“There.” Bastien rose, hands clutching gently at my shoulders as my eyes began to glaze with shock. Tremors of remorse erupted inside my body, a scream bubbling up from my throat, one I couldn’t contain a moment longer.
So much blood.
Too much blood.
Did I just add killer to my list of sins?
“Tressa.” He pressed his palms to my neck, thumbs sliding down my jaw and throat, willing me to come back to him. “Sweet dove, please. I need you.”
His forehead brushed mine, tears beading at his eyelids as he placed soft kisses along my lips.
Sirens vibrated in my eardrums, closer and closer with every passing beat.
“Can you take care of Luce for me? And check on Ms. Watson? I have to stay here, but can you check on them for me, my dove?”
His words solidified in my consciousness.
I nodded, hollow but present.
“Yes.”
“Good.” His smile, pained but relieved, lit my desperate soul. The fact that I had the power to put that smile on his face, even in the middle of the most horrifying moment in both of our lives, fueled something inside me.
Something I’d spend the rest of my life trying to inflame and douse in equal parts.
