Hewasa ghost. Oh fuck.No.
She stared through him as she continued to scan the room. He was on the far side of the bed, shrouded in heavier shadows behind the curtains, but when he drew closer and into the sliver of moonlight, she screamed.
“What the fuck!” She scrambled back to the couch and drew her hands across the food tray, fingers closing around a fork. She held the fork like a dagger, pointing it at him.
“Who’s there?” She demanded, staring into the room. Her eyes were on him, but she wasn’tseeinghim.
“Mira—”
“Oh my gods, Devin!” She dropped her weapon and attempted to get to him, feeling out with her hands for the bed, then the chaise, then working her way around the front of the room. Hewas about to call out, but she was already stumbling over his discarded pair of boots.
She fell in slow motion and he was there, catching her neatly before any part of her hit the ground. She folded into him, tucking herself as close as possible, burrowing into the folds of his shirt, under his shirt. When her hands reached skin she stopped, then her fingers trailed to his chest, resting above his heart.
“Did something happen? Why can’t you see?” Devin pressed, disturbed and concerned that she might have been blinded in the fight. She set her forehead against him, breathing heavy.
“I can’t see because it’s pitch black in here,” she said, pulling back until he could see her smiling through a cascade of tears. He swiped at her cheeks with his thumb and she nuzzled into his hand. “I thought you were gone. We hoped when you survived the first ten minutes that it worked, but then you just slept. I’m not sure how long.”
He held her. “Seeing in the dark is not my gift, though. Are you sure it’sthatdark?” He looked around and the room was in the same sort of clarity as if the lanterns were lit.
“I mean, there’s the barest gap letting insomemoonlight, but it’s one of those tiny quarter moons, so it’s not enough to see by. Why? Is something wrong?”
He shrugged. “Wrong, in that I’ve never been able to see this well in just a fraction of moonlight before. Not wrong in that it’s not exactly a problem, per say, but I don’t understand how it’s possible. I knew I was snuffing the edge off my natural senses all these years, but even as a boy I don’t remember seeing this well in the dark.”
Her eyes went wide and then her smile turned devious. “Pick me up.”
“Pardon?”
“Just, lift me. If you can.”
Devin rolled his eyes. “I’ve lifted you before, you’re not—” He went to scoop his arm under her legs and nearly launched her across the room. If she were any other woman, she might have landed face first on the floor. Instead, she cartwheeled to land perfectly on her feet.
Miranda remained still for a moment, eyes wide, but she was grinning. “I…did not think that through.”
“What just happened?”
She felt for him again, moving slowly to avoid tripping, and he caught her hands to guide her. “It’s fine. It’s fine. There’s…so there’s a lot to explain. You were nearly dead.”
“I remember that part.”
“Well, there weren’t many options to save you. It was a lethal blow.”
“Again, not surprising. How did I just lift you like you weighed nothing?”
“Fine, long story short, Gideon learned that the potion Graves made might heal you. So, we made some and you drank it and that’s probably why you can see so well right now, too. But it’s temporary. The effects should wear off by tomorrow or so.”
He followed along, but he felt oddly detached from the information. “And Graves?”
Miranda winced. “Dead.”
Devin nodded, and he was surprised at how okay he was with the news. Even though it hadn’t been him to do it. “It was you, I assume.”
She gave him a conspiratorial wink. “Gideon was quite impressed. I may have gone overboard, but hedidnearly kill you. Plus, there was a lot of pent up rage to get through.”
“Ah, stab therapy. And how do you feel now?”“Oh, much better, thank you.”
There was a lot to process. He didn’t know how to wrap his mind around it all just then. It felt like he’d been out for days, not a few hours. He could process later.
Devin lifted Miranda again, this time carefully and with hands under her thighs so she could wrap her legs around him.
