peer up at him. “I mean, just you and me, away from all the crap… away from the world. I wish we could just disappear and not have to deal with any of this anymore.”
He’s silent for a while, his chest rising and falling beneath my chin. “We will.”
I force a smile. “I sure hope so.”
He tips his chin down and then, while lifting me up, he scoots down so we’re at eyelevel, lying face-to-face. “It’ll happen. I promise. We’ll get this fixed and then we can have our time.”
“But what happens when something else goes wrong?” I ask. “Because it always does.”
He pauses, scanning my face for something. “Then, we’ll let someone else handle it. I think it’s time that you and I start moving on from this. We’ve worked hard enough. We need a break.”
I offer him a soft smile. “Together?”
He rolls his eyes and then leans in to kiss me. “Of course, together. How else would it be?”
I smile and he returns it wholly. Then he rolls over, covering his body with mine as he begins to kiss me again, kneading his warm tongue against mine.
I hope he’s right. I hope one day we can escape it, but every time I look into the future, all I see is chaos lined up with more chaos.
Chapter 17
Alex
It’s probably one of the best nights of my life. When I wake up, Gemma’s nuzzled into me and her legs are draped over my side. She’s wearing my shirt and I love that she is. In fact, if I could have one wish, I’d wake up every morning like this, only I’d wake up knowing she’s safe. It seems so farfetched when I think about it and it makes my chest hurt.
I breathe in the morning air and her scent, but then frown at the sun rising over the mountains, the land shifting from grey to hues of pink and orange.
“Evan said he only needed an hour,” I mutter. Glancing down at Gemma, I lift her arm off my chest and scoot her leg off me, carefully, so I won’t wake her up. I sit up quietly so I don’t wake her. Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, I slip on my jeans and exit the room, yawning and stretching my arms above my head, wondering why the hell Laylen and Evan didn’t wake me up.
I’m about to head to the right tower where Evan usually crashes, when the smell of bacon and eggs hits me in the nostrils. I follow the scent, like a dog, down the stairs, past the library, and into the kitchen.
Evan is leaning over the stove, dressed in a pair of holey jeans, a grey t-shirt, and his hair is combed. He has a fork in his hand and is turning sizzling bacon over in a pan. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, stopping in the doorway. “I thought we were going to bail out after you took like an hour nap.” I nod my head at the sun lighting up the crystal clear lake. “But it’s morning.”
Evan rolls his eyes as he sets the fork down on the counter. “You do realize I went to go take my nap at like four in the morning.” Tilting his wrist, he looks at his watch. “And it’s like six-thirty, so we’re only a little over an hour behind schedule, so don’t go getting your panties in a bunch.”
I roll my eyes. “We’re behind schedule and you’re in here cooking breakfast.”
Shaking his head, he rotates the knob on the stove, turning down the temperature. “You do realize we’re still human, right? And we have to eat or will starve to death. Besides, Gemma hasn’t eaten anything, really, since we were trying to torture Helena with hunger.”
I wince, feeling guilty. “Yeah, good point.”
“Are you hungry?” He collects a plate from the cupboard above the sink.
“Yeah, I guess.” Sighing, I walk over and get a plate, knowing I should wake up Gemma, but she was so worn out last night and I want to let her sleep. What I want to do is let her sleep for like a few days, so I can sneak off and make everything right with her here, safe.
I pile on some bacon and pancakes and sit down at the table in the corner, tucked beside the island. I chew on the bacon, thinking about last night and how Gemma felt in my arms. God dammit, I just want to protect