“Then I need to get upstairs and write a note for him.”
“Okay. I’ll go tell Mike you thought about what he said and decided to listen to him,” she said as I walked away.
“He won’t believe you,” I called without turning back.
Dear spineless. No, scratch that. Dear annoying, no, not that either. Dear David. That’s better. Wake me when you come to spy on me. I need to speak to you. If you don't, I will file for divorce! No, scratch that. If you don't, I will cry myself to sleep for the next ten years. Love, Ara.
There. I left the note on my nightstand, folded in half so it stood up like a name card on a wedding table, and retraced the letters on the front so it said, in bold, READ ME, then changed into a soft cotton nightdress and crawled into bed.
Outside, the horizon turned darker over the ocean closer to the west, with a pale hint of the day to come seeping in from the east.
Though my body had dragged the exhaustion of the day to bed with it, I couldn't just slip off to sleep—not with the possibility that he’d come and wouldn’t wake me. If I didn't see him soon, I was sure I’d spontaneously combust, or at least do something incredibly stupid just to look into his eyes again.
I rolled over and puffed the pillows, then laid still for a moment, and since that didn't work, puffed the pillows again and rolled back the other way. My heart raced, my breath uneven. I listened carefully for the sound of silence, hoping the crickets would hush and give sign that he was out there somewhere. But they were even nosier than usual, almost like a chirpy slap in the face; the little buggers were probably dancing around a bonfire singing, “He doesn't love you. He's not coming. Ha-ha, ha-ha.”
“Shut up!” I screamed at them, slamming a pillow over my face. But the pillow disappeared with a cool rush of air.
“I didn't say anything yet.”
I jumped involuntarily, scuffling to the back of my bed when a body became apparent beside me, but as soon as the amazing green gaze of my husband registered in my sight, I rocketed forward and flung my arms around his neck. “You came!”
He wore two weeks worth of tears, loneliness, sorrow, regret, happiness and missing him, all over his face in a collection of probably very sloppy kisses.
“Whoa, Ara.” He laughed, unfastening my wrists from around his neck, then laid me back on the pillow beside him. “You okay?”
“Are you kidding me? I haven’t seen you in weeks, and you expect anything less than a smothering of kisses?”
He cleared his throat. “I kind of expected a slap first.”
“That was the plan,” I huffed, folding my arms. “Damn you and your cute dimples.”
His half smile curved deeply into his cheek, showing just a little of his fang. “Hungry?”
“What makes you think I'm hungry?”
He placed his hand over my heart. “Because this just picked up about ten beats and your temperature increased about three degrees.”
“Maybe it’s not hunger,” I said, rocking my knees.
He jumped up, leaving the space beside me empty. “I didn’t come here for that.”
“For what—to make love to your wife?” I rolled my legs over the side of the bed and sat up.
“No,” he said, folding his arms, his solemn gaze on the dawn outside my window. “I came to give you a kiss, tell you I love you, then get back to work.”
“Work? What are you working on?”
“I'm hunting down Drake at the moment.”
“And what about my family history?”
The ball of his throat shifted. “Another time, okay.”
“Fine. But…have you had any good leads on Drake?”
“No.”
“Have you checked out Mu—er, Elysium?”
David smirked, angling his head to look down at me. “Elysium?”
“Ur, yeah, we kind of got in a little trouble for calling it The Castle of the Dead.”
He rolled his head back, laughing. “Who was it? Who slipped up?”
“Eric.”
He laughed harder. “Oh, I wish I’d been there.”
“No, you don't. I told Arthur you always called it that, and he was not impressed.”
“That’s okay, my resurrection from the dead will save me any trouble. And I only called it that around you to stop you Googling it to find out where I lived.”
“Really?” I half laughed. “Because…I would never have actually thought of that.”
“It wouldn't have surprised me if you had. I could just imagine waking up to tap on the shoulder from the castle butler saying there was a nice human girl at the door for me.”
“Now I wish I had thought of looking it up.”
“Wouldn’t have done you any good, anyway. Googling Le Chateau de la Mort wouldn’t have led you to Elysium.”
I wrapped one arm along his back, curving it around to sit on his waist. “Hey, David?”
“Yes, my love.”
Those two last words ‘my love’ simmered through me like milky calm. “I'm sorry—about the fight we had the day I left for the mano—”
“Ara.” He turned me to face him. “It’s in the past, sweetheart. And it is I who should be sorry. Not you. I took my stress out on you. I should not have behaved that way.”
“Well, if you’re not mad at me, why haven’t you been taking my calls?”
He looked out the window again, his head moving slowly. “Can you…just this once, and I’ll never ask it of you again, can you just take my word that I wanted to, but had reasons why I didn't? And they were not because I don't love you, or because I don't care about you.”
“If you cared about me, you wouldn’t have left me so long without any contact.”
He sighed, tucking me into his chest. “There are reasons for everything I do, Ara. One day, you will understand.”
“Why not just tell me now?”
“Because I shouldn’t even be here. My mere presence is risking everything that's already been….” He bit his teeth together. “Look, just be okay without me for a little longer. Please?”
“Okay,” I said, sighing, then glanced up to his stern face. “So…you're not worried about Mike and the spirit bind, anymore?”
“No. Morgaine told me it’s faded. Is that true?”
“Mostly.” I nodded. “I still love him, but I think I can distinguish the two kinds of love now.”