novelraw Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Six
The sweet acrid scent of the burning peat compounded the ache in her heart. How many times had she lain in front of this very hearth safe and contented in Torin’s embrace? How many times had they sat together and stared into the glimmering coals?
Emma closed her eyes against the remembered sensations sweeping over her body. Damn the sharpness of the memories. Damn the feel of him against her flesh. Every muscle in her body tensed. Covering her face with her hands, she bit back a sob as another vision hit. Emma longed to return to the snuggled hardness of Torin’s chest against her back and the sensual tickle of his calloused thumb stroking a mesmerizing rhythm back and forth across her skin. A rare sense of peace had seeped into her bones more comforting than the warmth from the fire.
Without warning, a steaming cup of coffee appeared just inches from her nose, blocking the view of the orange-red glow undulating through the grating. “Here. Drink this. It’ll warm you up. I added a little something to it for medicinal purposes.”
Nostril-stinging vapors of alcohol wafted up from the black liquid. Emma curled her nose and pushed the cup away. “You know I don’t like whiskey. Take it away.” The last thing she needed was alcohol making her confusion even worse.
Laynie pushed the cup back between Emma’s hands and folded her swollen fingers around the hot ceramic. “You’re going to drink it. You need to get warm and put some color back in your cheeks.”
Tightening her hands around the smoothness of the heated mug, Emma stared at her reflection in the inky brew. How in the world had she come to this? How in the world was she going to go on?
“There’s something I think you need to know, Emma.” Laynie eased down beside her on the over-stuffed couch, hugging a bright red throw pillow to her chest. “Torin told me everything. And I was going to help him convince you to go with him.”
Emma slid the untouched coffee onto the table beside the couch and wilted back into the cushions. “I guess it really doesn’t matter now, does it? It doesn’t look like I’ll have to make that choice.”
“You can’t just sit there and tell me you’re going to give up.” Laynie repositioned herself on the couch, curling one leg underneath her body. “Torin wouldn’t give up on you. Why are you giving up on him? There’s got to be away to find him. What about all that hocus-pocus crap he showed you? Surely, there’s something there you can use.”
“Torin is gone and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Emma closed her eyes as she rested her head on the back of the couch. She didn’t know how to make Laynie understand. The sight of Torin clenched between Arach’s jaws seared across the darkness of her mind and scarred her memories forever. How could she tell Laynie about the horror reflected in his face? The finality. The sorrow shining in his eyes as he’d disappeared into the exploding debris. Torin had known she’d never see him again. She’d seen the truth of it in his eyes. She couldn’t remember hurting like this since she’d spotted her parents’ lifeless bodies dangling from the snag in the stream.
“Snap out of it, Emma!” Laynie bounced her hand off the back of the couch. “You’re going to figure out a way to find him and then you’re going to go get him.”
Emma forced her eyes open. Poor Laynie. Such a dreamer. When had she grown up into such a stubborn young woman? Emma hitched in a jerking breath. Baby sister had no idea about the forces at work. Emma closed her eyes as she released a shuddering sigh, sinking even deeper into the blanket-covered cushions. It was useless but apparently, the only way she was going to get any peace was if she humored Laynie. “I’ll make you a deal, Laynie. You tell me how to find Torin and when I do, I’ll never leave his side again.”
“Swear?”
Emma forced a trembling smile to her lips, raised her hand, and extended her little finger toward her sister. “I’ll even pinky swear. Help me find Torin and I’ll build a life with him in any reality he chooses.” What could it hurt to say the words aloud? She’d never have to pay up because Torin was gone forever.