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"But you still miss him"

"Yes" Her oodbye" More tears slid down her cheeks, he didn’t brush these ones away; they were hers to shed "I never had the chance to tell hiain"

"He knew"

Her eyes appeared even brighter with the tears shi them "I know that, but before we separated in the past ays said our goodbyes and exchanged our love Caleb robbed me of that"

His hand stilled on her back, every muscle in his body froze If his brother hadn’t already been dead, in that ladly would have killed him a thousand times over He waited, unable to tear his eyes from hers as she finally spoke of his fa into that town, but I’d do it again That’s the person reed, still unable to bring hied in his throat He was desperate to know but terrified of the answers she would give him

"I’m sorry for your losses also," she whispered

"I suffered no losses"

"I know you weren’t close with your father and brother, or Natasha, but they were still your family"

"You are my family Jack and Melinda are ain, and soun to like your brothers" A small smile flickered across her lips, her eyes lit with amuseh warmed him and eased some of his fears

"That surprisesof the two," Braith agreed

Her sers danced over his "My father always said one of us would have been bad enough, but two of us were a sign that he was being punished for so in an ancestor’s past"

Noould be the time to tell her, but he found he couldn’t Not when she was s in her eyes instead of despair Later, there would be time later; they finally had time for each other, with each other

"I’ll take the punishment," he assured her

"I hope so"

"Hell, I’ll even take Max"

"I’ve noticed the two of you have been getting along better I’h escaped her and the smile slipped away "Would you tell me if you were bothered by the loss of your family?"

"They were my blood, but I’m not sorry they’re dead They were brutal creatures that never would have changed If Caleb hadn’t taken s may have been far different Aria We may very well be dead He was a powerful man, and would have been far fiercer competition than Caleb Thousands upon thousands of lives will be better because of their deaths Including ours"

He lifted her arhts as he rubbed the cloth over her ribcage He didn’t want her feeling any guilt over their deaths when he felt none He was surprised to find her conte him when he placed the arry"

He shook his head There was enough for her to deal with right noithout having to worry about his needs too "Gideon brought ood"

He sood as you" He pressed a chaste kiss to the inside of her wrist, the one that was not as bruised and raw looking He froze, his er Though the bone was healed, he knew exactly what had been done to it It took everything he had not to bellow in rage, but that was the last thing she needed right now "But it’s enough," he ers stroked over his cheek before slipping under his chin to lift his head slightly "I miss the bond it establishes between us"

"As do I, but not until you’re better Aria"

She turned her hand over in his and clasped his fingers "What they did to me Braith, you can see it all"

His hand clenched around the cloth, his shoulders stiffened as he froze He’d tried not to think about the fact that they may have taken more than just her blood froradation she would have experienced It made him wish they were both alive so he could draw out their deaths in ways that even his father hadn’t iined possible He’d love her no et her No matter how much time it took he’d be there to help her heal<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>