Bossed Around

That she’d let me touch her sweet body and hold me like I’m someone to her.

If I have to die, if my body has to shut down without her, at least I’ve experienced the best this world has to offer. Thea. My Thea.

Somehow, I make it through the gate before collapsing, my lungs beginning to seize up. If my many victims could see me now, they wouldn’t believe it. The monster who lurks in the shadows has been felled by an angel that barely reaches his shoulder.

I picture her face in my mind and allow the worst of the pain to take over. To creep into my chest and wrap my heart in piano wire, the preferred tool of my trade, strangling the life out of it. And all the while, I hold onto her image, begging whoever is listening to keep her safe. To keep her in the light. Away from the darkness I know all too well.

The world starts to fade around me, blackness encroaching on the edges of my vision, and I hold onto thoughts of her, determined to let them be my final memories of this earth. Her sleepy yawns, her regal bearing when she sat on the throne, her look of wonder when she saw the ocean for the first time. I love her. I love her so much.

Goodbye, angel.

Thea

As I sprint through the grounds of the gallery, I feel a terrible twist in my chest.

It’s more than foreboding or dread, it’s the sense that something is very wrong.

That Duncan is in trouble. Or distress.

I scream behind my teeth, searching the darkness for some sign of his huge, imposing figure, but there is nothing but grass and trees and the stone prison at the center. Moisture floods down my cheeks, but I don’t bother to brush the tears away, continuing to run, continuing to look for some sign of him—

In my haste and fear, I stumble, my hands breaking my fall on a patch of soft earth. And there, I see a footprint a mere few inches from my face. One that couldn’t belong to just any man—but to mine. It’s Duncan’s.

Noting the direction it took, I stand and run again, screaming his name, “Duncan!”

The gate is up ahead and I notice it’s partially open.

But it’s when I see Duncan lying prone on the other side terror floods me, and I sprint at full speed, my life hanging in the balance. Truly, I don’t think I’ll be able to live if sending him away has broken him so thoroughly.

Nay, I can’t be apart from you, Thea. It will kill me.

Why didn’t I listen? Our connection is not typical or light. It’s deep. Raw. Essential. My life intertwined with his the moment we locked eyes and I shouldn’t have played so carelessly with that. I should have yelled at him and forgiven him in the same breath. Should have trusted my heart and known he would never hurt me on purpose.

“Duncan,” I whimper, hurtling through the gate and throwing myself down beside him, raking my shaking hands over his mountainous body. They eventually find his face and I crouch close, leaning down to press my lips to his. Kissing him. Kissing them even though they’re barely warm. Oh God, what if I’m too late? Is this really possible? That he could die at the thought of being separated from me forever? “Please don’t go. I love you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Despair wracks me when he doesn’t move.

When his chest doesn’t even seem to rise or fall, his heart silent.

I can’t believe this. It can’t be real.

“Please,” I whisper, my tears falling onto his face, wetting his scars. “I order you to wake up and come home with me. I demand it, Duncan.” I suck in a breath and scream with all of my strength. “Wake up!”

Hours seem to pass, when in reality it’s a matter of moments, my hoarse command still lingering in the air. That’s when his right eyelid twitches. Then the left.

His hand picks up and drops, before lifting to cup my cheek. “Angel.”

My heart shoots up into my throat so quickly, I almost choke, anxiously looking down into dark-chocolate eyes. The eyes of my love. “My giant. I’m sorry. I should have understood. I don’t want you to go away. Stay. Stay. Please. Stay with me forever. I love you.”

His chest begins to rise and fall quickly, disbelief swimming in his expression. “Stay?”

“Yes,” I sob, tears raining down my face. “Forever. Please?”

Muscles shift in his throat, emotion drenching his voice. “As long as my Thea wants me, she will never be without me.”

“Then you’re going to be around for a long, long time,” I whisper shakily, kissing his mouth. Kissing him until his body rouses and begins responding to mine, one hand sinking into my hair, the other dragging me onto him in a straddle. “I demand it.”