"What did you do? Where did he even take you?" Gavin asks.
"He took me to this old beautiful house in the woods. I don't know where it is or how we even got there in the first place." I look down at the ground, not wanting to tell him why I didn't know.
"What do you mean? How did you not know?" His voice is persistent. He wants answers.
I tuck my hair behind my ear. "He uh...kind of drugged me. He stuck some nasty pill in my mouth that made me really dizzy and drowsy." I look up at him and his face is murderous.
Gavin tightens his fists and closes his eyes but remains silent.
I give him an apologetic look and continue talking. I tell Gavin everything that has happened since I was taken. He hangs his head and sighs when I tell him that I don’t think Thrane touched me while I slept. He gets angrier as I talk though, especially when I tell him about Thrane busting my ankle, but aside from a few angry huffs, he stays quiet and lets me tell my story.
His golden eyes grow wide at my relay of busting the window and then scaling the brick wall. When I tell him how I could feel a tugging from inside my chest I stop, realizing that we 69
haven't exactly talked about our connection before. "I don't really know what that was about, but I just knew I had to go that way. That I would find home," I finish, feeling shy all of a sudden.
Gavin watches me fiddle with my fingers and doesn't speak for a little while. I am grateful that he doesn't bring up the awkward situation that we are in. He reaches behind him and into a backpack that I didn't notice before. He pulls out a water bottle and hands it to me, along with a granola bar. My stomach growls loudly at the sight of food.
"Thank you," I say as I take the items from him. "I don't know how long it has been since I've actually eaten something." I take a long drink from the water bottle.
Gavin stares down at my hurt ankle before he whispers something that I can't make out.
"What?" I ask.
"Three days," he says a little louder this time. He still isn't looking at me.
I stop chewing my granola bar. "What are you talking about?" I ask, not understanding what he is saying to me.
He looks up at my confused eyes and sighs. "You haven't eaten anything in three days."
He looks pained again. “Assuming the creep didn’t feed you.”
"That's impossible," I say, thinking about everything that has happened. "That would mean that I would've been passed out for a day and a half from Thrane's drug." I feel like I am just barely waking up from the nightmare.
He nods. "I was looking for you for over two days before I found you limping through the woods. And it's been almost another day since then. You have been in and out of consciousness for a while. I was getting pretty worried, so this morning I had to practically force you to drink some water."
"I'm so sorry, Gavin." I slouch, feeling so drained, even after the remarkable amount of sleep I've had in the past few days. "I shouldn't have run off on my own like that. I knew what kind of trouble I was in and I acted like a child."
He grabs my chin, turning my head so that I am forced to look up at him. We lock eyes for a moment, and I can see so much worry in him. "Don't you apologize to me. All of this was done to you and you did everything right. You didn't ask for any of it and I'm the one who is so sorry that this is your experience with my world." His voice is low as he speaks to me. "You are an incredible warrior, Aella."
I feel like I could cry again at his sweet words. I have felt so miserable and weak but somehow when he speaks to me like this and looks deep into my eyes, I feel like I could do or be 70
anything. "Your world isn't all bad. I know that." I whisper back to him, unable to find my full voice.
"Good, because you’re perfect for it," he says, his eyes falling to my parted lips. "I’ve never come across anything like you, before."
My heart races as I watch him lick his perfect lips. His hand moves from under my chin and glides softly along my jaw to the back of my neck. I shiver from the electricity that follows his touch.
Gavin's eyes flick back to mine and I watch as they darken slightly. He scoots his body closer to mine and leans in close to me, his hand still gripping the back of my neck. I want so badly to feel his lips on mine, but my mind stops me.
Gavin closes his eyes and touches his nose to mine. I close my eyes as well but breathe out my next words like a whisper. "Please don't kiss me."
Gavin's entire body stills, and he pulls back from me. His eyes open again and search mine for answers, but he doesn't take his hand from my hair. "Why?" He asks in a sad voice.
I sigh and close my eyes again, feeling like there is a large spotlight on me. "Because." I say but know that I need to say more. I don't want to have any regrets. "Gavin, if you kiss me now, I will never be able to stop loving you.” I rush the words out, immediately wanting to take them back but knowing I can't.
Gavin is so quiet that I have to open my eyes to be sure he didn’t disappear. He is watching me, looking confused
