Page 45 of Eternal Surrender

“Fabian only agreed to resurrect me because Jadeon Artimas begged him.” She shifted closer to the edge.

I gave a careful gesture of acknowledgment.

“This sudden awakening,” she continued, “finding the world has nothing in common with the one I left behind is too much.”

“You’ve been jolted through time,” I said, offering my understanding of what she was going through.

Only now did I take in the simple decor of Marcus’s suite, the neatness. The comforting intimacy of an old friend’s place; cool white walls and furniture with simple lines, a classic, crisp, clean design emanating sophistication.

Sunaria followed my gaze around the room. “Does Marcus believe me now, about you?”

“He seems to.” I sat beside her and reached for her hand. “You and I were inseparable.”

Once, we had been inseparable. Now my emotions were a tangle I could barely unravel, and I knew it was Jadeon inside me, twisting my thoughts, urging my heart toward betrayal. I should have been in Sunaria’s arms again, kissing her with the hunger that had always comes so naturally. But something inside me resisted. Something held me back.

And of course, there was the small inconvenient truth that I was stained with blood, not exactly an appealing prelude to passion.

She pulled her hand away.

I gave her a nudge. “Since when did you become so sensitive?”

“Since Jadeon murdered my lover.” She stared into my eyes as though throwing a warning.

“I’m not dead, just. . .” I gently took hold of her chin and lifted her head to look at me. “Sunaria, I have you back.” And yet my thoughts betrayed me, devouring each other, as though some part of her terrified me.

She sensed my reticence. “This can be undone?”

“Jacob believes so.”

“Can we trust him?”

“What choice do I have?” I stared at nothing.

Sunaria rested her hand on my knee and then quickly withdrew it. “You’re. . . not yourself.”

Panic washed over me, and I tried to save myself from sabotaging this moment. “You’re not planning on staying, are you?”

“There’s nothing for me here.” She stood up, though remained close. Close enough to take her hand and kiss it, beg her to love me as she once did.

“You’re upset with me because I failed to save you, is that it?” I asked. “On that beach in Spain, I begged you not to go. You should have listened.”

“You never forgave me,” she said.

“I never got over your death.” I clenched my jaw, angry with myself that it had come out wrong. “Look, I’m so far down the rabbit hole I’m beginning to doubt there’s a way back.”

“Rabbit hole?”

“It’s a reference to. . . Alice in Wonderland—” I felt ridiculous. “Which you’d have absolutely no idea about.” My shoulders slumped with the realization of what Sunaria was facing. “You can’t leave here until one of us has updated you on all the dangers out there.”

“You don’t get to dictate what I can or cannot do.”

“You’re not capable of making any decisions.”

“I could say the same about you.”

Trying to shake off my frustration, I said, “This moment, I never believed it would ever happen.”

“You gave up on me.”