His cheeks feel cool against your hands. You’re not sure what you’d been thinking when you’d kissed him, but Jace doesn’t seem to care. For a moment he stays still, surprised, but only for a moment. Tangling his fingers in your hair, he pulls you closer, hungrily devouring your mouth. He kisses like a desperate man. Withdrawing your hands, you place them against his chest, pushing back but not very forcefully. He feels cold, even through his shirt, but you can still feel his heart beating rapidly. His hands move down, wrapping around your shoulders and pulling you against his chest. Moving almost against your own will, your lips respond to him, kissing him back. The moment seems to last forever.

Suddenly, a yell interrupts the two of you. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jace draws back slowly, his lips withdrawing reluctantly. His blue eyes stare into yours for a long moment, searching for something. At last, planting one last kiss on your lips, he gently unwraps his arms from your confused form and allows you to lean back against the headboard. Getting up from the bed, he turns to Elliot, whose fists are clenched and whole face is red.

“Take her with you.” Without another word, or even a glance back, his tall figure strides through the door, out of the room.

You watch him go, slightly dazed. Your heart pounds in your chest.

Elliot looks completely confused, the red color leaving his face and his hands hanging at his sides. He looks first toward the door, then to the bed, then to the door again. Moving hesitantly, he approaches your side and places a hand on your arm. “Are you ok?”

“He said I can go.” You whisper, staring at the doorway.

Elliot clears his throat quietly, starts to say something, then closes his mouth. Gently, he squeezes your wrist. “Close your eyes.” He says softly.

Still bewildered, you obey. There’s a sudden wind, tossing your hair, then silence. You slowly open your eyes. You’re in your bedroom, in your tree hut. The familiar smell of fresh-cut wood enters your nose. Bright sunlight streams through the window, onto the pale pink sheets of the bed. It’s almost picture perfect of the way you’d remembered it.

Slowly looking around, you find Elliot standing next to you, just as he’d been in Jace’s bedroom. He watches you warily, one hand still on your arm. Releasing you, he stoops over and plants a kiss on your forehead. You sit still on the bed, staring at the wall. Brushing his hand across your hair, he takes a step back.

“I’ve got to go get Lana and Dent. I’ll be right back.” He coughs again, slightly awkward. You nod.

He vanishes, leaving you alone in the room. Despite the warm sunlight on your head and the cheerful room, you feel a cold pit in your stomach. Jace is gone. Just like that. You’d wanted to leave for so long, and now your wish had come true. But you’d never have imagined that he would let you go so willingly. Why? Why had he done that?

You sit perfectly still, leaning against the headboard, until Elliot comes back. This time, however, he uses the door. Behind him trails Lana, and a little further behind her is Dent. Lana’s face breaks into a smile as she sees you.

“Angela! You’re here!” She runs over to the bed, her bare feet moving soundlessly across the wood floor. Her black hair is pulled back prettily, exposing her pointed ears and delicate neck. Her face is round and full, healthy, and all the sad lines of her face seemed to have disappeared. Gently, she wraps her arms around you and gives you a quick hug. Pulling back, she looks you over. “So, I heard about your neck. We’re gonna get you fixed.”

You nod wordlessly, a bit overwhelmed. There’s just too much for you to take in right now. Elliot steps closer to the 

bed, taking your hand in his. “Dent already sent word to the other healers. They’ll be here really soon.” His eyes look worried as he takes in your frozen expression.

Your eyes move away, toward Lana who is giving dark looks to Dent and furiously motioning with her hands. He looks slightly pale, and he offers her a look of exasperation. After a moment, he moves next to Lana and clears his throat.

“I’m sorry Angela.” He says formally, not meeting your eyes.

“Sorry for…” Lana prods, gently tugging on his hand.

He furrows his eyebrows and continues staring at the bedspread. “For trading you to Jace to get Lana back.”

You blink. It takes you a moment to respond. “I understand why you did it.” You say at last, and offer nothing else. Are you supposed to say it was ok? It wasn’t ok. But still, you understand. You would have done anything for Elliot to get him away from Jace. The thought pulls you out of your stupor. Taking a deep breath, you turn to Elliot and smile softly, realizing just how much you have to be thankful for. You squeeze his hand tightly. The worried expression disappears from his face and he grins back.

Everything’s alright now.

A week later, you find yourself standing outside on the walkway between your tree-hut and the Elliot’s. The sunlight filters down through the trees, warming your bare shoulders as you lean against the narrow wooden railing. Your hair cascades around your face in a soft curtain, brushing against your cheeks and closed eyes. You sigh softly. The world seems perfect at the moment. The healers had actually been able to fix you, just like Elliot said. Your only side effect is a bit of numbness in your right foot, but you can still walk and move freely. A miracle.

A hand brushes across your bare shoulders. “Afternoon, love.” Elliot speaks, moving to lean against the railing next to you. You turn your face to him and smile, your eyes crinkling slightly. He leans over and plants a soft kiss on your nose. “Something came for you today.”

Tilting your head to one side, your hair falls against your shoulder. “What is it?”

“A letter.” He offers a strange look, handing you a small piece of paper, folded. “I’ll let you read it. I’m going over to see if I can get Fir to let me try some of those cookies I smelled her baking earlier.” Planting one more kiss on your lips, he quickly disappears.

You wrinkle your forehead and unfold the paper, curious. You have no idea who would be sending you a letter. Your eyes skim the off-white sheet, taking in the scribbled handwriting and worn spots where the person had erased several times. Licking your lips, you begin reading the letter.

Angela,
I’m not really too good with this letter-writing stuff. Guess I’ve gotten used to texting too much. I just wanted to tell you goodbye, though. I never really said it when you left. I couldn’t say it: It was too hard. I miss you still. I know there’s probably nothing I can say to ever get you to come back, but know that if you ever need me, for anything, I’m here.
I also wanted to let you know, I let Ashley and Natalie leave. Well, I tried to at least. When I told them they could go, they said they didn’t want to. They said they wouldn’t know what to do out in the human world. So I let them stay, and they still work around the house, but I’m not keeping them prisoner anymore. I guess you changed me in more ways than one.


One last thing. I don’t know if you remember, and you probably don’t want to, but I told you once that you were given some special powers. Yes, you can heal, but I also said one more thing. You have an extended human life. Really extended. You’ll last a lot longer than that human of yours. So, when he’s gone, I’ll be here for you to come back to. I don’t care how long it takes: I’ll be waiting for you.
I still love you.
-Jace

You re-read the letter once, twice. Your heart thuds softly, a mixture of dread and an odd anxiousness. He’s waiting for you.