“Why do you stay if you
despise Seattle so?” Sophia looked up to
him, her eyes as animate as the day he first saw her. Everything else had changed, her hair lost
its luster, her skin pale as the satin sheets tucked beneath her chin, and dark
circles permanently resided beneath her eyes.
Lucian swept a strand of straw-like hair from her forehead, replacing it
with a cool washcloth.
“You know why I
stay.” Lucian held back the tears; she
did not deserve to bear his sorrows with her own. Sophia’s ran free, trailing down her sunken
cheeks. He wiped them away with the
rough pads of his thumbs. She did not
even flinch, just watched him.
“I don’t want you to
see me like this. I –“ Sophia’s sentence caught in her throat as she
erupted in another fit. Lucian laid a
hand upon her chest and muttered a few words.
Her body relaxed and breathing returned to normal.
“’I will not leave
you. We have been over this, more than
once.” Lucian kissed her forehead
softly, “Sleep, Sophia, dream of the day in the lavender.”
“Lucian, you stubborn,
foolish Immortal, why can’t you let me go?
Give me some dignity, remember me as I was.” Sophia’s pleas, though muted, had not lost
the hard edge he’d come to love. At
least she stopped threatening to curse him.
“Sophia, I could not
let you go if I tried. You know
that. I will not give up on you.” He meant it.
How could he not? She defied all
reason, everything he stood for since taking on the beast. Best of all, she tamed it. Lucian had the distinct impression that if
given the chance, the beast would curl up into a ball on her lap and allow
Sophia to stroke its spine like a cat.
He loathed the Phoenix as deeply as he cared for Sophia and marveled at
the irony that it loved her as well.
Very emotional snippet! Nicely done!
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