Page 58 of Those That Are Lost

Ty brings his left hand up to gently cup my face, fingers under my chin and thumb gently rolling over the stud in my nose. It’s as if he’s seeing it for the first time.

“I hate that you had to leave by yourself. I had no alternative. I had to get you out.”

“I know,” I tell him.

I scoot back out of his touch, which he looks hurt by, but I need the space to do what I’m about to do. And I need to not be dangling off the edge of a five-hundred-foot drop.

“And then I did this,” I say, crossing my legs to give me stability as I unbutton the coat and whip it off my shoulders.

Ty looks at me, head tilted in curiosity. It’s a lot better than the hurt.

I hurriedly remove the over-shirt next. The cold air penetrates my remaining layers, already biting at my skin, but I take no notice. Needing to unveil my truth now that I’ve finally started feeling again.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Give me one more second,” I say as I remove the long sleeved thermal and really expose my skin to the freezing temperatures. I’m left in just a beaded white corset that Millie insisted I wear to“keep my curves showing from under the thick clothing.”

“Red, what is that?” Ty’s nostrils flare and his eyes rake over the lingerie.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I blurt.

“So, you’re not wearing a corset?”

“Okay, so I am, but it’s not what I’m trying to show you right now.”

Ty’s face screws up in confusion.

Shucking the thermal off fully and throwing it onto the ledge beside us, I hold out my left arm between us, underside up. The scar I got from Adicious stark pink against my paler skin.

Ty’s features tighten once more, clearly not liking the reminder of the vampire that’s caused us both so much pain.

I let down the tiny bit of my magic I’ve kept in place since the day I got it. Except for a few occasions where I felt desperate, so low I nearly broke my promise to keep myself safe.

I watch Ty’s eyes as they widen in shock, as his shining blue eyes flick between my face and what I’m showing him. I turn my arm slowly so he can see both sides, and the thick black lines that swirl all the way from my index finger, across my palm, and up my arm until a few inches before my elbow. I stop, leaving my inner wrist face up again, one particular streak placed with extra care so that it curves with the line of my scar, covering it in deep black ink and making it blend into the line of the tattoo, barely visible.

“Red.” Ty brings his hand up under my own, so he can lift my palm for a closer look. “You got my shadows tattooed? You covered your scar with them.”

“I did.”

“Why?” he asks in disbelief, eyes flicking from my face to my arm.

“Because they are part of you. And I missed them as much as I missed you. It was a way I could keep part of you with me. I hoped my memory of yours was accurate.”

Ty’s turns to me fully, crossing his legs in front of himself so our knees are touching. He keeps inspecting my inked skin. Shadows creep out from behind him as if he’s told them to come and look too. One winds itself around our hands and twirls itself around my inked forearm.

“You realise if anyone recognises this they are going to think you’re a shadow wielder. You’re putting yourself in danger.”

“Like you are with yours?” I rebuff his worry. “I’ve noticed how you keep long sleeves on whenever there’s a chance you’re going to be seen. And I have glamour magic. It takes such a small amount to keep them covered, I would have to be dying for it to fall. Plus, if someonesees these, I will be in trouble anyway. The wholevampires are meant to be extinctthing, remember?”

That earns me a head shake and a small tilt of his lips. “Still, why would you risk it?”

“They helped me get through the really dark days. The days where I thought about joining you in the afterlife.”

“Gods…” Ty says on a heavy exhale. He rubs his brow with his free hand. “Red, I will never be able to make it up to you. Everything I’ve put you through.”

“You didn’t put me through anything. You were forced.Wewere forced.”

“Still, I hate that you felt that close to doing something to yourself.”