“I’m okay,” I reassured him. “More than okay. I’m better than I’ve been in a really long time.”
Josh brushed his hand against my cheek. “When you said you shot someone . . . I got so scared.”
Reaching out, I gently took his hands in mine. “I know. I’m sorry I scared you. But I was wrong. I didn’t hurt anyone.”
Blood rushed through my veins until the pounding in my heart was overwhelming.
I wasn’t a killer.
It was such an intense feeling of relief, my knees wobbled slightly.
Josh caught me, his hands now around my waist. Then he stared at me again, as if each new moment shell-shocked him. “You . . . you’re just so beautiful.”
My face burned in what I was sure was a full-on blush. “Thank you.”
He kept staring, shaking his head in wonderment. “I mean it. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” He looked down, embarrassed. “I mean, I know we only went on one date . . . I didn’t mean to assume . . .”
I kissed him.
When I pulled back, his worry had been replaced with a silly grin. He eyed our surroundings. “We should get out of this creepy place.”
“This place isn’t creepy. I think it’s beautiful.” My whole being beamed with a sense of calm and purpose I’d never experienced before. Holding out my arms in a waltzing position, I looked up expectantly at Josh.
“You want to dance here?” he asked, watching me with a dazed expression.
I nodded.
Tilting his head to the side with amusement, Josh chuckled. “Well, okay then.”
Carefully taking my arms in his, Josh led the dance, and we waltzed among the garbage and the dark as if it were the marble floor of a fairy-tale castle.
Before our eyes, the alley grew lighter and lighter, the sun deciding at that very moment to shine directly in its center.
Our feet left the ground as we floated into the air, oblivious to the world around us.
Life would still be hard, but I could face it now.
And in that very moment, as Josh’s T-shirt and jeans transformed into a double-breasted tuxedo and we danced among the stars of the universe, I could truly be happy.
I could truly be me.
OTHER BOOKS BY BECCA C. SMITH
THE RISER SAGA
Riser
Reaper
Ripper
THE ATLAS SERIES
Atlas
Grigori Returned
The Underworld
RISER & ATLAS FINALE
Atlas Rising
DREAM DIARIES
The Dream Diaries
The Dream Diaries: Blood Ties
Alexis Tappendorf and the Search For Beale’s Treasure
Alexis Tappendofr and the Search For Atlantis
LOVE & DARK SERIES (With Hina McCord)
Vessel
First Born
Gutian Code
Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Bio
Landmarks
Cover