“Isaid, thanks for being a good friend.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Right. Okay.” Iris held up her hands. “You’re welcome.”
With a nod, Suyin grabbed her helmet and pulled it on, sweeping her hair down her back. Then she threw a leg over her bike and fired it up.
“God, you’re hot!” Iris called over the rumbling engine, grinning as wide as her crazy boyfriend. And then she pointed down the driveway. “Now go get your man!”
When Suyin got home, she parked her bike in the garage and ran inside through the back door. Without even turning on a light, she crossed the apartment, threw open the front door, and went out onto the balcony. She squinted into the dark, searching for signs of her stalker.
He wasn’t there.
Her heart sank. What if he’d given up on her? She hadn’t seen him for two days. Just because his ghosts were still following her didn’t mean he was going to wait forever. Now that she’d made the decision, she had to find himnow. She couldn’t waste another second in the tortuous limbo she’d been dragging out between them. It was time to move forward.
A flash of white caught her eye.
There, at the far end of the park, a lone dark figure was striding down the path in the opposite direction. Without asecond thought, Suyin sprinted down the staircase after him, across the road, and through the park.
As she got closer, she could see him better. He wore his customary long black coat with the hood up, his head down, hands in his pockets. He was probably on his way back to his hellgate after seeing that she wasn’t at home.
He hated his human form. Yet he came here to check on her, day after day. Just to make sure she was okay, not even to talk to her.
“Murmur!” she shouted just as he reached the edge of the park and stepped onto the sidewalk.
He stiffened and turned around. She saw the surprise on his human face when he saw her running toward him.
She kept going until she reached him and skidded to a halt. That confused look never left his face. He genuinely had no clue why she’d chased after him. It only increased her conviction.
“Suyin.” His voice was soft, a whisper of disbelief.
Still, when she stood before him, fighting for air and losing her breath all over again at the sight of him, words failed her. He was so beautiful, even in his human form, with his proud cheekbones and pale eyes and glorious white hair. Beautiful and enigmatic, and though she’d never admit it, he intimidated her. He always had.
“I know your ghosts have been following me around,” she blurted even though it wasn’t what she’d intended to say.
His lips pressed together, like he wanted to speak but was afraid of saying the wrong thing. “I didn’t want to leave you unprotected.”
His voice.God, she’d missed that rough-around-the-edges voice.
“Someone could find out what you are and try to steal your blood,” he said.
Another time, she might have protested about needing anyone’s protection. But she wasn’t mad about the souls. Now thatshe wasn’t fighting herself anymore, she liked the reminder that he hadn’t let her go. She liked knowing that a part of him was always with her, even if he wasn’t there in person.
“Because you’re the only one that can steal my blood, right?” she said.
He visibly flinched. Like the reminder of what he’d done physically hurt.
She inwardly smacked herself.Way to go, Su.She hadn’t come here to guilt-trip him. Yeah, he’d fucked up, but they’d already been over that. If she was going to do this, she needed to jump in with both feet. All or nothing. There was no such thing as halfway trust. She either gave it to him or she didn’t.
She took a breath, unsure how to begin explaining herself. “Murmur—”
“I love you,” he said.
She froze, her mouth still open, whatever she’d been about to say forgotten in an instant. “You what?”
Ice-blue eyes pierced into hers. He didn’t flinch or hide from her. “I’m not sure I’m even worthy of using that word, but I can’t think of another way to describe how I feel about you. Before you, I never cared about anything besides my own ambitions. And now, none of that matters anymore. All the things that once carried so much weight are meaningless without you in my life. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Your happiness comes before all else, and I would gladly die and stay dead a hundred times over to ensure your safety. You may never forgive me for what I did to you, but that doesn’t matter. I probably don’t deserve to have you even if you did. But no matter what, I will spend the rest of my eternity protecting you, and I will destroy anyone that so much as lays a finger on—”
She launched herself into his arms, cutting him off mid-speech, however moving it had been. Throwing her arms around his neck, she saw a brief look of surprise pass over his beautiful face before she crushed her lips to his.
He went stiff as a board, so she pulled back.
