Immortally Ever After by Angie Fox Page B

chance.”
    “Galen—” I didn’t need him winning me back. Or Marc thinking he could change my mind. I didn’t need either one of them right now. All I’d gotten in the end had been heartache and pain.
    Luckily, he didn’t push it.
    “It about killed me every time I heard a prophecy. Wondering what was happening to you, how you were handling it.”
    Yes, well, he couldn’t have it both ways. He couldn’t look at me like that after he cut off all contact. “I wasn’t the one doing special ops missions with no immortal protection.” I hadn’t gone dark. I hadn’t left. “Galen, where the hell did you go?”
    It pained him, I could tell. He blew out a hard breath, instantly bringing a hand to the bandage on his side.
    Oh, this was ridiculous. “Let me see.”
    He squirmed to avoid me. “It’s fine.”
    “You’d say that if your arm fell off.”
    He stopped fighting while I checked him out. “I never wanted it to end the way it did.” He paused, then sighed. “They sent me on a special mission to assess and acquire old army assets. Command wanted to see if and how they could be turned.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    He glanced up. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands folded. “It was top secret and everything about my life was about to be scrutinized for security purposes.” His jaw tightened. “Especially the incident where I ran off to the rocks with you.”
    My cheeks warmed at the mention of our lovemaking that night. The world had been going to hell, but everything with Galen had been so right.
    “I’d done enough to draw attention your way,” he said, as if I hadn’t just been picturing his insanely irresistible body naked and ready for me. “If I was ever the one to expose you.” He shook his head. “It’s terrifying.”
    “I can hold my own.” Or had he forgotten how I’d stood up and fought with him? I’d also done a damned good job after he’d left.
    He ran a hand through his short hair. “I’m not going to discount what you went through, but you have no idea of the horrors that are out there. That’s a good thing. It’s my job, my duty, my reason to exist to keep you as far away from that sick terror as I can.”
    He was a soldier. He faced the monsters so people like me didn’t have to.
    Never back down. Never surrender. It was written on every fiber of his being. “I refuse do anything to expose you, Petra.” His body was ramrod stiff. “If that means losing you, then I’m willing to make that sacrifice. For you. Only you.”
    The unfair awful truth of it was, he was right. I’d had to sneak around quite a bit to fulfill the last three prophecies. Hell, I’d had to go AWOL. I never would have survived, much less succeeded, with the eyes of the new army trained on me.
    My gut twisted as his words sank in. “I’m sorry.”
    He shook his head. “I don’t want your regret.”
    “What I meant is I forgive you.”
    He closed his eyes for a moment, letting it sink in. “I’m glad.”
    I groaned, wrapping my arms around my chest. “What are we even doing?”
    He shook his head. “Let’s not talk about that now.”
    “You’re still leaving.” He’d never tried to hide it.
    “I’m needed,” he said simply. “The work I do saves lives, it provides valuable intelligence—resources.” He glanced around the tiny examination suite. “Somebody’s got to keep you living in fine style.”
    “Rodger’s thinking of installing a hot tub next to the tar swamps.”
    He held his hands out. “You see? My sacrifices are worth it.”
    God, he was too good. I tilted my head. “I hate it when you get all noble.”
    “It’s my curse,” he said, his face light until we both realized what he’d said. He had been the demigod of truth and nobility. Now he was a man, like any other.
    Wait. That wasn’t right either. He was an extraordinary man, one who saw the good in people, and in me. He’d almost died trying to protect me. He’d given up his immortal life