He hated speaking of Isobel, but she couldn’t stop her curiosity. They had been so in love for a time, but tension had worn the edges of that love. It seemed to have started when Sean discovered what she’d done to his soul.
Anna could understand that. A betrayal so deep would be hard to forgive.
Her eyes fell shut, and she counted minutes by the rhythm of his breathing. By now, Anna was certain she’d be able to pick it out of a crowd.
A sense of helplessness washed over her. For years, she’d trained her body to be strong, but it had utterly failed her. She could barely walk and her head thrummed with pain, all from a silly vision.
A flash of anger gave way to a profound sadness, sucking her downinto a deep hole.
She was sick, and no one knew if she would ever get better. The spae who checked on her each day appeared more and more troubled as time passed with minimal improvement. At Anna’s request, Maddy brought her books to research this mysterious illness, but her vision was too blurry to read.
And sitting atop all that, adding unbearable weight, was the cracking sensation in her chest, the one she could ignore no longer, that foreshadowed splintering facets of pain on the horizon. The longer she went without any contact from David, the deeper the splinters burrowed, straight into the bloodiest parts of her heart.
Heartbreak was looming. She knew it as sure as she recognized the pity in Sean’s gaze for what it was: David didn’t want her.
Her heart longed for a man who would never come, and she couldn’t understand how she’d gone from lying in his arms, basking in the glow ofMaybe you’re exactly where you belongto total silence. It was destructive, his unexplained absence, breaking her from the inside out. As hours and then days passed, Anna began to fear what her magic could turn this into. How painful was heartbreak to a child of Morgan, one who had no barriers, no cages, no ice?
Would it even be survivable?
A single tear slipped from her eye, and she swiped it away.
She couldn’t think on it. No use worrying about something she couldn’t change.
“Thank you for sitting with me like this,” she murmured into the long silence.
“You don’t need to thank me, Anna.”
“Yes, I do.” Her voice was raspy with emotion. “You have a lot going on.”
Sometime later, his soft “None of that matters more than you” whispered through the spaces between them.
It was almost worse that Sean was so kind. She’d tried not to wonder why it was him in this room instead of David, but the question lingered. If David didn’t care, why was his soulmate so invested in her recovery?
“Why hasn’t he come?” she whispered as another tear fell.
Even without the mixture of hot anger and electric dread that burst from his chest, Sean’s long exhale would have told her he wasn’t thrilled about this subject. Perhaps they’d discussed it.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Another tear, but Anna ignored it. “I’m sorry,” she said with a sniffle. “I don’t know why I’m crying.”
Sean waited a moment to respond, but when he did, her tears came in earnest.
“Yes, you do. It’s because you love him.”
CHAPTER 38
SEAN
Sean stared at the pile of elixirs and Luxorian herbs overflowing on the scarred wooden table of this abandoned apartment. The space had been empty for decades, apparently. The neighbors disagreed as to the reason—a family dispute or rent control being the top two contenders—but Sean didn’t care much. The thick layer of dust on everything meant it was unlikely this place would be discovered as an outpost.
Stocking it, however, had been more difficult than the other two outposts they’d established in other regions, primarily because of those neighbors. Luckily this building shared utilities, so light and water were no issue, but Sean didn’t want neighbors suspicious of the strangers coming and going. It helped that David could make them forget they’d seen anything, but the reconnaissance team tried to be careful anyway.
David’s magic had made this venture infinitely easier. Bank accounts were opened without the required documents. Vehicles had been handed over without payment. Small details Sean wouldn’t have considered—things like communication devices and books forquick reference—were all taken care of by his soulmate. With each outpost they successfully outfitted, Bowenn’s distrust of David diminished.
Now the two of them stood side by side, David’s height a counterpoint to Bowenn’s bulk, and argued over how many Luxorians would reasonably fit in this space.
“It is not a holiday,Djiante,” Bowenn said. “They are not coming for comfort.”
