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lower lip twitched and she quickly bit on it. She began nodding. “Okay then. I guess we have our decision.”
    “Wait…” Paige spoke out of nowhere, throwing her hands in the air. Her eyes narrowed. “If I remember correctly, the night we were abducted was the night of Sofia’s seventeenth birthday.” She eyed Sofia. “Wasn’t it?”
    My eyes widened in surprise. Realizing that I hadn’t even bothered to ask about her birthday was a sock in the gut. There she was going out of her way to give me a birthday, which I enjoyed without the slightest thought of her own special day.
    I stared at her as she blushed and nodded—almost as if she was embarrassed that she had a birthday. At that moment, I realized how selfish I’d been with her.
    My father was right. How could I criticize him when I’m here using the woman I love just like I did all the other women that came before her? The guilt that settled on my chest was making it hard to breathe. I grabbed her hand and the words “I’m sorry” came out of my lips in a husky whisper. Six pairs of inquisitive eyes shot toward me in question. My grip on Sofia’s hand tightened.
    “You’re sorry for what exactly?” Ashley quirked her head to one side, her ponytail swinging like a pendulum. “Do specify, dear prince, because you have a lot of things you ought to be sorry for.”
    Sofia frowned as my eyes bore into hers. She knew—like she always did when it came to me—that what I was saying wasn’t to be taken lightly. Her grip enveloped mine.
    “It’s like they’re communicating through Bluetooth or something…” Ashley muttered under her breath.
    “Shut up, Ashley.” I turned back to address Sofia. “I had no idea it was going to be your birthday. I guess that makes me an awful boyfriend.”
    My sensitive ears didn’t miss it when Ashley breathed out “True that” as she rolled her eyes.
    Sofia smiled. “You couldn’t have known.”
    “I should’ve at least thought about it… especially after everything you did for me…”
    “It’s not a big deal, Derek. Really…”
      “It is. And I’ll make it up to you.”
    “This ought to be interesting…” This was a remark that should’ve come from Ashley, but this time it was Sam’s voice. He had a goofy smile on his face, one that quickly disappeared when I glared at him and said, “What are you smiling at? You’re going to help.”
    Before anyone could react, Sofia’s arms were around my neck and she placed a soft, gentle kiss on my lips. Tears were streaming down her face. I couldn’t understand why she was crying, but it made the kiss—innocent as it was—utterly heartbreaking. Sofia was forever going to be an enigma to me—I’d long accepted that fact, but if there was one thing I couldn’t stand seeing, it was her tears.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked her.
    She shook her head and smiled amidst the tears. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. Not as long as you’re here.”
    And that, I realized, was the reason for the tears. I could be there for her for as long as she lived, but she couldn’t possibly be there for me for as long as my immortality lasted. The realization strengthened my resolve to make every moment I had with her a memory worth keeping.
    My life was no longer about myself or the prophecy I had to fulfill. It had just become entirely about Sofia.

Chapter 7: Ben
     
    The hunter was lunging toward me at full speed, throwing all the strength he had left into a tackle that I knew wasn’t going to work. I grinned. Pathetic . I twisted my upper torso to the side in order to dodge him and watched him fall to the ground on his hands and knees. I still found time to run a hand through my hair—wet with sweat—before tripping him with one strong kick to his legs as he tried to stand up.
    “You’re getting smug, Hudson,” our trainer, Julian, warned.
    “Way to kick a man when he’s down, Ben.” Zinnia laughed. I found her lighthearted jibes endearing, but I doubted the