How the woman managed the will to send such energy through a channel so fragile, Megan had no idea. But she swore, as she closed her eyes and maintained the bridge between reality and spirituality, that she felt them embrace.
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Was she asleep? Had she finally lost the will to even stay conscious? Harmony felt Lance reaching for her, his arms holding her, and though he would have given her the heat he always tried to instill in her, she gave her own instead.
Joy exploded inside her as she felt the unraveling in her soul. As though the tattered remains of past demons and nightmares were burned away, and in their place, something new was being born. She could feel Lance. He was alive. He was there, holding her, his lips pressed to her forehead, his voice murmuring, comforting. Forgiving.
Lance was going to live.
CHAPTER 25
Harmony slipped from the ICU waiting room the next evening, moving past the throng of Lance's family, the Breeds standing guard, and slipping carefully to the stairwell that led to the first floor.
She had seen him as she stood at Lance's window, staring up at her, his expression shadowed, and known that if she didn't go down, then he would come up. She knew exactly where to find Dane. He was lounging on a bench in the small grassy park area next to the hospital, a slim cigar clenched between his teeth, his expression resigned as she approached him.
She was unarmed. If she had to fight, she didn't think she could find the energy.
"Where's Ryan?" She sat down on the bench beside him, inhaling the tangy scent of the slim cigar.
"Calling Mother," Dane grunted. "I keep telling him this crush he has on her is going to get him killed. Father will make him wish he had never said the first flirtatious word." Harmony inhaled slowly. She had listened to Dane chas-tise Ryan for years over his flirtatious relationship with Dane's mother.
"Are you a Breed, Dane?"
He lifted the cigar from his lips, blowing a stream of smoke as his eyes narrowed before turning his head to her.
"How long have you known me, Harm?" he questioned rather than answering, and he used the nickname he had given her so long ago.
"Long enough for me to know when you're avoiding a question." She sighed, pushing her fingers through her hair as she drew closer around her the jacket one of Lance's cousins had given her earlier. "You have no canines, no scent. I didn't even suspect."
"If I were a Breed, I would be careful not to let you suspect." His smile was a shade mocking, a shade saddened.
"Why?"
He sighed heavily. "Sometimes, the answers are more complicated than the questions. Suffice it to say, I was always your friend instead. And so I will always be." His voice was firm, assuring her that he had no intention of answering the question.
"Why have you helped me then?" she asked instead. "You could have had that information at any time. You likely already knew where it was. Why the game?" He leaned forward, flicking an ash from the cigar as he braced his elbows on his knees before answering.
"You needed a reason to live. I just helped you along." He finally shrugged. "Now that you have what you've always needed, Harmony, I'll take the information and make certain it can never be used to hurt anyone else."
She tilted her head and regarded him silently.
"But why? And answer me this time, damn you." She was tired of games, tired of answers voiced in questions and men attempting to manipulate her life. "Just tell me why."
"Because I love you, Harm."
That shut her up. She stared back at him in disbelief, her eyes widening at his heavy expression.
"Look at you." He shook his head with weary amusement. "You never knew. But…" He shrugged again. "I never meant for you to know. If it were meant to be, it would have been. You needed a reason to live, I couldn't be your reason, so I helped you with the one you chose at the time. It's that simple."
She swallowed tightly, uncertain what to say to him, how to feel about this man who had been such a large part of her life.
"How did you keep track of me?"
His lips quirked at her avoidance of his declaration.
"Shall I show you?" His hand lifted, moving beneath her hair until his fingers settled high beneath her hairline and pressed against a small, previously unfelt bump beneath the flesh.
She blinked at him, her hand flying back as she felt the area herself. It was no larger than a pinhead, but definitely there.