That was the exact moment Skye decided to reappear. I jerked a little when she did, and the movement wasn’t missed.
“She’s here right now, isn’t she?” Marlow asked, hope shining from her eyes.
“Hells yeah I am,” Skye said, and I nodded.
Marlow clapped her hands together excitedly. “Tell her that I love her and that I miss her already and that I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to save her.” Marlow’s hand went to the bandage on her neck where the demon had bit her during the fight yesterday. Because of that injury she hadn’t even been there when the level ten killed her friend. “And tell her that she’s missing a massive sale at Macy’s this weekend, and I plan to buy a pair of shoes in her honor.”
“So, she’s standing right next to you and can hear everything you’re saying. You can’t hear or see her, but it doesn’t work the other way around,” I explained.
“Tell her if she’s buying a pair of shoes in my honor, it should be those cute pink pumps we found together last month,” Skye said.
Seriously?I was glad that Skye was happy and still around—kinda—but it was going to suck if I was stuck being a ghost interpreter for the rest of my life.
I opened my mouth to relay Skye’s response when a crack of lightning split the cloudless sky above, followed by the loud boom of thunder.
Skye grinned. “You’re going to like what comes next, Tatum,” she said with a wiggle of her perfectly-tweezed eyebrows.
Huh?
“What’s that supposed—?”
She popped out of existence just as a second bolt cut through the air, zigzagging down to Earth and striking the roof of the sanctuary. The impact shook the ground beneath our feet. We all looked at each other for a beat, and then took off for the stone structure.
My heart pounded against my rib cage as I reached the wood doors and shoved them open. I’d camped out in that sanctuary for one reason, and one reason only: Gage.
My heart was telling me it had to be him.
I ran through the doors and my gaze brushed over the restored portal on the back wall and landed on Gage.
Holy naked man.
Gage was sprawled on his back in the middle of the room. He was still as a statue and didn’t have a stitch of clothing on.
So. Much. Skin.
A zing of awareness ran through my body like a jolt of electricity, but I diverted my gaze to his face before I got an eyeful of anything I shouldn’t.
Okay, that’s a lie. I peeked a little. Naked Gage was a thing of beauty.
Running to where he lay, I dropped to my knees next to him. His eyes were closed but his chest moved up and down slowly, proving that he was alive and breathing.
A warm mix of relief and joy spread over me.
He was here. He was back. He was alive.
Coming up behind me, Dash ripped off his hoodie and threw it over Gage’s middle, covering all his fun bits. The next moment, Jacob and the girls joined us and loomed over his body as well. All of us wore the same slack-jawed expression.
I took Gage’s face in my hands and stroked his jaw with my thumbs. He had color in his cheeks and his skin was warm. I couldn’t stop cataloging details that proved he was alive.
“Gage,” I whispered, brushing the hair that had fallen over his brow, off his forehead.
Gage groaned, and then blinked open his eyes, focusing on me. “Tate.” His nickname for me made butterflies take flight in my stomach.
“You’re alive.” I pressed my forehead to his, relishing in the touch of his skin on mine.
He inhaled. “Damn, woman, I missed the way you smell.”
We were so close I could feel his breath on my lips, and it made me shiver. Tilting his chin up, he brushed his lower lip over mine—a slow back and forth, a gentle nudge. A sharp tingle of anticipation shot throughout my body, and I parted my mouth on an exhale, not wanting to wait a moment longer to taste him on my tongue.
