Between Shadow & Ruin (Fangs & Fae Saga Book 2)

twenty-one.

Jason said he'd stay in his office with Laura until she woke up while the three of us headed back to the hotel. I drove as the two of them fell asleep in the short car ride there. I had just enough strength to support Zane to the room as Val managed to walk next to me.

"Are you going to tell Zane?" I asked, quietly.

"About the immortality spell?" I nodded. "Yeah, I would like to offer it to him. But we both need our rest first..." She opened the door to the hotel room, turned the shower on and I undressed Zane as the water warmed up.

"Let me know when you're finished," Val said. "I'll wait for you on the couch..."

"Are you sure? The both of you fit in here."

"Yeah... I think the two of you could use some alone time." She closed the door behind us, and I undressed and stepped into the shower with Zane. He was leaning against the wall. We didn't have a chance to bring him to reconnect, but Val always told me that a shower could help in a pinch. Something about the minerals in water and how water connected every living being.

He could hardly stand on his own, so I sat him down and leaned him against my body. The water was almost too hot for me to stand, but I know he needed it. I watched his chest move up and down with his breathing and saw a glow start to return. He started to move his head back and forth as he woke up. We were sitting there so long that I'd spaced out myself. He looked over his shoulder at me, confused. I looked in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" I said, putting my hand his cheek.

"Yeah... my entire body hurts."

"You did a lot of magic..." I helped him off the floor of the tub. He started to remember, I could see it in his eyes and his facial expressions. He took me in his arms and squeezed me tightly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, panicked. I could hear his heart race.

"Yeah, thanks to you and Val."

"Is she okay!?" he said, about to step out of the shower.

"Yes!" I said, pulling him back in. "She just wanted to give us some space..." He nodded his head slowly and I pressed him up against me, putting my head on his chest. He kissed my forehead. I looked up at him.

"I know I already said it, but I want you to know I'm happy Chris and I picked you to be in our lives. I know you weren't supposed to stick around, but I'm happy you did. You have grown so much... as a person, as a partner, as a father... I couldn't imagine raising our kids without you. You have become such an important part of our lives and if it wasn't for all the bullshit, we never would have made it to this point."

"I just... Val and I are the ones that made Odie. Our genes. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different if you hadn't chosen me."

"Of course things would've been different! We almost chose that Mathias guy who wouldn't have been nearly as important in our lives as you."

"Yeah, but maybe you guys wouldn't have a kid with a dark side..."

"I don't think that had anything to do with you and Val. Plus, who knows what kind of life Mathias led? Maybe he had more darkness in his life. Either way, we chose you and you're here with us now and I love you so much..." I kissed him and he pushed me up against the shower wall. He pressed his body up against mine and pulled the arm I had burned above my head. He stopped when he remembered.

"I'm sorry we couldn't keep you from hurting yourself..." He took my arm in his hands and kissed the scar. He kissed his way up my arm and back down to my fingertips, taking one of my fingers into his mouth. He played with my finger with his tongue, and I laughed quietly. He put one arm on the shower wall above me and kissed me, putting his other hand on my hip. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pressed himself against me.