Colton reaches forward and takes my hand in his. “You can only heal someone if you accept them for who they are. If you accept them as yours. I’ve known for so long that you were my soulmate, and I’ve wanted to tell you every day, but something was off. It wasn’t the right time. When I died, you must have accepted me too, otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now.”
I look up into his eyes and see the honesty in them. He is telling me the truth. I knew there was something between us. I’ve felt the connection for a while now, but I’ve tried to ignore it. I wanted to protect him. I wanted him to be kept safe. But even when I wasn’t with him, he was still in danger.
“So, if I didn’t accept you as my soulmate…” I start.
“You wouldn’t have been able to heal me,” he finishes for me. “I would have died. For good.”
Chapter Three
Colton
She’s taking everything pretty well. I thought I’d have to really convince her that she was my soulmate. We’re meant to be together. If anything, I thought she’d get mad at me for not telling her sooner considering how long I’ve known. I’m still waiting for the hysterics—for her to run away screaming, saying that everything is happening too fast or that she can’t handle this on top of everything else.
As she thinks about everything I told her, she starts biting her lip again. She always does that when she is nervous or thinking. This just draws my attention back to her mouth, which makes me want to kiss her again.
She starts nodding. She believes me? “You believe me?” I really need to stop doubting her. She has a way of surprising us all.
“I don’t see a reason why you would lie about something like that. And, I’ve known there was something different about you for a while now. I just didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want you to be put in any more danger because of me.” She crawls over to me and lies down at my side, resting her head on my chest. “I’m just scared of bringing more danger to you all. I’m afraid all the time. Not for myself. I’m scared that something is going to happen to you guys.”
“Ryanne, you need to stop worrying about everyone else so much and start thinking about yourself. It’s okay to be a little scared yourself.”
“I need to worry about others. If I’m only thinking about myself, I’ll start doing reckless things.” I scoff. Start? “Ok, more reckless. I’d be dead already if I wasn’t thinking about others.”
“Ry, can you promise me you’ll start caring about yourself a little more?” Wrapping my arm around her, I pull her closer to me. She rests her left hand on my chest and starts tracing circles into my skin.
“My promises aren’t very valid anymore. I promised Liam that I wouldn’t go on any hero missions alone…and we’ve seen how well I’ve kept that promise.”
“Ryanne.”
“I’ll try. I promise that I’ll try,” she says with a yawn. The circles she’d been drawing start to become slower and slower until her hand stops moving all together. I glance down and find her soundlessly asleep beside me.
I don’t want to bring her to her room. Lately, whenever she slept alone, Dravin or Adam would contact her in her dreams and try to get information out of her. They are getting desperate. These dreams always end up with her getting hurt. The past two nights I’d been in Logan’s room, talking with him and Liam about anything and everything, when there’d be a small knock on the door. Logan would open it and Ryanne would be there, needing to be healed.
I hear a light knock on the door, bringing me out of my thoughts. “Come in,” I loudly whisper, trying not to wake Ryanne. She needs to sleep. The bedroom door opens slowly, and Emma peeks her head in. She walks over to the edge of the bed and sits down.
“Did you tell her?”
“Yeah. She took it well.”
“Really?” She sounds surprised.
“Well she didn’t soak me and start running in the opposite direction.”
“I’m guessing you want to keep her in here for tonight?” I nod. I want to see if she stays with me at night, if they can still contact her. And, I like having her here. It feels right having her beside me.
She reaches down and grabs the comforter and pulls it up for me. I thank her. “Don’t you dare break her heart, Colton. She can only handle so much.” Turning off the light, she leaves the room and quietly closes the door. Honestly, I’m more worried about her breaking mine. I pull the comforter up higher and close my eyes, effortlessly falling asleep for the first time in a long time.