Adaline, of course, has no way of knowing what he means when he is unsafe, but that does not stop her heart from beating a little faster. She feels the uncertainty and the fear and the rush pooling through her fragile veins, and she wonders if this is adventure or death—and if she ever cared which she received. “Ledger,” she sights again, the name feeling right on her tongue as she looks at him, her raw pink eyes bruised with her concern and the thrill of emotions running through her. “You’re going to be okay.”
A lie, but one that she feels justified in telling.
She falls silent then as he tells her the story, and she gasps at parts of it, but does her best to remain quiet, heart pounding against her chest as she imagined all that he had seen—and the horrors that he had lived. “I’m here now,” she says when he is done, because that too feels right, and because there was something in her bones that told her that together they would be able to face whatever he was dealing with.
“You’ll control it with time,” she murmurs as her mouth trails his neck, doing her best to cherish the smell and feel of him. “You have to be kind to yourself. Give yourself time.” She makes her way to his cheek and the infection and her gut twists painfully. “I’m sure you didn’t meant to hurt them.” Even if he had meant to, would she have cared? She isn’t sure—and she isn’t sure if that should frighten her.
“We need to get that healed. Fast. Maybe we can take you to the Falls.”
Adaline
staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer