Her refused to look me in the eye.
“If you don’t,” I said, my voice shaking, “you’ll die. You have no choice. Even if you manage to escape Rhys, you only have seven days. Come to The Shade and Mona will be able to rid you of the bond. You can live with us.”
Excitement and passion coursed through my body. I reached up to touch his shoulder and finally his eyes fixed on mine.
He stood up, drawing me up with him. He picked me up in his arms and laid me on the bed. Tucking me back under the mosquito net, he remained outside of it, gazing at me.
“Rest now, Rose. We’ll talk about this when you wake up.”
I reached a hand up to the net, wanting to touch him again, reassure him that it would work out all right, if he’d just come back with us.
But I agreed to his request.
I lay down on the stiff pillow, exhaustion beginning to claim me again. My eyes didn’t leave Caleb’s still form in the corner of the room until they fell shut.
As I drifted off, I imagined him coming back with me to The Shade. I pictured our arrival at the Port. We’d go straight to my parents. Mona would help me explain that it had all been a misunderstanding. Because Caleb was a good man. A man who deserved more than the life he’d been dealt.
Much more.
Chapter 36: Caleb
I moved my chair closer to her once she’d fallen asleep. I wanted to take in her beauty, the gentle flush in her cheeks, the way her lips parted slightly as she breathed.
So much had happened in such a short time, truth be told, I was still in a daze myself.
Rose’s suggestion to return with her to The Shade was indeed my only option—if I was to stay alive, of course. Even then, if I agreed, there was no guarantee that we’d make it back in time. I was still bound by Annora’s seven-day curse. I studied the map and thought about how we could possibly return. We had no passports. Rose clearly had no special phone on her capable of contacting The Shade. We’d have to find a way to get to the other side of the continent quickly, and then steal a boat to travel the rest of the way to The Shade. I had no idea how long that might take us. Any number of things could go wrong. For one thing, I had the sun to contend with during the daytime. We’d have to do the bulk of our traveling at night and during the day stay out of the sun. All the while traveling with Rose—a frail human girl. And all this was actually the least of our worries. We had Rhys on our tail, I was sure of it. I knew he wouldn’t stop until he’d hunted us down. And he was a Channeler, even more powerful than Annora. He might be hurtling through the Amazon rainforest at the speed of light right now, toward us.
Still—detaching myself from the situation—I had to get Rose back to The Shade as quickly as possible. What might happen to me had to be secondary. Of course, if something did happen to me, she wouldn’t survive. She was dependent on me now.
Thinking about the odds we were up against sent my mind reeling. I felt overwhelmed. But I realized there was no point worrying about what might happen. Our circumstances were out of our control. We just had to take things one day at a time and do our best to stay alive.
I picked up the map again and continued to study it, trying to decide what our next move should be. Before we set off anywhere, I needed to steal some sort of protection for myself from the sun. Perhaps a long hooded raincoat. We didn’t have the luxury of only traveling at night. We simply didn’t have that sort of time.
For the next couple of hours, I tried to focus on planning our journey. But thoughts of Annora kept interrupting me. The way I’d left her there, helpless on the ground, so willingly. As though it was just instinct to abandon her for Rose. I wondered what she might be doing now. Whether she might have woken up already, or whether she might still be lying unconscious and alone in that dark tunnel.
As I looked again at Rose, I realized that while I was in her presence, I just didn’t care much. I didn’t know what would become of Annora, but the fact that I was able to leave her so easily spoke volumes. Although I felt guilty for it, Rose eclipsed Annora so completely, it was hard to feel much for her even as she occupied my mind.
Even if Annora hadn’t done all she had, I wondered if Rose might still have eclipsed her. I wondered if trying to fix the witch had been nothing but an attempt to fill the hole Rose had gouged in me. I’d hoped that perhaps if I had Annora back, she’d make me forget the pain I felt in the princess’ absence. Perhaps it had all been a big ruse—none of it done for Annora’s sake, but for my own.
I looked at the old clock on the wall. It was time.
I untucked the mosquito net. But before I woke Rose, I bent down and gave in to the urge that had consumed me the moment I’d laid eyes on her beautiful face again.
To touch her. Breathe her in.
I caressed her soft forehead with my lips. As much as I wanted that moment to last forever, I allowed my kiss to linger only for three seconds. I didn’t want her to realize what I’d done. Because I didn’t want this to be another mistake.
I pulled my mouth away and clutched her shoulders, shaking her awake.
Her green eyes flickered open and she gave me a small smile.
“Caleb.” She reached up, her fingers brushing against my cheek.
I closed my eyes, barely breathing. It took all the restraint I had to not bend down and kiss her again, this time on her flushed lips.
I cleared my throat.
“Rose, it’s time to go. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
Chapter 37: Annora
My brain was on fire as I sat up. My muscles felt like they’d been put through a shredder and restrung beneath my skin. My bones ached. My vision was blurred and my throat parched. I reached out and felt for the wall. I leant against it as I tried to stand. My eyes slowly came into focus. I was in a dimly lit tunnel. I gripped my head. I felt like I might pass out again from the pain. I could barely think straight.