“And that’s just it, isn’t it? I’m weak, Rafferty. Useless. I am not made for this world, and I’m continually in danger because I cannot protect myself.”
“Tell me you don’t care.” He completely ignores my words and steps toward me then sinks to his knees at my feet again. “Tell me you don’t care what happens.”
Truthfully, I wish I could. But that fall would likely cost him—greatly. And while I will eventually die, Rafferty will be left behind to deal with the consequences. “I don’t want that sacrifice to be you. Your honor—”
“Taranus does not deserve you.”
“I’m still bonded to him,” I remind Rafferty, hating myself for it. I don’t actually give a shit, and it wasn’t too long ago I was begging him to see that I was not his brother’s mate.
That was before I got so close to death, though. There’s no telling how much time I have left, and letting Rafferty feel anything else for me—it seems wrong. Especially since I won’t be here to pick up the pieces.
Rafferty’s large hands cage my face, and he leans forward, resting his forehead against mine. The collective sound of our breathing is all I hear as I try like hell to fight back tears determined to fall. “I cannot breathe without you,” he whispers. “Every moment of every day, you are in my mind.”
“I would be a mistake,” I tell him.
“A mistake?” Pulling back, he stares into my eyes. “How could you see yourself as such?”
“How can I not?” I sniffle. “I’m going to die, Rafferty.”
“According to the banshee, so am I.”
His response catches me off guard as does the crooked smile he gives me. “That’s not funny.”
“No? If you do not wish to talk of my fate, then stop assuming you know yours.” His thumbs stroke my cheeks, and I close my eyes, allowing myself to absorb every caress. “I do not understand how it happened, or why, but I do know that you are mine, Ember, for however long we have. And I willalwaysbe yours.”
A tear slips free, and I close my eyes, a half-hearted attempt to keep the rest of them from falling. My entire life, I longed for love. For acceptance.
I serial dated from the time I was eighteen to when I was diagnosed, hoping for what I’d witnessed in movies and books. Who would have thought the very person I was looking for was in another world entirely?
Or that I would find him on my death bed.
“For however long we have,” I whisper.
“Always,” he replies.
Tilting my head up, I swallow hard and meet his gaze. A sharp pain shoots through my chest, and I groan, clutching it as I fall back.
“Ember?”
“It hurts,” I whimper before grinding my teeth. My body grows cold, and I begin to shiver uncontrollably. “I’m c-c-cold.”
Rafferty climbs up beside me and wraps his arms around my body, holding me to his chest as he rips the blankets up and over me. “The bond with Taranus,” he all but growls. “It must be drawing from you.”
“I—” I trail off, eyes fluttering closed as I struggle to remain conscious.
He’s there. Holding me, cradling me, pressing his lips tenderly to my forehead as the rest of the world slips away and I descend into darkness.