She needs to know how I feel.
“Echo, tell me what happened.”
“No,” she cried, wrapping her hands around my torso and pulling me impossibly closer. I kissed the top of her head and sighed. “It hurts too much, Ayden. I try, I really do. When I work so hard to piece every broken thing back together, it just crumbles to my feet again. I no longer have the strength to do it.”
She sobbed into my chest and I held her until she quieted. Her burdens became my own then, two broken hearts with nowhere to go. And that’s when it hit me. She’d really run away again.
I was dead. No, we were dead.
“How’d you make it past the border?” I asked her. She leaned back and looked me in the eyes.
“Your friend. He told me to tell you that you fight a brave battle.”
I clung to her ever word. “He did?”
“Yes, but Ayden, this is urgent. You must know.” She held her breath as I held my own. She took my hand in hers and said, “My mother has been keeping a secret from me, from everyone. It is the reason I am so different—my hair, my eyes, my skin. I’ve questioned my lineage before, but I just couldn’t believe it. Ayden, I am not the King’s daughter.”
I held my breath a moment longer, waiting for her to smile and say that she was joking. But the moment never came and unspoken tears continued to fall from her eyes. I reached out and wiped them away and waited for the right words to come to me. They also never came and I resulted in pulling her into me as she wept. I brushed the wet hairs from her face and grabbed a blanket from the bed to wrap around her. She shivered despite the extra layer.
“Don’t let them take this freedom from me, Ayden,” she whispered through hiccups and sobs.
Just when I thought I had had a handle on things, Echo gave me news like this and I felt like I’d just plummeted to the starting point all over again. “Echo, what are you thinking,” I asked her sincerely.
She looked up at me from my chest and she ran her fingers through my hair. I sighed and watched her. “Don’t make me go back this time, please. I’m so broken without you, Ayden. I’m literally falling apart. And I guess that’s why we fit so much? You’re broken, too. I can see it.” She moved her hand back to my chest and closed her eyes as if listening for something. “You’re broken right here.”
“Echo—”
“I’m through trying to please everyone else! All I want is time with you. Please, tell me that is okay with you.”
I covered her hand with mine and she shuddered. Her words were nothing but the truth, but they still stung nonetheless. I needed this girl, I realized. “I am broken.” I whispered. “But this is crazy. Do you know what you risk being here with me right now? Your life, Echo.”
She shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t care, really. My mother made her choice, and so did my father. I just made mine. I want to stay here and live with you. Forever.”
I touched her lips and frowned. When I leaned forward and kissed her lips, it was a kiss of a thousand words I couldn’t say. Three words in particular. “You are something else,” I whispered. She smiled and her lips met mine again. The moment was bliss. If I could have made it last forever, I would have. I would have framed it, shown it off to the world as I would her. It didn’t matter to me if she was no longer a princess, she was one to me. If I had the money, I knew I would have treated her as such. She wouldn’t shed another unhappy tear; I’d make sure of that. Beautiful in every way, she would be mine.
“What are we going to do, Ayden?” she whispered, glaring up at me.
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “But how about we burn that bridge when we get there?”
“I thought it was ‘cross’ that bridge?”
I lightly poked her in the eye and she laughed. “No. We’re burning bridges. Crossing is so overrated.” I smiled and touched the corner of her eyes, captivated by the iridescent blues.
“I think I like the sound of that,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She shifted in my arms until her head was in my lap and she played with the buttons of my shirt. I could barely believe she was here, but she was. Holding her so close felt too good to ever let go. “Tell me a story. And it has to be good. No ‘princess and the prince’ rubbish.”
I fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, counting the holes in the wood. It only seemed normal to accept this fate—death. If Echo and I were burning bridges, we needed a whole lot of fire. I looked down the bridge of my nose and she was staring up at me. “What story would you like to hear?”
She giggled and my heart sped up. “The story about the handsome Hunter who charms the beautiful Tigress into running away with him. And only happily-ever-afters. I need you to cheer me up.”
At those words I sat up and frowned down at her. “Echo, what is this?” Is that what she wanted? A happily ever after I couldn’t give her? At this point I was good for nothing but an impending death.
She started to smile, but when she caught how serious I was being, she sat up and faced me. Our lips were barely an inch apart and she drew closer. I held my breath for the second time. “What if I told you this is love, Ayden Grey. Would you believe me?”
I shook my head at her, startled to hear the word on her lips. “Would it be so crazy?”
Her lips met mine in a heady kiss, and she murmured, “No. Not all.” Nothing quite registered after that, only the fact that Echo was in my arms, happy, and she was mine. For the moment I reveled in my newfound victory, for I knew, all too soon, that it wouldn’t last long.
Say it. Say the words, dammit.
Echo broke the embrace first and I noticed tears in her eyes again. “I can breathe. For the first time in eighteen years, I’m free.” She kissed me before I could say anything and I begged myself to say the words. I was desperately screaming. This freedom I had promised her wasn’t going to last, she had to know that. I was surprised guards weren’t here by now.
No. It was now or never.
I pulled myself away from the kiss and she slowly broke away, still crying. We stared at each other and I saw myself in her eyes, just another broken heart. A tear feel from my eye and I couldn’t help thinking how funny Adamo would find this. Me. Crying. And not for the first time.
“I love you,” I said, in unison with her own confession of love. I touched her lips to stop her from ranting. “It’s not about freedom, Echo. It’s how I am with you. No longer a trodden soul, I have hope. You make me want to try harder, and not just for myself, but for my family and for you. Always you. You’re so damn stubborn, but you make me look forward to the next day, whereas only five weeks ago it was hell. You give my life…flavor.”
She laughed, holding me closer. “Flavor? Ayden, you’re ridiculous.” Grinning, she reached into her bodice and pulled out the bleeding heart necklace. She lifted it up to me and smiled. “It’s not the necklace and it’s not the freedom, you’re right about that. But you’ve unleashed something victorious within me, Ayden. You. I belong with you.”
I exhaled, watching her beautiful face and remembering the first time I’d seen her—angry, ruling, and a true Tigress ready to pounce. She’d fired back with everything she had, following me out to Miss Othman’s garden, at the Grand Season’s Ball, and at the river day after day. She never once gave up on me and this fact put a light in my heart that hadn’t been there for years.
I feathered kisses to her lips and she smiled. “Don’t ever give up on me,” I said.
“What are you talking about?” She leaned back on the bed and I lay beside her, holding her close to me and loving the way even soaked with rain, her skin still smelled of peaches.
“I had no childhood, Echo. For someone to not give up on me is a blessing in itself. And you come along—completely out of nowhere, I swear it—and you just fearlessly love me.”
“I do. I do love you,” she said, hands in my hair. She smiled that rare smile and I just wanted to kiss her. “I may be stubborn, but y
ou’re impossible.” She kicked of her shoes and climbed up further on the bed, nestling into the blankets and pillows. I settled beside her and we just stared at each other, content with just this—what could have been our last moments.
“Do you know who he is? Your real father?” I asked.
She sighed and said, “No. All I know is that he’s a Hunter, has blue yes, and he named me Aleksandria.”
“Aleksandria?” She nodded and I thought back. “That name’s familiar. It’s beautiful, but you’re more of an Echo to me.”
She smiled sleepily and nuzzled closer to me. “Really? Because I thought so, too.”
My eyelids grew heavy, but I would remain awake until she was asleep. “Echo.” I played around with her name on my tongue.
“Ayden,” she yawned. “Echo and Ayden. Ayden and Echo.”
“Do you always mumble when you’re falling asleep?” I smiled, raining her forehead with kisses.
“Mumble what?” Looking up at me, she traced hearts into my cheek and giggled. She stopped, and then sat up briefly to say, “If I had to die, I’d want to die right here. In your arms. They can take you away from me, but I’m never letting you go. Promise me…promise me we’ll be smiling at the end of this. And we’ll be together.”
I raked my fingers through my hair as I watched her. “You make such strong demands. I am only one person, Echo.”
“Promise me,” she urged.
I’d only made two promises in my entire life: teaching the twins how to read and fixing my broken family for them. I was a man of my word, but as I looked Echo in the eyes and swore on my soul, it was different. This was an oath to her, to protect her. I knew with all the power I possessed I’d do just that.
“I promise, Echo.”
She smiled triumphantly and held me close as she drifted off to sleep, content in that own little world of hers. I stared down at her necklace and watched the luminescent glass in the light of the moon. Echo was going to be my future, my something special to look forward to. I’d keep her and protect her like nothing else mattered. She’d be mine. No, this was one promise I swore on my life I would not break.
T W E N T Y–
F O U R
Echo
I awoke to the smell of bread. Or was it waffles? I sniffed the air as my eyes opened slowly and glanced around the room. I had a moment of apprehension when I stared up at the ceiling and realized that it was not mine. I panicked, thinking maybe I’d fallen asleep somewhere else other than my own bed, but then remembered all that had happened the night before. I wanted to cry again, scream until I lost my voice. The reality was cold and stifling and I wanted nothing more than to forget. I had no intentions of finding Ayden, but he was the only person I could think of that would understand. As if my feet had had a mind of their own, I went to him. I’d never made a smarter decision.
Professing my love for Ayden was easier than I thought it would’ve been—it was almost natural, as loving him did come naturally. I’d thought myself crazy and foolish all this time. I figured it was too soon for love, but love never really waits on people, does it? Ayden and I had said some things I only hoped we could live up to. My lying mother and threatening father ceased to matter anymore, and though I knew death now lurked in our minds, I had this moment. We had this moment. And I was hell-bent on making certain every second of it was spent loving him.
Footsteps sounded on the floor and I turned in the bed to see Ayden hauling in a tray of food through the door. I watched him cautiously and smiled. “You didn’t.” I sat up and attempted to control my hair into a ponytail. It didn’t work, of course.
He smiled down at me and rested the tray on my lap. I glanced down at the eggs, sausage, and waffles and felt my mouth begin to water. “But I did,” Ayden said. His hair was slicked back as if he’d just taken a shower and he’d changed. I suddenly felt dirty and wanted to change myself. “Why? What’s wrong?”
I shook my head and sighed. “This looks sinful, but I must have it. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve eaten an egg? Mother’s too prissy for greasy food, but gods I love it!” I picked up the fork on the tray and immediately dove for the fatty eggs, allowing myself to indulge without guilt. They melted on my tongue and I sighed in complete euphoria. I closed my eyes and smiled. “This has got to be a sin.”
Ayden chuckled and leaned in to kiss my forehead. His lips were warm and comforting, taking away the cold reality that had befallen on the both of us. “How did you sleep?” he whispered.
“Alright.” I shoveled more of the eggs into my mouth and sighed when they were all gone. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in eons and my stomach growled against the thought. I swiped my finger into the whipped cream on the stack of waffles and licked it clean from my finger. It was sweet—so sweet—and I couldn’t help smiling. The plate of food oozed of nothing but fat and grease, but after eating baked crackers and cheese in the presence of company for a good majority of my life, it was the perfect escape. Ayden laughed down at me and rubbed whipped cream from my cheek. “What? You think this is funny?”
“Quite hilarious, actually. It’s only whipped cream, costs nothing in the market.”
“It’s luxurious. I wish we had it back at the palace.” I looked down at my hands and frowned. “Not that I belong there, but what does it matter now?”
“Echo—”
“No. I don’t want to talk about it.” I dug my finger through the whipped cream again and offered it to him. When he smiled and leaned forward to lick it off, I smeared it on his nose.
He looked up at me through thick eyelashes with a hilariously wicked grin on his face. “Okay. Not so funny after all. But this is.” He scooped his finger through the cream and flicked it straight at me. I gasped as it landed on my eye.
“Ayden. Grey,” I chided, wiping it from my face. I blinked several times, but the paste still left a sticky residue on my skin.
“Echo. Abbeny,” he mocked, a big smile on his face. His wiped the whipped cream from his nose and, again, he flicked it at me.
“That’s it. Waffles be damned.” I scooped up the entire gobbet of whipped cream on the waffles and, before he could catch me, smudged the whole thing in his face. His reaction was slow as he wiped it all into his hair and blinked through the cream at me. He licked his lips and smiled.
“You look a bit underdressed there, Echo. Let me help you with that.” Ayden grabbed my hands and held them away from my body as he snuggled his head in the nook of my shoulder and rubbed his whipped-creamed hair on my face. I screamed out and tried to push him away, but he only held me tighter. I don’t think I’d ever laughed so hard than when I did then. Ayden held me close to him and he flipped whipped cream just about everywhere, and although I knew I would be covered in the stuff afterwards, I never wanted him to let me go.
He quickly pulled away and looked down at me through the paste all over his face. I was still throwing a fit of laughter, but managed to get out, “Okay! You win.” I smiled and cringed at the feel of the whipped cream in my ear. “You win. Happy?”
“Very.” He cleared the whipped cream from my lips and gently placed a kiss to them. I sighed in his arms and closed my eyes to the sensations assailing me. Ayden’s kisses were already so sweet, but with the whipped cream on our tongues, I could have sworn he’d taken me to another world.
I was first to break away and as I glanced up at him, I couldn’t help but laugh. I ran my fingers through his hair and tried my best to rid it of waffle toppings. “You asked for it.”
“That I did,” he whispered against my lips. “But onto more important things. How do you expect to hide here for forever?”
“It shouldn’t be so hard.” I looked away from him. “I’d be lucky if they even bothered to search for me. If I’m not a Princess, who am I?”
“You’re Echo.”
“Obviously,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “It’s just weird. I didn’t know who I was to begin with, but now I really don’t know. Did I ever meet
my father? I’m sure I would remember him, wouldn’t I? I must look like him.”
“Why do you worry about him so?” Ayden asked.
“Why shouldn’t I?” I countered. “I must’ve met him, he named me. If I could only remember who he is or what he looks like… If he had kept me, would I have grown up a different person?”
Ayden brushed a tress from my eye and smoothed his thumb over my forehead. “Maybe you were too young to remember? And I don’t think it was about him keeping you, but your Mother forbidding him to see you. That is assuming he still lives. You a different person? I don’t see that possible. Growing up in Old Haven would have made you tougher, but your fiery attitude would remain the same.”
“I have a fiery attitude?”
“Yes,” he said, laughing that laugh that came from deep within his chest. “Oh, yes.”
“Really?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.
He kissed my lips and murmured, “And you annoy the hell out of me.”
I arched a brow in confusion, but all words left me as he pressed his lips to mine again. Gods, I was never going to get used to the way he made me feel. He broke away too soon and sat up on the bed, glancing out the window. I took the time to admire his god-like features, and even though whipped cream covered his face, his violet eyes stood out magnificently. I’d meant to ask him where they came from, but it always slipped my mind, as did the world when I was around him.
“What do you say we go for a hike?”
Sitting up, I grabbed a napkin from the tray and wiped the whipped cream from his face. He watched me with a smile. “I’d like that. A lot, actually.”
“Good. Because I have something to show you.” He took the napkin from my hand and began cleaning off my face. It was odd, him touching me, but familiar at the same time.
Burning Bridges Page 21