Romance

  Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  The days that followed flowed like honey left to warm in the sun—slow, thick, and sweet enough to make a person feel lightheaded. Assuming, of course, you weren&#39;t the type to gag on sappy metaphors.
  The hangover crew didn&#39;t start dragging themselves off the floor and out of chairs until well past noon the next day, groaning, clutching their heads, and cursing as they hunted for water. Lily&#39;s eyes were still hazy when she spotted me, but they sharpened quickly, darting between Celena and me before her mouth stretched into a knowing grin.
  I ignored her, shoving a mug of strong black coffee into her hands to shut her up.
  Celena&#39;s condition improved visibly, day by day. It wasn&#39;t a forced, put-on cheerfulness, but a slow, steady resurgence of life from the inside out. In the mornings, she’d wake with me—not jolted from a nightmare, but na

  Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  Two years.
  Not a lifetime, but not a fleeting moment either. Long enough for the mountain snows to melt and gather twice. Long enough for the moss on the lodge roof to creep a little greener, deeper. Long enough for a girl to truly come into her own.
  Celena had changed.
  God, she had changed. Not in some dramatic, outward way, but from the inside out. The girl who’d always carried a shadow of trepidation, a slight frown as if the weight of the world rested on her shoulders, had been slowly reshaped by time and… maybe a little by me, too.
  She was livelier. Not in Lily’s roof-raising way, but with a quieter, more grounded vitality. When I returned from patrol, she wouldn’t just be waiting quietly by the door. She might leap out from behind the lodge, smelling of sun and grass, holding up a handful of freshly-picked, dew-covered wild berries, her eyes crin

  Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  The last logs in the bonfire collapsed into a bed of glowing embers, pulsing with deep red light, letting out the occasional *pop* that sent up a shower of brief, dying sparks. The air was a complex mix of woodsmoke, burnt sugar, old alcohol, and pure, undiluted happiness.
  Everyone was happy.
  Hell, so was I.
  I was sitting on the bottom step of the lodge porch, my back against the rough-hewn log wall. One leg stretched out, the other bent. Celena leaned against my chest, her weight slight but real, her body warmth seeping through our thin clothes. Her hair brushed my chin, smelling of woodsmoke, night dew, and that unique scent of hers—like damp moss and warm spice.
  I could feel it—the genuine relaxation in her. Not the limp exhaustion of being worn out, but a… looseness seeping from her very bones. Since we’d left that dress shop street, since the driv

Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  The days that followed flowed like honey left to warm in the sun—slow, thick, and sweet enough to make a person feel lightheaded. Assuming, of course, you weren&#39;t the type to gag on sappy metaphors.
  The hangover crew didn&#39;t start dragging themselves off the floor and out of chairs until well past noon the next day, groaning, clutching their heads, and cursing as they hunted for water. Lily&#39;s eyes were still hazy when she spotted me, but they sharpened quickly, darting between Celena and me before her mouth stretched into a knowing grin.
  I ignored her, shoving a mug of strong black coffee into her hands to shut her up.
  Celena&#39;s condition improved visibly, day by day. It wasn&#39;t a forced, put-on cheerfulness, but a slow, steady resurgence of life from the inside out. In the mornings, she’d wake with me—not jolted from a nightmare, but naturally, to the sound of birdsong. Sometimes I’d wake first and just watch her sleep, the early li

Chapter 246