Page 103 of Dawn of Hope
“I’m sorry,” I breathe.
“Don’t apologize,” he says, meeting my gaze. He lifts a hand to stroke the side of my face. “I got carried away.”
“It wasn’t just you,” I smirk.
He lets out a breathy chuckle. “No it wasn’t. But I can’t help how much I want you.”
He moves his hands back down to hold me, cupping the curve of my backside. “You make me crazy, Lennox.”
My stomach flutters at his admission. It feels good to make a man feel crazy, to have someone as invested in me as Dane is. It is something I’d only ever read about, something I never thought I would have.
He leans in and places a soft sweet kiss on my lips, then looks me in the eye.
“I want you to stay.” His eye contact breaks on the last word, as if the vulnerability of admitting this is too much for him.
A tear runs down my cheek.
Emotions battle inside me. Sadness, loss, regret, guilt, frustration. So many reasons for that tear.
“I wish I could.”
He nods and slowly lowers me to the ground. I steady myself on his shoulders before he wraps me in a tight hug.
“I know what it would mean if you stayed,” he says into my hair. “It would mean you never found what you came here for, and that is the last thing I want to happen.”
I nod and take a deep inhale. His scent overwhelms me as I feel another tear drop onto my cheek.
We turn to make our way back to the bunks, and I try to break the tension after what just happened between us.
“Is everything alright with Lilly?” I ask.
“Yeah, she’s a sweet kid. She seems nervous. I hope Mara didn’t scare her too badly.”
I laugh. “She definitely didn’t welcome me sweetly, but now that she isn’t fighting for your attention, I think she’s lightened up. Hopefully, Lilly isn’t too intimidated.”
“I think she’ll be fine. We’ll pair her with some easy-goers in the beginning.”
We climb the ladder and head toward my bunk, but before we get far, Dane stops me.
“I need to tell you something,” he says, his voice low as he looks around to make sure no one is near.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
We stopped in the middle of the walkway, between the light of the torches so we are hidden in shadows just enough. He reaches down to the sack that never leaves his side and lifts it, opening it between us. The glow of the dust lights my face, the same way it did back in Blackwood when Dane and I stood by the fountain, and he offered me a chance at the solution I’d been looking for.
Dane had brought two people back to the island after me, Fin and now Lilly, and the already very empty pouch looks even more so.
“The dust is running out. I don’t know how many more trips I have left.”
“What do you mean it’s running out? Can’t you just get more?”
“That’s the thing,” he says urgently. “This has never happened before. I’ve never had to refill it. When I took over as Guardian, this pouch was full, almost to the brim. The last Guardian didn’t leave me with the knowledge of how to get more.”
Of course he didn’t, because Weston killed the last Guardian.
I wonder how much knowledge about the island was lost because of that act. Did the Guardian actually know where the cure was, but now no one does?
I stay silent, trying to process what he is telling me.