When the time came, Bale and I would lose ourselves to the curse as the night progressed. Part of me wanted to believe that we could anchor ourselves to Harlow through our feelings for her. The other part of me knew better than to think that sentiment would halt the curse from taking hold.
Finally separating, I drew her in tightly against my chest. Let her hear my heart, let her remember it, and let the rhythm be etched into the depths of her soul.
Resting my chin on top of her head, I let her stand there with me for as long as she needed. This wasn’t about me, not truly anyway. If she didn’t walk out of that corn maze tonight, it would be devastating for both Bale and me. That was never the concern. It was the fact that the world would be dull shades of grey without Harlow’s emeralds lighting it up in shades of green.
“Corbin?” Harlow quietly spoke without pulling her head away from my chest.
My arms tightened around her slender frame, reassuring either one or both of us.
“Yeah, baby girl?” I murmured against the part in her jet-black hair.
There was a moment of hesitation before she eventually revealed what specifically was weighing heavily on her mind.
“Will it be quick?”
Everything in me went stiff—except my dick for once.
My hands took hold of her shoulders, drawing her away from me just enough to look down at the face that was looking exceptionally vulnerable under the grim question.
“Will what be quick?” I shouldn’t have asked; my gut already knew what the true meaning of her question was.
Harlow’s eyes shone with unshed moisture as she stared up at me. “If I don’t make it out of the maze…”
Fuck. Bile rose high in my throat, every nerve on edge, causing a trembling in my normally steady hands.
I shook my head. “You’re going to make it out,” I stated as if there were no other outcome. It was fact. We’d get her out alive, even if it killed us both.
My inner crow cawed a sound that suspiciously sounded like, ‘liar.’
She smiled at my attempted reassurance, but the way it never reached her eyes told me that maybe she had heard my crow’s call, too.
Pressing my forehead to hers, I lightly kissed her quivering lips with reverence. Delicate contact with a gentleness that spoke to my all-consuming feelings for her.
“Try to go inside and relax. Take a long bath, read a book, and for the love of the gods, eat something. Won’t have you stopping in the middle of the corn maze looking for an ear of corn to snack on.” The attempted levity fell flat.
Her fingers reached up and pushed a misplaced strand of my black hair behind my ear.
“I’ll do my best as long as you promise to do the same,” she said with a sweet little smile. This one sat a little more solidly in my heart.
“Anything for you, Harlow.”
My fist crashedinto the sloppy brickwork of the exterior of Bale’s and my cottage. Knuckles split open, blood poured over my fingers until it stained my hands crimson.
The pain jarring up my arm with each strike kept me grounded. It reminded me that losing Harlow would be far more excruciating.
I growled as I continued to self-destruct in the face of possibly losing everything that I ever gave a damn about.
“Fuck the Council.” Another hit.
“Fuck Falston.” Another punch.
“Fuck this curse.” Two more attacks on the unyielding masonry.
Each word uttered came out rougher than sandpaper and ragged under the burning in my lungs, leaving me breathing raggedly.
Bale’s sudden presence behind me was revealed when he spoke with dry amusement. “Don’t forget, ‘fuck the witch.’”
Whirling around, I stared at him with my amber eyes that I knew probably looked wild with violence and more feral than a starved falcon.
