Page 24 of Night Fury
“I’m not,” Daniella replied, her voice stern. “We should have done better. We should have knownsomething.”
Johanna pressed her nails into her skin. “You can’t blame yourself for that. Luke said I hid our mate bond. Between that and not being able to remember things about those I love the most, I don’t think I would have let you.”
Daniella touched her hand. “But why would you do that? You understand you’re important, don’t you?”
Johanna’s smile was twisted and cruel, cut by misery and pain as she replied, “I’d say I’m not if this went on for six months and no one batted an eye.”
Daniella winced.
“I don’t blame you. I don’t blame Greg or Mya, and I certainly don’t blame Luke. But the fact is I’m one person in a crowd of a million people. If he did that to me, he did it to others too. The reason why it matters right now is because I’m Luke’s mate.”
“That’s not true,” Daniella hissed.
“Isn’t it? If I was in such bad shape, weren’t there others who were worse? Did they make it out alive? Where are their heroes? Who misses them? Who comforts them? I got lucky,” she said, spitting the bitter word from her tongue, “that’s all.”
The air grew hot between them. Daniella’s spine lengthened as she sat up to her full height, and even though she was shorter than Johanna, she suddenly seemed so much taller, so much wiser. “They made it out alive,” she said cuttingly.
“What?” Johanna said, her jaw falling open in shock.
“They made it out alive because you helped us save them.”
Johanna shook her head rapidly. “I … But … I-I couldn’t—”
“You shouldn’t have, but you most certainlydid!The last time Luke saw you, you saved his life. And when you saved his life and told him how to get to safety, you saved the lives of over eighty other enslaved immortals. If that wasn’t enough, you also gave us the coordinates to several other locations where we’ve been able to rescue even more people and drive our enemy into a corner. So if you want to know who their hero is, it’syou.”
Even though Daniella’s voice was quiet, her words flayed Johanna all the way down to her bones. She was torn apart and reconstructed into something else all at once.
Daniella’s eyes grew soft as she gathered Johanna in her arms and held her. Her tears were silent but heavy with the weight of her sorrow, but Daniella never said a word to her. Instead, she rocked Johanna from side to side as she hummed a soft melody.
Slowly Johanna’s tears stopped and Daniella, feeling the shift, released her. Johanna wiped at her eyes before Daniella handed her a box of tissues. Both of them looked at the box, then at one another, and laughed a laugh of those with a bond forged by indescribable trauma.
“I’m sorry for that,” Johanna said.
“Don’t be.” Daniella sighed. “Honestly, I’m just happy I could be there for you.”
“I can see why Luke likes you,” Johanna said softly. Daniella was a beautiful woman, with springy dark brown curls that framed a heart-shaped face, kind brown eyes, and a stubborn tilt to her jaw. And yet her beauty went so much deeper than that. Johanna was in awe of her, and suddenly she felt so very shy and stupid in front of her.
Daniella hummed. “I wasn’t always this way. Luke changes the people around him, whether you want to change or not. But it’s always for the better.”
Johanna nodded but averted her gaze.
“He likes you too, you know,” Daniella said softly.
Johanna could feel her cheeks heat. While guilt had been the first emotion Johanna felt when it came to the missing six months of her life, there was another emotion she felt when it came to Daniella: envy.
She took a deep breath, wanting to clear the air while she still had the chance. “Did I … do anything to you? Before, I mean, in the last couple of months.”
Daniella cocked her head to the side. “No, why?”
This is ridiculous. You were being ridiculous back then and you still are right now.
Johanna sighed. “I saw you and Luke together before all of this. The two of you were in an embrace. I know it was just a hug but … I was jealous of your relationship with him. That you could be that close to him. I think our enemy…” She gulped, swallowing back the emotions in her throat. “I think our enemy tookme not too long after that, so I was worried that I had gone after you somehow.”
Daniella bit her lip, and once Johanna finished, she laughed. A true, wholehearted, full belly-clenching laugh so alive, so infectious, that Johanna cracked a smile too.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry just … Oh boy. Listen, I love Luke with all my heart, but like a brother. He’s a great guy, one of the best I know, but he drives me way too crazy for that to ever happen.” Daniella squeezed her arm. “Believe me, he’s all yours, and I think the both of you know it too.”
Johanna fidgeted but Daniella’s smile only grew wider.
