He couldn’t move. He could hardly breathe. As he stared down at the tiny body in his arms-so limp and lifeless, so utterly unlike the vicious human hurricane he knew as Fang Runin—all he could do was tremble.
You bitch, he thought. You fucking bitch.
She was so small.
Nezha couldn’t register the choking gurgles in her throat, the glassy panic in her eyes, or the warmth of her blood as it spilled down his hands. He couldn’t, or he would shatter. As Rin bled out over the sand, the only thought running through his mind was that she was so small, so light, so fragile in his arms.
Then the twitching stopped, and she was gone.
She was too stunned to do anything but nod. She couldn't get past how bizarre this was; how they had suddenly stopped trying to kill each other; how they were, of all things, fighting again on the same side. She couldn't fathom why Nezha had saved her. Nor could she understand the way her heart twisted as she watched him walk forth, arms spread and vulnerable, offering himself to the beast.
Nezha wasn’t trying to fight the Dragon. He was trying to tame it.
If it means I have a traitorous heart then yes, I wish our Emperor had not summoned you for duty, for he has ripped you from my arms.
The entirety of the eastern continent—no, the riches of this universe—means nothing to me in your absence.
I pray every day for the seas to bring your return.
Your butterfly.
THE PAGER SCENE.
The front door flies open.
“JULIETTE—Juliette—”
I spin around.
Warner is standing there, face flushed, chest rising and falling, staring at me
like I might be a ghost. He strides across the room before I have a chance to say
a word and cups my face in his hands, his eyes searching me. “Are you okay?”
he’s saying. “God—are you okay? What happened? Are you all right?”
He’s here.
He’s here and all I want to do is fall apart but I don’t.
I won’t.
“Thank you,” I manage to say to him. “Thank you for coming—”
He wraps me up in his arms, not caring about the eight sets of eyes watching
us. He just holds me, one arm tight around my waist, the other held to the back
of my head. My face is buried in his chest and the warmth of him is so familiar
to me now. Oddly comforting. He runs his hand up and down my back, tilts his
head toward mine. “What’s wrong, love?” he whispers. “What happened? Please
tell me—”
I blink.
“Do you want me to take you back?”
Aaron and JulietteKitabı okudu
For a few seconds they just stood there in stillness, his arms around her, his breath on her ear. Most people go through their whole lives, Marianne thought, without ever really feeling that close with anyone.
