Within the Flames by Liu Marjorie M

Author:Liu, Marjorie M. [Liu, Marjorie M.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2011-11-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

All Eddie saw, before Lyssa took the package, was the edge of a sleek, spotted hide. That was enough. He knew, in his gut, what it meant. But when he saw the horror and devastation that spread over her face, he was unprepared for his own reaction.

Rage. Pure, unbridled fury.

Those women who had murdered her friend, and probably others . . . who were hurting Lyssa with these terrible games . . .

. . . they were going to die.

No, he told himself. No, don’t think that.

But it was impossible not to. He knew what else had been done to Estefan, but seeing that fur . . . holding it in his hands . . . made the cruelty and horror of his murder viscerally real in a way that it hadn’t been before. The idea of those same women coming close to Lyssa strained his control to the breaking point.

She threw the parcel to the floor and turned away, gagging. He pressed to her side, holding back her hair—holding her—as she sank to her knees. She tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

Her grief killed him. It was too familiar.

Lyssa kept trying to grieve in silence, but he was wrapped so tightly around her that every shudder filled him—each heaving breath that shook her body, shaking his as though she were going to break apart against him.

Eddie remained quiet as long as he dared, but he watched the door the entire time—straining to hear if anyone was outside.

Finally, he murmured, “Lyssa.”

She buried her face against his chest, momentarily stilling.

“We have to go,” he told her quietly. “It’s not safe here.”

Her fingers tightened around his arm. “Okay.”

Her voice was so soft and muffled, he barely heard her. Eddie helped her stand, but she shook so badly, her teeth chattered. Her skin was cold, and he slid his hands beneath her sweater, pressing them hard against her waist and back. He focused on bringing heat into palms, even more heat than he had used on Aaron Roacher.

Fire flowed through his blood, fire that sank from his body into hers, as easily as if it were the same body, same blood, same life. Golden light streamed from her eyes, mixing with her tears.

He kissed her. “Can you stand without me?”

Lyssa nodded, face crumpling as she pressed her left hand over her mouth. A sob broke, and she turned from him, choking.

Eddie took a deep breath, then another—fighting to focus past her heartbreak—but when he started wrapping the shifter’s skin in the parcel paper, she turned and watched. It was difficult to work, feeling the heat of her gaze on his every movement.

He tried to be careful, respectful, but there was only so much he could do.

Eddie placed the remains in his backpack, then picked up Lyssa’s bag, slinging everything over his shoulder. He found her wiping tears from her cheeks. Grief was raw in her eyes, but her breathing was steadier, and there was a new hardness in her jaw that made her look almost .

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