All these thoughts pour out of me along with the magic, and I’m still diving, still trying to reach the bottom of the ocean when?—
Her eyelids flutter.
Was that real? She hasn’t moved in so long that it feels like a mirage—an oasis resting deep in the desert, an illusion, but I’m praying that it isn’t.
With one last push, I release the last drop of power I have, until?—
Her pinkie twitches.
And I sever the connection. There’s nothing left. I’m a dried-up husk. But for Blair, I will find the last bit of energy hiding inside me.
I take her hand. “Blair?”
Her fingers slowly curl around mine, and hope explodes in my chest.
“Blair?”
She blinks a few times. Her eyes open, and oh my gods, but it’s a miracle!
She takes a good long look at me and then throws herself into my arms. She clutches onto me like I’m a life raft in the middle of the ocean. Never in my life have I experienced such relief.
It’s feels like a house has been sitting on my shoulders and it’s finally crumbled to the ground. I stroke the back of her head and hold her tight, cradling Blair like she’s the most precious thing in the world, because she is.
She bursts into tears, and I pull back, wiping the streaks from her cheeks with my thumb. My heart’s racing in my throat. Is she okay? “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
She shakes her head, gulps down some air. “I was so scared. I was so afraid.”
“Shh. You’re safe now. Everything’s going to be all right.”
She hiccups and hugs me again, resting her cheek on my shoulder and whispering, “It was horrible. I couldn’t reach you. All I wanted to do was see you and talk to you. I tried so hard, so many times. I tried to come back, but I couldn’t.” A shaky breath staggers from her lungs. “I thought I’d never be with you again.”
I hug her tighter. “I felt the same way, but here we are, and everything’s going to be all right.” I stroke the back of her head and try to lighten the situation with, “This is nothing that a good nudging couldn’t take care of.”
She barks a laugh and pulls back, eyelids puffy, nose red—it’s the most beautiful sight. Blair crying means she’s alive, she’s here with me.
A sly smile spreads across her face. “You nudged me.”
“I did. You impressed?”
“I’m so much more than impressed. You are my hero.”
I kiss the back of her hand. “I will take that compliment happily every day for the rest of my life, and I will do everything in my power to live up to that.”
Her brow quirks. “Are those going to be your wedding vows?”
I laugh. “Do you want them to be?”
“If they are, then I’m all in.”
We laugh a moment and then slowly move in for a kiss. She pauses, pulls back. “My breath.”
“Your teeth get brushed every day.”
“Oh, that’s right.” She breaks into a smile. “Well, then, please kiss me. Kiss me forever and don’t stop. I want to drown in you, Devlin Ross, and only you.”
I kiss her as passionately as I dare, seeing as how she just woke up from a coma, and I’m sure she needs to be examined. But this kiss is everything. It’s about a future that lays before us like a yellow brick road, it’s about hope and it’s all about love.
When we break apart, I caress her cheek, and she tilts her face into my touch. “I love you so much,” she whispers.
