I nod and Solon fills me in with what happened, from his point of view. I remember it all as he says it, his voice filling in the details, conjuring up my own memories this time, as well as his.
Yanik kidnapped me.
Solon lit me on fire.
I used the fire to burn everything else.
“When was that?” I ask.
“A week ago.”
I blink at him, my heart stuttering. “I’ve been out for a week? Is this a case of me missing time or—”
“You’ve been out, my dear,” he says, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss on my forehead, the feel of his lips against my skin making my toes curl, my chest grow impossibly warm. “This is the first time I’ve seen you open your eyes. To say it’s a relief is…an understatement.”
I stare at him for a moment, trying to fit everything together.
“How did you find me?”
A hint of a smile tugs at his lips. “Your necklace. Yanik threw it out of the car, but it was close enough that when I got there, I was able to track you to the barn. The old-fashioned way.” He taps the side of his nose.
“So the necklace was to keep tabs on me. I knew there was more magic to it than it just growing warm whenever you were around.”
“Magic?” he says with a quirk of his brow. “Not quite. Ezra put a microscopic GPS chip in it. I always knew where you were with a few taps of an app.”
My eyes go wide, a flare of indignation inside me. “You literally were tracking my every move?”
“It was never a matter of trust, moonshine. I had to keep you safe.”
“Still,” I tell him. I mean, I’m glad that the necklace had it or maybe he never would have found me. But he doesn’t have to know that. “Then you must have seen me go to my parent’s place.”
He nods, eyes skimming over my face. “I did. But I knew you had things to sort out and I knew I couldn’t help you with it. So I let you go.”
“Because you were mad at me,” I say softly.
The corner of his mouth lifts and he places a quick and gentle kiss on my lips. God, he’s being so soft with me, it’s killing me in the best way.
“I was never mad at you. I was…upset. Confused. You definitely have a knack for bringing out my jealous side, and that’s an ugly side. But no, I wasn’t mad. I know you couldn’t help yourself, I know what you did was weighing heavily on you. And I too had some things to deal with. You may not believe it, but I took no pleasure in killing your friend.”
I’m about to correct him, tell him Matt wasn’t my friend, but such a small detail doesn’t matter after death. He was someone I knew and that was enough.
“Then,” he goes on, “I saw what happened.”
Panic suddenly runs through me. “My father!” I cry out, sitting up in bed, my head reeling from the movement.
“He’s okay,” he says quickly, putting his hands on my shoulders and gently pushing me back into the bed. “Your father is fine. He’s alive, he’s at home.”
Relief floods my heart and I close my eyes. “Thank god.”
“It did make the news, though,” he explains carefully. “A high-jacking by someone high on meth is what they’re calling it. Some bystanders reported seeing a girl in the car, you. But I got there right away, with your mother, and we were able to coerce the story. When your dad was conscious in the hospital, he already knew what to say to protect you. That he was alone in the car, that you were elsewhere, that some junkie took the car after attacking him and that was that.”
“Jesus, what a complicated web we weave,” I say, sinking back into the bed.
“That we do,” he says. “But you’re safe. Your parents are safe. They know you’re here. And Yanik and the Dark Order are dead. I think you deserve to get some good rest now. You deserve it.”
I stare up at him. “A week of sleep wasn’t rest enough?”
“Just because you were sleeping, doesn’t mean your heart wasn’t dealing with everything. You needed time to refill the well inside you. You need time to work on the rest of you.” He brings his hand down over mine and raises it to his mouth, kissing the back of it, my knuckles, my fingertips, his eyelids fluttering closed.
Heavy silence fills the room for a few moments.
I hear his heartbeat.
“I was so afraid I’d lose you,” he whispers against my hand, eyes shut. “I’ve lived for so long, so long, and yet I feel like I never really lived. That time was something that didn’t matter anymore, that there was no consequence to my life, no more beginnings, no fresh starts. No more chapters. But you…you brought a new chapter to my life. A chapter where my life has purpose.” His eyes open and he peers right into me, stealing my breath. “You’re my purpose.”