It took me a moment to realize I wasn't crying anymore. Not that I cared. Numb hollowness welcomed me into its embrace, the world around me only peripheral, uninteresting.
All but the feeling of his skin, now loose and cooling under my hands, the floppy way his head fell from my lap, face turning away as his empty hazel eyes stared off into nothing. How his blood felt chilly through my jeans, no matter how much my majiness kept me from sensing temperature.
Shivering, I hugged myself, hands wet with blood, wiping at a stray hair as it clung to the corner of my lip. Knowing I'd left a trail of him behind on my cheek.
Liam.
My darling Liam.
My oak tree was dead and nothing else mattered.
Two days, two nights. I looked down at the diamond on my hand, coated and glistening with crimson, amazed it was steady, no more trembling. Wow. Awesome. Wasn't it awesome I wasn't shaking anymore?