone's in the woods."
My breath came fast. Stiffening, I stared at the ceiling, remembering my panic last night and trying to relax. "Trent?" I whispered back, and he shook his head, not moving.
"No dogs or horses. I think it's..."
The hum of dragonfly wings grew from a muffled hesitancy to a full clatter, and Jenks dropped in from the far corner of the ceiling, shedding glittering sparkles to double the light. "Rache! Glad you're... Tink loves a duck!" he said, wings clattering. "It stinks of sex in here. God, woman. I leave you alone for one night, and you're humping the ghost."
I sighed, and Pierce finished sourly, " ...it's a pixy."
"Jenks, show some class," I said as Pierce sat up.
The pixy flew over the confines of the hole in three seconds flat as he took inventory. "You know me, Rache. I ain't never been to get no schoolin'. I don't have class."
Pierce got to his knees to reach for his clothes. He was still naked, as was I, and seeing him, Jenks shot to the ceiling, gold sparkles falling from him to make a puddle of light. "Oh! God! Naked witch!" Then he hesitated, his altitude slipping. "Hey, dude, I'm sorry about that."
He was laughing, and I frowned, seeing where Jenks was looking.
Pierce snatched his underthings, sitting on the corner of the blanket as he put them on. "He's just tired, little man. He had a busy night."
This was so not how I envisioned my day starting. Wincing, I sat up, blanket held tight to me. I was a mess. "Jenks, in this case, it's truly what you can do that matters."
Jenks was waving his hands at me, hovering backward. "Oh God! Shut up!"
"Then you shut up," I said, eying my clothes, abandoned in the corner. I didn't want to put my leather pants back on, but I didn't want to walk out of here in a blanket either. Stretching, I reached for a sock, feeling its stiffness before dropping it. No way.
Pierce looked at Jenks with a dark expression and, rubbing his thicker stubble, said, "Can we get out of this hole, master pixy?"
Clearly in a good mood, Jenks dropped to alight on the peg holding Pierce's still soggy coat. "Yeah, the woods are clear. Ivy's in lockdown at Cormel's - "
"What?" Suddenly I was a lot more awake.
"She's fine," he soothed, his glow dimming as his wings quit moving. "The coven's on the scout for you, and Rynn won't let her out for her own safety. She is so pissed."
"I can imagine." I glanced at the ceiling as Pierce, now wearing at least his thin shirt and trousers, grabbed his hat and crab-walked to the far