Two doors down. Just two doors down from hers. Mallory kept pacing within her room, repeating the phrase over and over again in her mind. He was just two doors down from hers. Why was it so difficult to just walk over and talk to him? After everything that had happened, surely that should’ve been the easy part. But she didn’t know what to say. What could she say after all this time? She wanted to yell at him, but after almost having to witness his death earlier, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to. She fell to the bed with a curse. He didn’t deserve her thinking about him like this. He had left her. She knew better than to still have hope that he could possibly love her. And she really needed to get over him.
Kalen had seemed like a good choice, up until the moment Lana walked into the picture. Mallory had just started to like him, consider him as the man she could finally move on with. And then she had to make an appearance. Mallory couldn’t help the sharp pang of hatred for the other girl that shot through her. Wasn’t the whole reason they were here because Lana and Andreas needed to be together? Why had Lana needed to stick to Kalen’s side the whole time they were traveling?
Mallory sighed as she once again started pacing about the room. Andreas had not been what she imagined. When Kalen and Casian had talked about him, she pictured a poor, broken man that could barely stand on his own two feet. Based on everything that had happened to him, she would’ve expected no less. But the man she met that night was strong, poised, and even graceful. Even though he was threatening Raphael’s life, she couldn’t help but admire him. And above all, he had been handsome, stunningly so. She could definitely see what had drawn Lana to him in the first place. All that she wondered though, was how he was drawn to Lana. Sure, the sorceress was pretty, but nothing about her really stood out. She was pretty plane as far as Mallory was concerned. At least, that was what Mallory told herself. The other part of her, the part that recognized her blatant dislike for Lana as jealousy, could admit that Lana was anything but plane in her beauty.
The room started to feel like it was closing in on Mallory. Everything she had learned in the last couple of days started to overwhelm her, now in that moment. She had found the child of the late king and queen of Gynae. He was unwilling to do something about his heritage at the moment. And Raphael was back in her life. How was she supposed to handle all of this? Luckily she had made a friend in Natalia.
She finally stopped in front of her door, deciding that seeking Natalia’s council would be helpful. Perhaps Natalia could help her decide what to do about the men in her life. As soon as she got into the hallway, she was frozen in her spot as Raphael passed her door. His eyes found hers and she couldn’t look away from those crystal blue ovals.
“Mallory,” he exhaled. She wasn’t sure she could breathe.
“Raphael,” she replied in a small voice.
Several moments passed in silence before Raphael decided to move closer to her. He paused several feet away and regarded her with a curious expression. “We need to talk.”
“Do we?” Mallory mentally cursed herself for sounding so stupid. Of course they needed to talk. So many words still drifted unspoken between them.
“Yes, we do. A lot has happened… and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me.”
“I could never hate you,” she said before stopping herself.
His eyes widened and he shook his head. “I didn’t treat you right, Mall, you have every reason to hate me. I just… left you… all alone… after everything we shared. After telling you I love you. I know I was wrong. And I know you must feel like I had abandoned you. Because the truth is that in a way, I had. Yet… still you are the reason I am alive right now. Andreas would’ve killed me if it weren’t for you.”
Mallory shook her head. “I don’t hate you, Raphael. I never have and never will. There is nothing you can do to make me hate you, even though you did leave me… even though you did abandon me. None of that changes the fact that you saved me even when I was trying to push you away, keep you from finding out what was going on. You could see it. You saved me, Raphe… and that is something I will never forget no matter how poorly you treat me.”
Raphael flinched and reached out to touch her. She didn’t move away as his hand caressed her cheek. “I never wanted to leave you. I left my heart with you the day I left you behind. I had no other choice, Mallory. My work… it was too dangerous. And it killed me knowing that the darkness I battled could use you against me.”
“So you left me to keep me safe?” Anger bubbled in Mallory once more as she pulled away from his touch. “Do you have any idea how that sounds? You took the choice away from me! You just assumed that I’m too weak to take care of myself. How is that fair? You could’ve talked to me about this!”
“You would’ve convinced me to stay!”
“Because you should have! Don’t you realize that I needed you? That by leaving you caused more harm than good? God! Men are such idiots! You think you did the right thing, but you were wrong! Leaving the woman you claimed to love behind for her so called own safety is never the right thing to do!”
Raphael pulled his fingers through that blond hair of his and Mallory couldn’t help remembering when she used to do the same. “I know I screwed up, okay? Not a single day has gone by that I didn’t regret leaving you.”
“If that’s the case, why didn’t you come back and tell me you had made a mistake? I would’ve forgiven you! I never stopped loving you, Raphe. All you had to do was come back.”
“I didn’t think you would want me back.” His voice cracked. Seeing him this way, it pulled on Mallory’s heart strings. She still loved him. No amount of time or distance was ever going to change that.
“Men are such idiots,” she said wryly, her tone filled with un-spilled tears.
“Is there any way you could find it in your heart to forgive me?” His expression was so vulnerable that Mallory almost broke for him.
“You idiot, I forgave you the moment I almost had to see you die.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a kiss, surprising herself with the gesture.
With the kiss, every memory they had shared came rushing into her mind, and she pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. So long had she waited to be able to do this again, never imaging that she’d get the chance. But he was here, standing in front of her, and she didn’t have the heart to make him beg. She needed him as much as he needed her.
Raphael pulled back. “You really forgive me that easily?” His words were lined with shock and awe.
“Going through the pain of almost having lost you forever really makes a person think about how short life can be. I would rather forgive you and spend as much time with you as I can, then wasting time I could’ve spent with you by not. I love you, Raphe, and your misguided actions haven’t changed that. If you still love me too, then I suggest we work out our problems and spend whatever might be left of our time loving each other, because we never know how much time we have.” Mallory surprised herself again by suddenly sounding so wise. Before seeing Raphael in the hallway she hadn’t decided on whether or not she was actually going to forgive him, yet now she couldn’t imagine not.
Raphael pulled her into another kiss, guiding her into her room and closing the door behind him. Mallory melted into him, telling herself there would be time to work through their problems in the morning. Right now, she just needed to love and be loved by him.
YOU ARE READING
Haunting Shadows (Book 2)
Fantasy"What if my sins are all I've become? Will you still love me if the Andreas you once knew is too far gone to ever get back?" Lana had survived burning on the stake, but at what cost? Every time she closes her eyes, she revisits the horror of burning...
