Page 169 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn

“Yes. You are in the quarters adjacent to it. He wanted you here for pure peace and quiet until you woke up properly. If you’d like, I can take you to him.”

“Yes, please. Let me put new clothes on.”

It’s a bitch to stand, but it also feels good to get my body moving as I strip off what I was wearing and find some new clothes; a simple, black dress with no sleeves. It’s actually kind of hilarious that I don’t hate it, compared to pants.

The lady’s maid waits for me outside, guiding me—even slowing down when it’s clear I can’t move very fast. My bare feet smack on slightly chilled wooden floors until we reach a largearchway, serpents carved all throughout. It’s a sitting area of sorts, with a large window and couch, and a set of vast doors. Everything is of a dark shade.

“I can’t go in, but I’m sure he’s in there,” she says, nodding to the doors.

I turn the thick, bronze handle of one, thankful that it’s nottoohard to open despite its size. When I step inside and shut the door behind me, I can’t believe I wasjustsitting among other Cinders as fire consumed us, and now I’m somewhere that feels like it could become home. There’s a peacefulness in here, a wind chime singing its song through the open windows, the curtain slightly rolling with the breeze. There’s such a large sitting area with an impressive hearth. His chambers remind me entirely of the one in Skull’s Row, even down to the colors.

And I love the view outside—a rolling pasture with tall, old trees, fences, and dirt pathways. Wild bushes break up the expansive green, a forest’s edge in the distance.

It’s like I died and went to another world.

It’s when I hear the movement of water that I enter through another door, like I’m actually exploring this afterlife I’ve been sent to. Opening it reveals a man leaning against the side of an impressive, in-ground bath, windows lining the wall behind him. The texture of the glass makes it impossible to see out of, while still creating a bright environment. Both of Soren’s arms are spread out on either side, displaying his muscles, his tattoos out for a full viewing as his wet hair is slicked back. He looks at me as if he expected this, a knowing smirk plastered on that handsome face.

I raise my brows and nearly laugh, which hurts my lung. “Andyoualways got on me for the baths I liked!”

He tilts his head slightly at me, grinning darkly. “Get in.”

He willnothave to tell me twice. I near the waters, finding the act of stripping for him a little difficult at first. Stealing thefastest glance, he canfeelall of that, andgods,I missed him. It’s like my mind and body can just exist with Soren nearby, not having to speak a word of anything I feel. Of any of the trauma I can tell hasn’t even settled on my heart.

He’ll never askhow I feel.

“You are far from any danger, Jane. I, and many others, including yourself, have seen to that.”

I need this more than I realized. The connection he has to my heart and soul, I now recognize, is not a crutch. It’s how Iwantto live. It’s the only way I can truly let go, knowing that someone stands in the darkest parts of me, aware ofeverything.

My dress drops to the floor, and I enter the warm waters, nearly wanting to cry from relief. Not only does this man know me, but he knows of my home. Of my family. He’s seen me in my very last moments and brought me back to him.

Soren moves to me as soon as I’m close, running that calloused hand up my hip and back, wrapping me in his arms as he grips my hair from behind and looks me in the eyes. Staring into the palest blue, I know I’m home.

Hehas become my new home.

“Say it,” he grumbles, that rough voice matching the trimmed stubble on his jaw and cheeks.

“What?” I ask, my hand rising up along his body, over scars I’ve memorized. If anyone tries to take this away from me again, I nowknowI can be their reckoning.

“I can feel it all through you,” he adds, tightening his grip as his eyes look all over my face.

“That the water is a little warm?”

He doesn’t budge, something ravenous overcoming his gaze. “Tell me you love me.”

Those words rush through me in a sensation I haveneverexperienced; to stare him in the eyes as he brings forth the wordoflovebetween us. The fact hewantsmy love, too. All right after I walked in death’s shadow for weeks.

“I’ll wait all day. You said you thought of me as you were dying,” he says, boring that gaze right into me so the entire world is no longer relevant.

“I don’t even remember the last time I told someone I love them,” I remark without thought, finding it actually difficult to get the words out. I know I feel it, but confessing it is such a different task. Like saying the words will make this all disappear, and I’ll wake up at the bottom of the ocean with the shipwreck. Next to fucking Blackwell and Jesper.

How have I been granted the chance to live so I can tell Soren I love him?

His gaze deepens with every bit of intensity in there. “Then you’re definitely telling it tome.”

A smile slowly spreads on my face, as I love the power I have over him. “Yousay it.”

“Do you desire my love, Jane?” he asks, running his thumb along the nape of my neck.