Most of all, herself. She'd learned about a whole new side of her that she never knew existed. He brought out a sense of wonder and showed her miracles in the smallest things, and she didn't want to leave that. Not so soon.
One more day, please ...
Panic set its steely talons against her courage, and it wouldn't let go of her.
Until she met Jess's dark gaze. That centered and calmed her nerves. Yeah, he looked like a silly kid with his nose packed full of Kleenex. Still, it didn't detract from how gorgeous he was with his dark windswept hair falling gently into his eyes. Those sharp cheekbones and soft lips that she could nibble on until her mouth was numb. From that tough aura of I-am-here-to-kick-your-ass-and-make-it-count.
Only Jess could make Kleenex sexy.
And that brought home one simple truth. I won't die to save the world.
But she would die for him.
He didn't deserve to pay for her stupidity. He'd suffered enough in his life. It was her turn to make a sacrifice. To grow up and face the consequences of her actions. Yes, she'd been lied to, but she'd let them deceive her. There was no one else to blame.
She'd dragged an innocent man into all of this ... True, she'd seen his face that night in her room, but the woman in her now knew the man, and while she had no doubt he could have murdered her father without a second thought, Sundown would never have been able to hurt her mother.
Not like that. And there was absolutely no way he would ever search for a child to kill it. He was lethal, but never intentionally cruel.
Jess was innocent and she most definitely wasn't. She deserved to be punished for what she'd done.
Her entire body quaked from fear, yet she refused to let anyone know that. She wouldn't be a hypocrite. Lifting her chin, she nodded at Choo Co La Tah. "Where do you need me?"
"Follow me, my dear."
She took a step forward.
Jess cut her off. "We don't need to do this. I can fight Coyote. We have the ability to defeat him."
Sasha laughed hysterically. "Are you out of your effing mind? Hello? Where have you been for the last two days? I want whatever screwed-up glasses you're looking through. 'Cause from where I've been standing, we've been getting our asses seriously kicked around the block. Up a few stairs and down again."
Jess let out a sound of supreme exasperation as he cut a killing glare toward the wolf. "We're not dead yet."
"Yet is the operative word. If that's all that's in the way, I'll kill you and end it. Ren? Give me your knife."
Ren shook his head. "It's their decision."
Sasha curled his lip in repugnance. "Oh, that's it. You're fired, buddy. Get off my island until you learn to be a team player."
Abigail ignored his tirade. The only one who had her attention right now was Sundown. "It's okay, Jess. I'm ready."
"I'm not." Those dark eyes scorched her with emotions she couldn't even begin to understand. Was it possible she might mean something to him after all?
Dare she even hope for it?
She walked into his arms and held him close against her, wishing they had one more night together. I would give anything for it.
But it wasn't meant to be. And for that alone, she wanted to weep.
Jess couldn't breathe as he held on to her and pain ripped him apart. Every inch of her body was pressed against his, making him hunger for her in a way he'd never hungered for anything.
How could he lose her now when he'd only just found her? The depth of his feelings for her didn't make any sense. She had knocked him senseless, literally, from the first time he'd laid eyes on her and she kept him off-kilter.
There was no denying the agony that blistered him from the inside out at the thought of not seeing her again. The very concept of losing her staggered him.
He couldn't let go. Not of this.
Not of her.