Forever Night (Darkness Falls Book 3)

Chapter Forty-One

I opened my eyes to the familiar sight of my bedroom ceiling. I tried to sit up and a stab of pain brought a groan to my lips. My whole body felt like it had gone through a cement-mixer; my head pounded and my tongue was sandpaper.

The bed dipped under someone's weight and I turned my head to see Luke sitting there. His face shone with love and compassion, and if I'd had strength enough I'd have thrown myself into his arms. As it was, the best I could do was fumble for his hand. My fingers were stiff and bruised, white bandages wrapped around the knuckles. I remembered punching Rachel's face to pulp. Another bandage covered my skinned arm and when I lifted a hand to my throat, I could feel yet more gauze.

Luke took my hand in his, holding it as gently as if it was spun glass, careful not to put any pressure on my bruised, swollen fingers and split knuckles.

"I expected to wake up in hospital," I said.

"One of the hunters Marc brought with him was a trained nurse." Luke trailed a finger along my bandaged arm. "He patched you up."

There were shadows of exhaustion under Luke's eyes, but although dried blood crusted his skin in patches, I couldn't see any actual injuries. I must have been out of it long enough for him to have healed already. If only I could heal that quickly.

"What happened?" The dryness in my throat caused my words to come out as a croak.

Luke fetched a glass of water from the nightstand, and guided it to my lips, cupping my head with his other hand so I didn't have to lift it myself. I sipped the water, feeling it slide down my throat and wash through the dust and blood.

"What happened?" I repeated, clearer this time.

"You killed Rachel."

"I mean the fight. What happened to everyone else?"

Luke smiled down at me. Though physically healed, he still looked weary, and that smile brightened his face. "We won."

I managed my own smile, though it hurt. "Hell yeah we did."

My smile faded as I realised Luke was the only one in the room with me. Faces of the people I cared about flashed through my head – Samuel, Elena, Clara, Ethan, Anna, Alice, even Marc. I started to sit up but Luke gently held me down and I didn't have the strength to fight him.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

Luke stroked strands of hair off my face, his fingers barely touching my battered skin. "Everyone's fine." Regret flickered across his face. "We lost a lot of vampires in the battle, and some of Marc's hunters, but" – he smiled again – "we won."

I closed my eyes. I didn't mean to cry but tears leaked out anyway, trickling down my cheeks and soaking into the blood-matted nest of my hair.

It was over.

We'd fought and bled and suffered and grieved, and come through on the other side. There had been many threats that had plagued me and Luke, and had tried to keep us from being together, but ultimately we had prevailed. Our future lay on the horizon, a bright, shining thing with nothing standing in its way.

I wanted to fling my arms around Luke, to hold him tightly against me and kiss him, but I was too exhausted.

"Go to sleep," Luke murmured. He kissed his own fingers and pressed them to my lips. "I'll be here when you wake up."

The next time I opened my eyes, I felt stronger. My body still ached, but I could sit up unaided. At some point Luke had climbed onto the bed next to me and fallen asleep, his black hair falling across his eyes. I resisted the urge to brush it away. He needed sleep as much as I did.