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“I know but first, I had to tell you how much I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I’m terrified Anna.”
Anna swallowed hard searching for strength which suddenly seemed in short supply. “Just hold on daughter,” she said gripping her arm. “Hopefully it will all be over soon.”
“You’re so brave,” Lisa said as tears streaked her cheek.
“No,” Anna whispered, “I’m just as terrified.”
They hugged.
“Be careful,” Lisa admonished.
Anna hugged her again, then seeing the open door of an awaiting vehicle, hurried away.
~~~
Deep in the heart of the Yukon Territory, tired and weary, the convoy stopped in Whitehorse for gas. Antonio, who seemed to find any excuse possible to speak to Anna, leaned close in the back seat, intense eyes locked upon her face. “Did you know that Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory?”
“No,” she said, the nearness of his face pulling her in.
“It’s true,” he whispered, with an inviting smile, leaning even closer, so close in fact that she could feel his breaths on her cheek. “I think it was around 1953 that they designated it the capital. To be exact,” he said with an air of confidence, “that was after they moved the seat from Dawson following the completion of the Klondike highway. I watched the Alcan construction around 1942, beginning to end. They used dynamite to bring down mountains. Workers were lost in the raging rivers and pontoon boats sank on Lake Charlie. It was so cold that they had to keep the heavy equipment running twenty-four seven or the engines would freeze. I remember mud bogs from melted permafrost that sucked up and swallowed dozers, dump trucks. I tell you, it was a sight to see.”
“Interesting,” she whispered, and it took all her willpower not to dive into the safety of his arms.
She clasped her hands, tightly. “Are you going to try and kill them both, Zaroc and the Seventh Miigis?”
“Why do ask?”
“Lisa told me that you threatened to kill Zaroc, an eye for an eye, did you not?”
“I was angry—no, that’s not true, I was hurting at the time, but to be honest, I have no beef with Zaroc, it’s the Miigis I want.”
“I’m terrified for Donja.
“I realize your misery, and it pains me. I’ve tried to keep your mind occupied with my Yukon tales,” he said, as a breath sighed from him. “Looks like I failed.”
“Is that what you were doing…how thoughtful?”
He raised his hand, stroking her cheek with a bent finger. Their eyes locked and time stood still. Finally, with an enchanting fantasy swirling between them and chills prickling her skin, Anna, feeling totally frustrated that he held such power over her, negated his gaze and dropped her eyes.
I should hate you, a thousand times over instead of having sweet…
“I’m sorry,” he whispered and like a dream catcher securing nightmares, he snared her thoughts, all of them. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, it’s just that…that I still love you Anna, as much so if not more than the last time I saw you, clinging to your mother’s dress.”
Anna exhaled. “Antonio please, I’m just not ready, I need space...”
“How much space, Anna?” he whispered. “Tell me. How far do I have to go to make you understand that I want to make this work, that I need you and that I always have?”
“But there was nothing between us, Antonio, only your lust for blood.”
“Oh, but there was, and it was so much more than blood. I watched you, night and day, sat by your bed unnoticed as you slept. I counted your breaths, held your hand when nightmares took their toll. I was there that rainy day when the black bear chased you and your brother. I snapped its neck.”
Anna tilted her head, her brows tight as if searching for something she could not see.
“Do you remember when your father fell ill with the fever and the snows came, all but burying your family alive?”