50
HECTOR
It was not every day you came around from death on a coroners table. As if my life could get anymore unhinged.
I bolted upright, desperately tearing off a plastic sheet from my naked body. If my throat wasn’t clogged and dry, my call out would’ve been successful instead of sounding like a gargled cough.
The room around me was small, and smelled intensely of disinfectants. Windowless, the air was persistent like an unnaturally clean dungeon that wanted to singe the hairs from inside of my nose.
I threw my trembling legs over the side of the metal table, planting my feet on freezing cold concrete floor. In the back of my mind, my mum, Eleanor and Hekate clung to my consciousness, urging me to move with haste. Not wanting to disappoint, in my urgency I didn’t bother finding clothes before I was running out of the single door, and beyond.
“Arwyn!” I attempted to shout, breathless as I ran down empty corridors with overhead lights and white walls. “Arwyn!”
It didn’t take long for the corridors to fill. The shocked faces of men and women wearing scrubs greeted me. Someone fainted, and another man started chasing after me calling outmy name. But the compass inside of me told me to keep going, leading me to the destination my soul felt at home in.
“Arwyn. Arwyn!” Tears rolled down my cheeks, slipping over my eternally smiling mouth.
He was close. I could sense him. A stream of air held the promise of his scent, as if he had been here not too long ago.
At intervals, double doors waited. I conjured wind without much of a thought, bursting them open so I didn’t need to slow down, or ruin my pace. More of what I determined were nurses started chasing after me. I even think I saw the telltale sign of security in smart suits joining the fray.
“Arwyn!” I amplified my voice, using my magic to fill every fucking corner of this place until my love could not help but hear me.
Eventually, it worked.
Far down, at the end of yet another corridor, Arwyn stood with his back to me. I didn’t need to shout for him, because he turned around and laid his red-tinged eyes on me.
His full mouth parted, loosing a gasp of air. Then he was running too, straight at me, a charging bull of need.
Our bodies crashed together, dragging one another to the tiled floor. Arwyn was careful with me, most likely because he’d thought I was dead not but a few seconds ago. Whereas I wasn’t careful, not at all. I dug my fingers into his jacket, anchoring myself to him and refusing to ever let go.
“I can’t believe it,” Arwyn gasped, tracing his intense gaze across every inch of my exposed flesh. He was searching for proof that this wasn’t real, but the wound on my stomach was nothing but pink flesh.
I was whole, more so because I was back where I belonged.
I clasped my hands to the sides of his face, and forced him to look me in the eyes. “I’m real. I’m okay. I’m here. I heard you calling, and I came back.”
“How?” It was all he could manage as tears began to fall from his devilishly handsome eyes. “Tell me how this is possible, my love.”
“Well,” I whispered, brushing my fingers across his smooth skin. “Like always. I couldn’t leave you behind forever, could I?”
Arwyn’s lips curved upwards, matching my own honest smile. “I feel as though there’s a story you’re not sharing with me.”
“Oh.” I leaned in, resting my forehead against his. “You havenoidea. Hold me first, and then you’ll know everything.”
Arwyn didn’t refuse me. He held me close, threading his fingers together behind my back so no force could pull us apart. I’d missed the part when he commanded those who chased me to leave us alone. I was sure he hadn’t said anything, but when I finally looked around the hallway was empty. Knowing Arwyn, he had shot the onlookers a single look that told enough of a message for them to listen to.
“Here,” Arwyn said, shrugging off his jacket with some difficulty since I refused to take my hands off him. “I can’t have you running around naked, can I?”
Shit-balls, I really was naked. Like completely. Not a scrap of material to cover my modesty.
“Does the view not please you, Arwyn?” I asked, giggling through my tears of relief. “Seeing me like this?”
“Oh, believe me. It does. And I will really take the time to enjoy it a little later on.” Arwyn draped it over my shoulders, offering me some form of modesty. “I just can’t believe this is real.”
“Iam very real,” I answered, knowing exactly what he meant. “Feel me. Touch me.”
Arwyn did just that. His long, slender fingers laid atop my chest, feeling for my heartbeat. It was strong, more so because it reacted to his proximity. “Are you going to tell me how now?”
