Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“I don’t have that in me,” I say, and my words are softer than I mean them to be. I’m a healer. The thought of hurting another makes my skin crawl with unease.
“I hate to break it to you, princess, but we all do.”
I sit up straight and cut to why I’m here. I don’t want to argue with him, I just want the help I know he can offer. There aren’t many people like him left anymore. Most of those who surround me are trying to survive the same as I am. We look out for ourselves and our families now. We can’t afford to help our neighbors. These are dark times, and when I saw his light, it was the first time I had hope in what felt like forever. I’m not ready to let that slip through my fingers. For the first time in forever, I don’t feel so powerless.
“Are you a teacher or not?” My question is direct, but if he can’t give me what I’m after, then I don’t want to waste my time. I’ll find another way. My time is running out. I can’t get lost to the other side. I could end up like my mother, never seen or heard from again.
“I am,” he finally admits.
He reaches out and takes my hand in his. The instant his big rough palm wraps around my hand, I feel heat slide down my body. I’ve never been touched by a man, and he does it like he’s been touching me his whole life. That he has the right to. He turns my hand over and runs his thumb up my palm to the inside of my wrist. He holds it there like he’s feeling my pulse. I’m scared to look up into his eyes, because I know if I do, he may see how much I like what he’s doing to me.
“I can tell you what I know. I can give you all the information you’re after. But I can tell you right now, there’s a fire inside you. And once you find it, I can’t put it out.” His thumb slowly runs back and forth across the delicate skin there. “Once you find it, it will set you free.”
A familiar warmth spreads in my chest, but I don’t speak. I soak it in, feeling a little freer already. I only nod as he releases my hand and gives me back my sanity.
Chapter Three
Owen
When I saw Minnie at the door, I hesitated to answer. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was shocked she was here. All this time watching her. Trying to find a way to get her to come to me willingly. Without force. I couldn’t believe the lamp in the window worked. It almost felt too easy. But I wasn’t going to question it. I’d been looking for her for years and waiting months to get her closer to me once again. My first attempt worked and it only hardened my belief that she was meant to be by my side. Meant to be mine.
I’ve watched her walking every Friday morning on the way to the checkpoint, making sure she made it safely. And then again every Sunday evening on her way back home. I’d put word out that no one harms a hair on her beautiful little head. That she was mine.
From the moment I found her again I couldn't stop watching her. I wondered why she was alone, how someone hadn’t bound her to them by now. I’m thankful no one has. I don’t want to think about what I might have done if I’d found her with another. I’m willing to give everything for the Insurgence, for my kind. Anything but her.
I’ve spent years looking for her. She disappeared as fast as her mother had. I had no idea she’d been offered a Regime scholarship. It was only luck I’d seen her walking by the old brewery that I’ve taken up residence in. I felt like I was being ripped in two as I watched her cross to the other side. I sat for days waiting to get another glimpse of her.
Then on Sunday, finally she walked back. As the sun set behind her, I noticed two sparrows behind her fly up to the top of the wall. I knew in that moment for sure it was my girl. She was the girl who was etched in my memory as a child. Even at that tender age I knew she was my destiny. I wasn’t shocked that she was a nurse. She was like her mother, always wanting to heal and to make things better.
That day I couldn’t walk up to her on the street and tell her what she was to me. I didn’t want to scare her away. And I knew she worked on the other side, so I had to be careful about who was watching. I didn’t know at first if I could trust her. I needed to keep up the facade of the local hermit to keep my cover. The only thing I could think of was to put the oil lamp in the window like her mother used to do. To lure her to me.