The sudden urge to laugh overpowered her, a chuckle escaping her before she could stop it. She stared at that piece of chocolate, the sound of her laughter, unfamiliar even to her, ringing out in the large space, making her cheeks hurt, her stomach hurt, making her hurt. Laughing shouldn’t hurt. But it did.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed. She couldn’t remember what she even sounded like then. She did remember, though, being alone and scared as a child, remembered the days her chest would ache. No one had given her chocolates back then. No one had held her up. No one had done anything for her.
And yet, now she’d had a panic attack, and this man, of all people, had given her chocolate.
To comfort her.
In his own way.
Tears streaked down her face, mingling with her laughter as Morana realized she was losing it.
She was truly losing it.
She was breaking down.
A
nd it felt fucking glorious.
For a moment completely suspended in time, she floated, somewhere between agony and joy, somewhere between sensation and numbness, somewhere between caring too much and not giving a fuck, and it was utter beautiful perfection.
For that moment.
She felt free, not weighed down by demons, by responsibilities, by histories.
One moment.
And then that moment ended.
With a large hand on her jaw and fearless blue eyes holding hers, again, that moment transcended, transformed.
“You don’t owe these people a thing.”
Low. Rough. Gritty.
Tugging at something inside her.
“And I sure as fuck don’t. Don’t let them control you.”
Morana swallowed.
A vein popped on the side of his thick neck.
“You want to go to Tenebrae?” he asked softly, his whiskey voice deceptively quiet.
‘With me’, remained unsaid but not unheard.
Morana inhaled deeply, her mind clear of everything but her own desires.
She nodded.
“Then that’s that.”
He let her face go, leaning back, and looked over at Dante.
Morana took in a shaky breath and glanced at the other man as well, who stood to the side, watching her with a slight smile on his face.
Morana blinked in confusion at the smile, not understanding.