“Hey.”
“I felt you coming.” He rubs his hip and glances over his shoulder at me. “Weird how that still happens, isn’t it?”
“I missed it,” I admit.
His face twists into something unreadable before he turns forward again.
“After you were gone, I’d sit there sometimes and wish for it,” I say. “Close my eyes and beg for some little sign of your presence.”
Bash releases a long, exhausted sigh that seems to pull from the depths of his bones and shakes his head.
“What are we going to do, Xen?”
My heart kicks to life in my chest, and I'm hit with a sudden, foolish surge of hope at the simple intimacy of the question. I cling to that fragile thread, despite knowing how easily it could be severed.
“About what?”
His laugh is more scoff than humor, bitter and weary as it escapes him, and he’s distant as he shakes his head again.
“Any of this.”
I step closer and hesitate before dragging my fingertips along the back of his neck. Goosebumps chase my touch, and a tiny smile tilts my lips as he shivers.
“We don’t have to decide now.” My voice is soft as I move to stand beside him, hand still resting on his nape.
He angles his face up with his tongue flicking between his lips, and though I want to kiss him, I hold back.
He absently rubs at his hip as his gaze falls back over the skyline, and I track the motion as my mark flares in response.
“I was never sure how much of what they did to me affected you,” I say softly. “I hated that part of it the most.”
Bash is quiet for a long stretch as we both stare out into the dying light over the city.
“There were times it would hurt,” he says finally, “but I don’t know if that was because of what they were doing to you or just because…”
“Because what?” I press when he leaves the words hanging.
“Because I missed you,” he admits in a whisper.
That foolish seed of hope grows roots, fueled by the insistent pound of my heart. I circle in front of him, and he doesn’t stop me as I sink into his lap.
For a moment I’m stiff, waiting for the inevitable rejection, but Bash bands his arms around my waist. My back meets his chest, and his sigh dances between relief and regret.
His breath is steady in my ear, but his pulse jumps in as frantic a rhythm as mine. Timid fingers tiptoe along my hipbone, circling that cursed mark.
My biggest fear and greatest joy, diminished to ash under my skin.
“Tell me about the people you’re with,” he says, and when I tilt my face to look at him, our cheeks brush.
I fight the urge to kiss him once more and settle in, sharing the history of our group. How Ronan and Cameron found each other and freed Nyx, how August worked at the clinic with me until he and Elas escaped. Bash grows unnaturally quiet, and I twist my head towards him again.
“Did you fall for him?” he asks softly.
My brows snap together. “What?”
“August.” When I give my head a confused toss, he sighs. “Iknowyou, Xeni. You talk about him differently than the others, and you said his mate was jealous. Was he… did you…”
“He has your eyes,” I admit in a whisper, twisting to stare into them. “The first time I saw them, they were so much like yours that I thought… maybe I could eventually move on.”
