* * *
My room looks exactlythe same as it did the day I left it. Right down to the open bag of dark chocolate sea salt caramels left on my nightstand beside the well-worn copy ofNightchaser,a book I’ve read one too many times given it hasn’t been out very long. It’s so surreal to be back here after everything that’s happened.
And yet, here I am, standing just inside the doorway, Tarnley beside me.
“Is everything all right?” he asks, the deep rumble of his voice pulling me from thoughts of yesterday. From the time before I was haunted by memories of a basement room.
“Just happy to be home.” I turn my face up and force myself to smile at him. “With you.”
Tarnley smiles softly and leans down to gently press his lips to mine. A tender gesture that still rocks me to my very core. “I never thought I’d be happy again,” he whispers against my mouth.
“Me neither,” I reply softly. Closing my eyes, I try to focus on anything, everything except the events of the past few days. We both know there will be another fight, but right now, living in the moment is the best remedy for our wounds.
And living today to fight tomorrow is a motto I know well.
We move further into my room, and he shuts the door gently behind us both, then shrugs out of his jacket. “I’m going to go get the shower warmed up for you. Or would you rather have a bath?”
“No, a shower is good. Thanks.”
He smiles and slips into the adjoining bathroom as I study my space with the joy of someone who never thought she’d see it again. Thanks to my time unconscious, and if I’m not mistaken—vampire blood—my battered body has completely healed, leaving nothing but the nightmares of what happened to me in that chamber.
And I very much doubt those will ever fade.
I walk farther into my room, breathing in the lavender from the wall diffuser in the corner. This is my life, and how it got so fucked I’ll never understand. But even with all that, even with the shadow seducing me as it did, I still managed to remain standing.
Barely.
And I definitely didn’t do it alone. My thoughts drift back to the countless times I’d threatened them over the past couple of months. The times I’d genuinely considered letting the shadow magic have its way with them. Tears well up in my eyes, and I wrap both arms around myself, staring out at the normalcy within the massive mess I created.
I wanted to prove myself. And my pride could have cost the lives of everyone who’s ever meant anything to me.
“Bronywyn?”
I sniffle and wipe my eyes then turn toward where Tarnley stands just behind me. Brows drawn together, he watches with a pained expression that reminds me it does no good to hide anything. He can feel it all through our bond.
“I’m sorry.” I manage before the sobs break free.
He blurs forward, wrapping both arms around me, and crushes me to his chest. “You’re okay. You weren’t yourself.”
“A part of me was,” I argue. “I should have let you guys remove it the second I pulled it from Elijah. I was stupid and stubborn, and fuck—I nearly killed all of you.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head in a tender gesture that I don’t deserve. “I hurt Rainey, Delaney, Fearghas…all of you suffered as a direct result of what I did.”
“Bronywyn.” He pulls away, holding me at arm’s length. “When Rainey went off on the deep end, who promised Elijah to help get her back? Despite everything he did to you?”
“That was different—”
“No, it really wasn’t,” he interrupts. “You helped him rescue her because of what she meant to him.”
“Then proceeded to throw everything he did do back in his face—multiple times.”
“Both Elijah and Rainey know what you were going through, Bronywyn.”
“I wasn’t even jealous.”
“What?”
“Of them. The times I brought up what he did, how he chose her, other than being concerned he would discover who I really was, I didn’t care. I was almost glad he’d moved on because it made the way I felt for you easier to manage.”
“How so?”