“You shouldn’t,” he said, and his bow splintered in half.
“Are you jealous too?”
He stood in stiff silence.
“Don’t be,” she moaned, throwing her hand out. “Fin is just a big flirt. There’s nothing serious between us at all. He flirts with everyone.”
Hailey turned to a painting of the river in Pennsylvania, where Uncle Pix had once taken her and Holly rafting. She’d shown that place to Asher after Holly had died, and he’d made her feel so safe there.
He’d always been there for her, in one way or another.
“You know, if you would’ve just let me go, you could’ve gone home. Your troubles would be over.” She tried to gauge his reaction, but he revealed nothing. “Why did you save my life?”
“Because I would rather endure the hell of this Earth with you than spend an eternity in paradise without you,” he replied without hesitation.
The fireplace crackled in the next room, and Hailey exhaled. But then she shook her head. “Most of the time, you mean,” she said sadly, as she scratched at a mosquito bite on her neck.
Asher brushed her skin with the back of his hand, and like an eraser, it wiped away the itchy welt.
“I reconsider often,” he confessed, still caressing her neck, and Hailey readjusted her arms, hugging herself closer.
“Should I be afraid of you?” Honestly, she didn’t know if she wanted to scream and run or stay and find out if he’d finally kiss her again.
Stroking her arms, Asher coaxed them away from her belly. “I don’t want you to fear me.”
Hailey couldn’t look at him.
“Fear the others,” he told her. “If Cobon finds out he’s killed the wrong girl, he and the others will tear you apart. But they won’t touch you as long as I protect you.”
“You mean as long as you favor me over your home,” she corrected him. “And who knows how long you’ll want me.”
“Forever,” he murmured.
Hailey bowed her head so he wouldn’t see her tears.
“Even when you enrage me with your disobedience, I still choose you over the Aether.” With the back of his hand, he brushed her tears away. “Hailey, you’re weak from poison. You should sleep.”
“Are you asking me to stay with you tonight?” she teased.
“I’m asking you to stay with me forever.”
“Oh.” Her heart pounding, she tried to read whether he meant ‘forever’ literally. “In case you change your mind by morning, will you stay up all night and talk to me? Here…on Earth?”
“You’re exhausted,” he said with an amused half frown, “but I’ll stay with you until you sleep.”
“Tell me about DOPPLER. They’ve been watching us since we were kids,” she said, recalling the photo of their childhood home from Holly’s police file.
“They are curious about any human who has dealings with the Envoys. Because of the black rock, Cobon has guarded your family for centuries.”
“Until recently, you mean. What happened the night my parents died? Who started that fire?”
“Adalwolf, I believe.”
“Adalwolf,” Hailey repeated, thoughtfully. That was the name Fin had said. That was the Envoy that had tied his soul. “Where is he now?”
“He’s dead, Hailey.”
“An Envoy can die?”
