Page 121 of Feathers of Ash and Hope
“It’s alright,” she sighs. “What are you going to do now?”
“Nothing,” I tell her, and my lips twitch because it’s an exact repeat of our conversation after I found out about her ruse. Ara relaxes into me, and I lean my cheek against her temple.
“Why was I able to heal you?” I finally voice the question that has been haunting me the whole time.
“Everyone’s magic… feels different, and when I hold mine back…” She shrugs. “It works.”
I remember her trembling, the sweat, her exhaustion. It costs her to do so.
“That’s why you wanted me to stop if you are unconscious.” I realize.
“Yes.” She nods.
Shit, that woman’s conscience is humbling.
“I’m sorry, Ara.” My voice is rough.
She shrugs. “It’s fine.” She laughs humorlessly. “After all, it’s not easy to be faced with the damn monster under the facade.”
I turn her in my arms so I can look into her eyes.
They are red and full of doubt, her lashes and her cheeks still wet. And despite everything she just told me, I have never met anyone more beautiful, inside and out.
I don’t just care for her. I love her.
She didn’t just wriggle into my heart. She owns it.
This incredible woman, who not only doesn’t know how to be cautious but will be hunted if anyone finds out what she is, broke down all my barriers and made herself comfortable as the center of my world.
Her recklessness, her vulnerability makes her the embodiment of my worst nightmare, and still I can’t regret falling for her.
“You’re no monster,” I tell her.
Ara
Tate’s eyes.They are so tender, so tormented, so raw. Like the storm so often brewing in them broke and let me glimpse the devastation left behind. It captivates and terrifies me.
“You’re no monster,” he says.
How can he be so sure of something I’m not even sure of myself?
“I might still become one.” I voice the doubt that has festered in me since the day I found the mark on my skin.
“Forget what some stories say. What do youknow?” Tate challenges me.
“Nothing,” I tell him.
“See, that is not true,” he disagrees. “You know that you can control it. Otherwise, we both wouldn’t be here. You know that you can choose to harm or to protect, like when you stepped in front of me. We both know you saved me that day. You are nothing like the monsters in those stories.”
“Yet,” I add glumly, but I let his words replay in my mind and realize that maybe I had it wrong the whole time.
What if my curse isn’t hiding and biding its time, waiting to take over… but more like a weapon? Something I can wield to harm or to defend, just like Tate said. And he’s right. Iamin control. Even nearly frozen solid and tempted by his warmth, I haven’t given in.
He tips my chin up so I have to meet his eyes again.
“I believe in you,” he states firmly, and the way he says it lets warmth rush through me, washing away the last cold tendrilsof doubt. “But what is far more important is if you believe in yourself.”
“Yes,” I answer, and I’m surprised that I really do. A smile spreads over Tate’s face, so brilliant I can only stare, but he sobers quickly.
