I felt tears building in my eyes because I knew he was giving me permission to let go. And that he’d take care of me no matter where I went this time or how long I was gone for.
“Amaryllis… splendid beauty,” I croaked, my voice sounding thick even to my own ears.
“That’s it, baby,” Vaughn whispered in my ear.
“James,” I breathed.
“It’s okay,” Vaughn responded when I couldn’t continue. “What’s the next one?”
“Anemone,” I managed to get out as the darkness began to beckon to me. My lids blessedly began to drop and Vaughn’s worried expression disappeared. Along with the vision of the two men standing just behind him, one looking concerned. But it was Luca’s expression that stayed with me as I whispered the flower’s meaning. Poor Luca just looked completely confused and lost.
And I couldn’t help but think how the anemone would be the perfect flower for him and probably his son, because both were likely dealing with the same exact emotion.
“Fading hope,” I managed to get out.
I tried to tell Luca and Gio I was sorry, but I had no clue if I managed it or not and, thankfully, the blackness made it so I didn’t have to care either way.
I waswarm when I woke up… hot, actually. And it was once again dark out. But I didn’t know what day it was. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand on my side of the bed. It was just after two.
Which meant I’d been out for more than eighteen hours… unless more than a day had passed. I’d never lostthatmuch time before but I also hadn’t attacked someone with a knife before either, so I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.
Unlike the last time I’d woken up, I wasn’t alone. I could feel Vaughn at my back and his arm was wrapped around my waist. I could also feel his even breath on the back of my neck so I figured he was likely asleep. A small, lit lamp on the dresser afforded me enough light to see several plates of food next to it.
All untouched.
There was more than enough food for one person, so if I’d been forced to guess, I would have said neither I nor Vaughn had eaten any of it. But again, I couldn’t be sure because I couldn’t remember drinking the chocolate milk the previous night when Vaughn had brought it to me.
I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I knew I needed to eat something because if I hadn’t eaten whatever Vaughn had offered me, it meant the last time I ate actual food was the morning at the restaurant when I’d had two orders of grits.
That had been almost forty-eight hours ago.
But one need was more pressing than food. I shifted my body so I could look over my shoulder at Vaughn to see if he was actually asleep or not.
He was.
And he looked exhausted.
Even in the dim light, I could see the dark circles beneath his eyes.
I glanced around the rest of the room but it was empty.
Did that mean Con and Luca had left?
It didn’t seem likely since Vaughn had seemed certain that Luca would call for reinforcements the second he got the chance. But Vaughn was also sleeping, which didn’t seem like something he’d do unless he felt safe.
I was about to ask him if it was safe to leave the room, but when he snuggled up against me and let out a soft sigh, I held my tongue. But my bladder refused to be ignored, so I carefully lifted Vaughn’s arm from my waist and slipped out from beneath the heavy weight.I replaced my body with my pillow and smiled when Vaughn accepted it. The fact that he hadn’t woken up was proof that he was as exhausted as me… more so, probably.
I went to the bedroom door and found it locked.
So Vaughnwasn’tfeeling completely safe.
I unlocked it and left it open so Vaughn would be able to hear me if I called for him. The bathroom was just down the hall so I hurried to it and locked myself in, then took care of business. Vaughn’s shirt was lying folded on the counter. It looked dry and clean, and when I picked it up it smelled laundered. I was both disappointed and relieved at the same time.
I glanced at my reflection, hoping to find some stain on my own shirt so I’d have a valid excuse to put his back on.
I didn’t recognize myself.
I looked pale, gaunt and very sickly. My skin had a gray tint to it and my hair was all over the place.
