“That’s impossible to do, but I know that Nolan’s worked out most of the kinks with this drug, so you should be fine. If not, then I was wrong.”
A sleepy grin pulls at my lips as my head falls to his shoulder. “You wouldn’t even be sad?”
Reed lets his head rest on top of mine. “You know I have a hard time with the emotional stuff… I wouldn’t be happy, let’s leave it at that.”
I laugh softly. “Did you find Cameron that day on the farm just in hopes of getting the drug?”
“Mm-hmm. He caught my eye when he started them and didn’t die like everyone else. Then as time went on I decided I wanted a sample to make our own, to sell of course. But Emery, would you agree that a drug like this needs to be kept hidden?”
His tone is implying and his question is leading. I know he’s been building up to this. I just don’t know why yet. Of course my answer is: “Yes.”
“Good, I knew you’d see it the way I do.”
“You feel like telling me your secret yet? Or how you’re so entwined in the Dark Forces?” My voice is like a lost wisp in the dark.
His breaths are slow and thoughtful. “Where is the fun in that?”
“Are you a soldier?” I ask coldly, trying to figure him out.
Reed’s shoulders shake with a stunted laugh. “Do youreallywant to know?”
The stairs leading up creak. We both lift our heads as Cameron slips back inside. He’s wearing a black sweatshirt with his hood pulled up, a few locks of his pale blond hair spread over his forehead. He has an armful of blankets and one pillow.
Reed pats my leg. “That’s my cue.” Then he stands and nods at Cameron on his way out. I watch as he leaves and shuts the door behind him. Was he actually going to tell me something or was he stringing me along again? I decide I’m too tired to linger on it.
Cameron kneels in front of me and sets down the supplies he brought up. I shrink into myself, guilt weaving into me. I can’t even bring myself to meet his eyes.
He senses my gloomy mood and sighs with a torn smile, moving to spread out blankets and creating a makeshift bed. My hesitance starts to melt away layer by layer as I watch him pull his hoodie off, revealing his bandaged shoulder. A red stain lies beneath the wrapping.
He turns his back to me as he finishes up preparing the bed. My eyes study the scar on his opposite shoulder blade, where he protected me from the knife Wraith intended to kill me with in the first trial. The deep red of it and length make it look like he once had wings. A fallen angel, sworn to the dark.
I stand and close the distance between us. He hears me, only indicating so by stilling and slowly turning his head enough to see me in his peripherals.
My fingers gently lower to his scar, and I trace it with the pad of my index finger. A shudder moves through him as I smooth my hand over his shoulder. He reaches up and holds my wrist, bringing his soft lips to my reddened knuckles.
“I’m so sorry, Cam,” I whisper, letting my eyes fall on his freshly bandaged shoulder.
He doesn’t respond with words, he only presses another kiss to my wrist, then one to the back of my hand. I lower to my knees and wrap my arms around his shoulders. The warmth of his back seeps through my shirt and bleeds into my soul.
“I’d take your blade a thousand times, Em. If it means you get to be here with me.” He shifts and guides me down to the blankets, laying me on my back and perching each of his hands to either side of my head.
My heart trembles. “I don’t want to hurt you, Cam.Ever.”
He offers me a wry smile that seems more tired than playful as he brushes my bangs from my forehead and lets his fingers dally around the scar he gave me.
“I willneverbring harm to you again,” he promises, bringinghis nose down to mine and staring into my eyes. My chest warms and I suck in a sharp breath.
The weight of the universe lingers in his gaze. I can tell he had to take a second dose of pills in the way that his limbs are trembling, needing to exert the adrenaline. My veins buzz everywhere our skin touches.
He picks up on my shortened breaths and wandering eyes as I take in every corded muscle packed into his chest. The arteries in his neck protrude, only slightly covered with all his tattoos. The forest that wraps around his neck, the leaves that dance along his collarbones, and the one that conceals the scar his mother left him with.
I lean up and kiss the side of his neck. That’s all it takes for him to crumble into me, wrapping his arms protectively around me like he can shield me from everything wrong in the world. Cameron’s fingers thread through my hair, and he breathes in my scent with an anguished whisper escaping his lips. “I thought I lost you tonight, Emery.” His gaze is filled with misery.
His skin pebbles to the cold air as my hands trail over his bare back. “I didn’t realize how bad the hallucinations were with the final injection. I thought I killed everyone on the squad… Then I thought you did.” I swallow the dry lump in my throat.
He presses his forehead to mine, our breaths mingling as he tucks me into his chest and drapes the blanket over me. “They can be horrible,” he admits.
“I’m—”
