And the collection was vast.
And I was wearing one.
That tiny tear in my heart that started our night at the pub which I thought was long since mended split painfully further.
I was a friendly person, I was social person and I considered myself pretty strong. I’d weathered being switched to a whole different world and warrior princessed my way through a fight with the vickrants, for God’s sake.
But I was not friendly enough, social enough or strong enough to endure the quantity and intensity of hate coming at me that day.
In fact, in the end, I felt almost unsafe without Tor to watch over me.
And without Salem or Aggie (I was scared to ask anyone where I could find Perdita so I could ask for Aggie, so I didn’t), I spent hours with not a single kind soul around me.
And that was enough.
I could bear no more.
So I needed to get home before something bad happened. Like I fell in love with Tor or got stoned to death by his people.
“Please God, send me home,” I whispered through my tears as the beautiful vista lay before me, a vista no one in their right mind would ever wish to leave but one from which I had to escape.
“Cora!”
I heard Tor’s voice shouting my name. It wasn’t close but it wasn’t far.
Shit!
I hunched deeper into my chair and hastily wiped my face with the drenched, lace-edged handkerchief I found in the huge, walk-in wardrobe in Tor’s room.
“Cora!”
There it was again. And it was closer.
Crap!
The handkerchief wasn’t working so I dashed my fingers across my face, thankful that I hadn’t attempted any makeup heroics with the kohl pencil.
I heard boots on marble.
Fuck!
“There you are,” he said and I sucked in a steadying breath. “Bloody hell woman, didn’t you hear –?”
I pinned a huge smile on my face and turned it to him.
“Heya,” I greeted and he stopped dead.
“By the gods,” he breathed.
Okay, proof the handkerchief didn’t work.
I needed to cover.
“So, uh… how was your day?” I asked fake brightly.
One second he was five feet away, the next second he was right there, I was out of the chair and in his arms.
Um. Not good. Way too close.