Chapter Twenty-Eight
Todd?!” I shouted when I recognized the face hovering above me. I lay on my back on what felt like tiled floor. I squinted against the disorienting brightness of the fluorescent light behind him.
What the hell had just happened?
“Get away from me,” I snarled, swatting him as I struggled to get to my feet and straighten my dress. He backed up, but when I tried to push past him, he gripped my shoulders and stopped me from leaving the accessible washroom.
“Kira, wait! You need to hear me out.”
“What are you doing here?” I was so angry I could have hit him or done worse with my magic. But the trance that came over me was unpredictable, and with so many people at the gala, I didn’t want to lose control and hurt someone. I would save my magic as a last resort.
“This is the only way I could talk to you alone,” he said, desperation lacing his voice. “Owen never leaves your side.”
“Damn right,” I muttered, and I was beginning to understand why. Who knew Todd would pose a greater threat than the Shadowbane? I couldn’t stand him touching me and pulled out of his grasp. “Owen is going to kill you for this. Let. Me. Leave.”
Todd ran a hand through his hair. “Just listen for a minute, Kira. Okay? If you ever felt anything for me, give me two minutes to explain something.”
“I don’t owe you anything.”
He scrubbed his face, which was haggard and drawn. He looked much worse now than he had at the Peninsula. What was happening to him?
He continued like he hadn’t heard me. “That night…that night was a mistake…and I’ve been paying for it ever since. And now, I don’t know what to do. And you…you’ve always been so good. So kind. And I’m sorry for what I did, but I need help. I need you.” He grabbed my arm in a bruising grip.
My mouth fell open in shock.
Then I punched him in the nose. His head snapped back and his eyes glazed over. Next I rammed my knee into his groin. He doubled over with a grunt of pain and fell to the floor.
“I told you to never touch me again!” I shouted. “And now I’m adding don’t ever speak to me again!”
I stepped over him, but he grasped my ankle and I stumbled, my arm catching painfully on the sink and wrenching my shoulder back. I fell to my knees, landing heavily on the hard floor.
“Kira, wait! Only you can help me. Please! Ah…I can’t think straight.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” I kicked backwards with my free foot and made contact, hearing and feeling the sickening yet satisfying crunch of his already damaged nose as he finally released me.
I scrambled across the floor, pushed open the door, and fell into the hallway.
Owen ran to my side faster than I thought possible. “What happened?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm. His hands were gentle as he helped me stand, but his eyes were filled with cold fury as he looked past me at Todd lying on the washroom floor, holding his crotch and moaning in pain.
Without waiting for my reply, he strode over to Todd and lifted him up by the shirt. “Did you touch her?”
Todd’s head flopped to the side as he muttered something unintelligible. Either I was stronger than I thought or something was seriously wrong with him.
“Oh my God, Kira! Are you okay?” Shae called out as she and Jace raced toward me.
I nodded, wincing as I rolled my shoulder. She reached out to fix my hair then paused as if realizing a quick smoothing of strands wouldn’t help.
“That bad?” I asked, and she offered a tentative smile.
Jace let out a whistle as he peered around the bathroom door. “Whoa, Kira, you did that damage? Didn’t save much for Owen to do, did you?”
“We’ll see about that,” Owen growled as he shook Todd again.
Two security guards started pushing through the quickly gathering crowd.
“How much time until the tour starts?” I asked Shae.
She checked her phone. “Two minutes.”
My window of opportunity to get to the storage area was rapidly closing. I couldn’t waste time giving a statement. It would need to wait for later.
“Owen,” I called. He dropped Todd and immediately returned to my side. “We have to go. Now. Shae and Jace, stall the guards. Say I needed time in the ladies’ room or something.”
I grabbed Owen’s hand and we slipped around the crowd and into the gallery as the guards arrived. We joined the tour just in time, lingering at the back as the group passed through a door marked staff only.
Owen kept a vise-like grip on my hand, and I felt his eyes on me. When I glanced at him, the torment I saw in his eyes made my heart ache.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, bringing his hand to my lips for a kiss. He ran the back of his fingers down my face, and I leaned into his touch, drawing comfort from it.
The tour guide led us farther down the hall, and I spotted a storage closet.
As the group rounded a corner, we hung back, then ducked inside, closing the door behind us.
The space was dimly lit with barely enough room for us to stand face to face, but it didn’t matter.
Owen crushed me to him, and I hugged him back just as fiercely.
He turned off his earpiece so Jace couldn’t hear.
“What the hell happened?” he whispered furiously, pulling back to search my face. “Did he touch you? I’ll kill him.”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, not like you’re imagining,” I quickly added when I felt him tense even more.
“He said that night was a mistake and that he needs me—”
“I am going to kill him—”
“But it was weird. He didn’t seem like himself.”
Owen rubbed my back, pressing me into him. His touch was soothing, and I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes. We had about fifteen minutes before the tour finished and exited the staff area, and I intended to use every minute standing as close to Owen as possible.
The best part about our plan was that if someone found us, we could pretend we were two lovers stealing away for some alone time, which wasn’t far from the truth. Except Owen’s breathing was shaky and his arms were like iron as he crushed me against him.
“I’m okay,” I said, my voice muffled by his shirt.
“I know,” he replied, but he didn’t sound okay.
“Your self-defence lessons came in handy. When he grabbed me—”
Owen tensed even more, and I realized too late that was the wrong thing to say. “Well, anyway, I took care of him.”
“And you wonder why I don’t like you out of my sight,” he muttered into my hair. “We’re going to continue those lessons, and I’ll teach you some advance-level moves.”
“Mmm. Should we schedule something during my office hours for these…lessons?”
I felt him smile, but he was still tense. “This is no joke, Kira. If something had happened to you… I can’t always be there.”
The realization came to me in a flash of surprise followed by an intense, pure joy: Owen loved me. He wasn’t only attracted to me or interested in dating. He loved me.
Not once had he taken me to a fancy dinner or showered me with gifts.
He showed his love for me in the little, everyday moments.
Like when he made my coffee before his own, using my favourite mug and pouring the perfect amount of cream.
Or when he took my book bag because it was too heavy and he knew I would never ask for help.
Or when he stood guard in a dress shop looking completely ridiculous. And absolutely perfect.
He loved me even with my traumatic history and messy emotions. He loved me at my worst when I was afraid to trust him. He loved me at my best when we were laughing and hanging out as friends. He had been trying to tell me, but I had been too afraid to listen.
And I loved him. It was as powerful and as simple as that. He was the first person I wanted to talk to after a long day of classes and the first person I looked for when I had news to share, good or bad. He was the person I wanted to fall asleep beside each night and wake up to each morning.
And maybe it was unrealistic to think that two people could fall in love in such a short amount of time, but our time together hadn’t exactly been normal.
The love we felt now was new and exciting, but it was still love. Even better, I knew it would continue to grow and deepen over the years. We were at the beginning of something incredible, and I couldn’t wait to see what our future held.
“Owen?” I pulled back so I could look at my favourite person in the world.
“Yes?” His brow was furrowed as he cupped my cheek.
“I love you.”
His whole body stilled, and my words hung in the air between us. He exhaled a shaky breath, and a slowly dawning smile transformed his whole face. “Say that again.”
“I love you.” My heart burst with happiness and not a trace of doubt.
“You love me,” he said in wonder, and I almost laughed out loud from sheer giddiness before remembering that we were supposed to be hiding.
“You’re everything to me, Owen. I trust you, and I love—”
His lips found mine before I could finish, kissing me like he’d never stop.
“I love you,” he whispered when he pulled back. “I know it hasn’t been long, but it feels right. I can imagine us together down the road, so when I think of a future without you by my side…” He swallowed.
“Me, too. I want to see where this can lead, but I’m still working through things, Owen. I might disappoint you—”
“Disappoint me? Never. Exasperate me? Always.”
I huffed a laugh. “Okay. I’m going to stay. And you’ll stay, too?”
I couldn’t help holding my breath as I waited for his response.
He tilted my chin up, his expression more serious than I had ever seen.
“I’m in love with you, Kira. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else, and I never will.
There’s only you, and whatever our future holds, we’ll face it together.
But know this. There isn’t a force in the universe that could tear me from your side.
So yes, love, I’m going to stay, and I intend to stay for a very, very long time. ”