When There Is Nothing Left But Love

She was obsessed with Buddhism. The moment she was saved, she erected a Buddha statue in her room and started worshipping it. Tessa sat cross legged before the statue and put her hands together as she muttered the mantras under her breath.

“What do you want to talk about?” she said.

I looked at her and answered, “Do you really believe he’ll bless you?”

She looked at me from the corner of her eye and replied sternly, “I wouldn’t be talking to you now if he doesn’t.”

Well, that was one woman far gone in religion. I paused for a moment. “They said you live in A City. Laurel’s going to open up a shop there once we get back. Want to join us?”

“No,” she refused firmly.

I nodded. “I didn’t mean it, you know. I didn’t want to hurt you guys. I really didn’t. I never expected Dante to hurt you like that. I—”

“Enough!” she interrupted me and threw me a dirty look. “Do you really think you’re that noble, Stovall? You keep looking down at us from a pedestal. Has anyone ever told you you’re one heck of a hypocrite?”

at her,

over you, and people would help you out no matter

having

was spurred on by my silence. “You’re just pretending to be a good guy, but you hate me more than they do, don’t you? That’s why you kept

tend to be sentimental, and even though I knew some part of her

best either. I just went with the flow and didn’t do everything I could. even though I knew Ashton might be looking for me in

to say to

anything. Not many people could face their own darkness

…

shone through the glass and covered the bed with golden dust.

the security was

else, since the only number I memorized was Ashton’s. That proved to be a headache for Armond, and he had

to take our flight tickets. At the same

hands. “You can’t