“Ramona,” Zara whispered into the crook of her neck. It was a lament.
“This new bed was such a good idea,” Ramona said, her whisper turning into a quiet laugh.
“I know. I wanted you to have it for..” Zara paused, not finishing the thought aloud.For after I’m gone, were the words Zara didn’t say.
Ramona reached up, cupping Zara’s face, tracing the line of those lethal fangs. She kissed Zara with a slow, devastating tenderness — a kiss that tasted of everything they couldn’t say, her tongue tracing a silent vow against Zara’s own, as if saying,I am yours. I don’t know how to let you leave.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ramona couldn’t sleep,even with the exhausting weight of what they had to do. Even with the soreness of her body after three orgasms.
She’d tried to sleep. Had closed her eyes. Had counted sheep and done all the things she knew she was supposed to do to quiet her anxious mind. The fox had come in at some point after she’d brushed her teeth and gotten ready for bed.
But her thoughts kept spinning. The ritual. The curse-breaking. The possibility of the tether dissolving.
The certainty of Zara leaving.
Beside her, Zara was still. But through the tether, Ramona could feel she wasn’t asleep either. Just lying there in the dark, thoughts racing in parallel.
“I know you’re awake,” Ramona said quietly.
“I know you know.” Zara’s voice was soft as she propped herself up.
“The walls feel like they’re closing in,” Ramona said, taking a deep breath.
Zara put a hand on the small of her back. “Want to go sit on the fire escape?”
“Yeah.”
They slipped out of bed carefully. The fox lifted his head from the foot of the mattress, watching.
“Stay, friend,” Ramona whispered. The fox settled back down.
They pulled on jackets and sweaters. Ramona crossed to her window, opened it quietly. The cold night air rushed in.
She climbed out onto the fire escape. Zara followed, closing the window most of the way behind them to keep the heat in.
The city spread out below them. Fernwick at midnight — mostly quiet, a few cars passing, distant sirens, the kind of ambient noise that became white noise after you lived somewhere long enough.
The moon was almost invisible. New moon eve. Tomorrow night it would be completely dark.
Tomorrow night, everything would change.
They settled on the metal grating, shoulders touching, legs dangling through the rails.
“Are you scared?” Ramona asked.
“Terrified,” Zara said.
“After the curse breaks?”
“After the tether dissolves.” Zara’s voice was quiet. “When the tether dissolves.”
“Felix said it should. If breaking the curse satisfies the magical debt?—”
“I know what Felix said.” Zara’s hand found Ramona’s. “And if he’s right, it’ll be fast. Break the curse, fix your magic, the debt is satisfied. The binding dissolves automatically.”
Ramona’s chest tightened. “And then you go back to Hell.”
