“Wasn’t your…fault,” Eden slurred, her body and mind becoming weaker. “Told me…not to…do it.”
“I almost lost you, Eden.” His voice cracked with emotion. “You and Zoe both could’ve died.”
Oh, God.She’d forgotten to ask about the other woman. “Is Zoe okay?” Eden tried to sit up, but Alex kept her still.
“When we left the station to come find you, she was in surgery.”
Eden was hit with the horrific image of Zoe lying on the floor and bleeding. It was immediately followed by another overwhelming wave of helplessness and guilt from Alex.
“Alex, p-please. Have to…l-let it g-go.”
She felt him draw in a shuttered breath before whispering back, “I don’t know how.”
God, she loved this man.
“I’m safe…n-now. Zoe’s s-safe. Focus on…that.”
Emotions from the scene she’d just witnessed lingered, but soon she could also feel the way his hope had mixed with his fear. No longer having the strength to keep them open, Eden closed her eyes and concentrated on only the positive energy Alex was trying to convey.
His anguish began to slowly evaporate as other, more pleasant emotions, broke through.
Alex’s powerful relief from knowing Josiah’s reign of terror was finally over. His overwhelming sense of thanks that she was safe and back in his arms. The gratefulness he felt, not only toward Garrett and the rest of his team, but also Dan, Mia, and the other woman.
But what stood out from it all was Alex’s unwavering love for her.
Eden had felt the love he’d been harboring for her before, but this…this was different. What she could sense in his heart now was a love so powerful, so unbreakable, it brought tears to her eyes.
With the remaining tendrils of energy she had left, Eden looked up at her real-life hero and smiled.
“I love you.”
Unshed tears made Alex’s blue eyes sparkle even more. Pinks and reds blossomed, warming her soul as he placed the gentlest of kisses to her lips. “I love you, too.”
****
“How long are you going to keep this up?”
Standing at the grill, Alex tore his eyes from Eden and started flipping the burgers. “Keep what up?” he asked Dan.
“Hovering over her like you’re waiting for her to break.”
Alex frowned. “It’s only been a couple weeks.”
He glanced back over at her. Sitting around Dan and Mia’s patio table, Eden was talking and laughing with Mia and Kat. Like Eden, both women had used their abilities to overcome insurmountable odds, and Alex was thankful Eden finally had friends she could relate to on that level.
After the dust settled from everything that had happened, Dan and Mia had invited them to come to Texas for a few days. They both thought it would be good for Eden to get away from the city for a while. Alex had agreed, and the next day he put in for the vacation time he’d never taken.
Upon Dan’s insistence, he’d flown them in on one of Phoenix’s private jets, put them up in one of San Antonio’s swankiest hotels, and hadn’t let them pay for a damn thing since.
As Alex continued to cook the burgers, he watched as Eden smiled at something Kat said and knew they’d made the right decision. Not only had the last few days been good for her physically, it had also done wonders for her mentally and emotionally.
Spending time with the two women who’d helped save her life had been both therapeutic and life changing.
With the exception of Josiah—the fucker—Eden had never connected with another gifted person before. Now all of a sudden, she was surrounded by them. And if the smile on her face was any indication, she felt right at home.
The entire team, including Sergeant Murphy, had been impressed with the amount of information she’d gotten from Josiah. After Eden gave her official statement, the FBI ran another search and found eight other unsolved murders they believed Josiah was responsible for.
They spanned over the past decade, the first one dated right around the time it was believed Josiah had killed his parents. He hadn’t left cards with his earlier kills, which explained why they hadn’t connected him as the killer before. That they’d been able to do so now was all thanks to Eden.
