Heart of Ice

Chapter Twenty-Three

Song: Without Words- Ray LaMontagne

Black surrounds me. All I can hear is gentle breathing. My eyes slowly flutter open, and despite the weakness that covers every inch of my body, I muster up the strength to turn my head, and find Hunter's head resting on the space of the bed beside me, his fingers tightly intertwined with mine. I grip his hand as tight as I can. "Hunter?"

His head instantly shoots up, and he blinks a few times before his eyes roam over me. His jaw tightens as his eyes glass over, and then he inhales a sharp breath. "Angel."

Hunter's arms envelope me in a tight hug, as if he's afraid I'll be taken away if he lets go. My body slumps against him, but I manage to weakly wrap my arms around his neck, closing my eyes as I breathe in his comforting scent. As he holds me against him, I know I made the right decision in coming back. It's worth the fight against the enemy that will come in the future because at least I have him fully now, not as my enemy who keeps me at bay. We haven't quite let each other entirely in yet— I still don't know exactly what he's feeling— but the wall is tumbling down, brick by brick. After four long years, things are finally changing for the better between us.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Four days. I wasn't sure if..." Hunter's jaw ticks against my neck, his grip around my waist tightening. "If you would make it. None of us were."

Although I become choked up at the thought, I push back the tears and quietly chuckle. "Well, you said if you ever died, you'd still torment me in the afterlife. I would've had to step up and do the same."

"Not funny."

"You have to admit, my line about the whole never seeing each other again thing really early before I moved to limbo was funny. It's like your wish came true."

"You really love giving me all this psychological trauma, don't you?"

Hunter stifles a forced laugh, and I laugh too until I realize he isn't actually amused, but is becoming upset. I pull back from him to see his face, and he tries to smile, but I can see how much effort it takes; not to mention, the pain evident in his eyes. I cup his face with my hands. "I was just kidding. I didn't want to cry again, and we've always made it through with jokes."

"I know. It's okay," His thumb reaches up to brush my cheek as his teary eyes examine every inch of my face. "It's just... you were so close to being gone and it was my fault."

Now it's my eye's turn to fill with tears, and I shake my head rapidly. What he said while I was in limbo suddenly comes to mind. "It's not your fault, Hunter. You would've done the same for me if the tables had been turned."

Before any tears can escape his eyes, he crashes his lips against mine, and despite the ferocity in his kiss, his hands hold my face in the most gentle manner, as if he's afraid I would break. My lips move against his like they're molded for each other, but when I use nearly all of my energy to sit up and pull him closer, searing pain suddenly shoots from below my heart to the middle of my chest, and I whimper as I collapse back onto the bed. Hunter pulls away from me, his eyes filling with worry and fear as he retracts his hands. I press my hand against my chest, willing the pain to go away, but it only hurts worse. "Why," I grunt, wincing as I press against my chest harder. "Does it hurt so bad?"

"There were so many splinters in and around your heart from the dagger, you ended up having to get surgery. The doctor was able to get them all out, but because the damage was so bad, it won't heal like our wounds normally would. It might take weeks for this."

I slowly push part of the blanket off of me and pull my shirt down to see a sewed up scar that spans from right below my collarbone to underneath my heart. It looks ugly, and I know that as long as it remains unhealed, I won't regain my full strength back. Demetrius had nearly taken my life; I'm lucky to keep it, but he still took my strength, and without that, I am essentially nothing. My powers will never work in the way they need to without it. All of a sudden, it feels as if I've let my entire family down, even though I saved Hunter's life through what I did. What does it matter though if I can't fight alongside them for a little bit, especially knowing that Demetrius will be hunting for me again once he figures out I lived?