His mouth forms a perfect o, his eyes widening in shock before they close for the last time.
My eyes snap to where his fingers remain wrapped around my wrist when the contact starts burning. It becomes unbearable, but I can’t get free. Tingles shoot up my arm, traveling to the rest of my body, and my heart pounds in a panicked frenzy. Fire races through my veins, burning everything in its path. I throw my head back, screaming in agony that seems to last forever.
The pain is slow to recede. I’ve cried my eyes dry and my throat raw. I manage to pull my wrist free from Jules’s lifeless grasp, and everything goes dark.
“Aurora. Aurora, you have to wake up.” The voice tickles my senses. He shakes my shoulders, and I open my eyes. “You can’t stay here. Please go back. You’re not ready. It’s not time for you to be here yet, Roar.”
Roar.
I suck in a sharp breath and scramble back across the stark white floor. My eyes whip around, and I find that I’m surrounded by nothing but whiteness. My eyes land on him as a sob catches in my throat. “Adam?” I whisper.
He smiles, his blue eyes bright like before he got sick. His brown hair is still a mop of messy curls on his head, and he’s wearing his favorite band T-shirt. He waves. “Hey.”
I blink several times. “Am . . . am I dead?”
“I don’t think so,” he says, walking closer and sitting next to me.
I frown at him. “Why am I here?”
“Something bad happened, Roar.” Adam’s brows tug closer together. “I’m so sorry.”
I wipe the wetness from my cheeks. “I don’t understand,” I whisper.
He touches my shoulder. “I know, but we don’t have a lot of time. You need to get back before it’s too late.”
“Too late? Adam, what are you talking about?”
“I don’t want you to get stuck here. I miss you, Roar, but I can’t let you stay.”
I nod. I’d rather return to the world of the living, no matter how much I miss Adam. There’s still so much I want to do with my life. I’m not ready to be here yet.
“You’re going to wake up, and things are going to be harder than they’ve ever been, but I need you to remember who you are. Promise me you’ll remember, no matter what happens.”
More tears leak free as I nod again. “I promise.” I wrap my arms around him in a tight embrace. “I miss you.” I cry against his shoulder.
“I know, Roar. I miss you, too.”
We sit like that, holding onto each other, and I realize I’m getting the goodbye that was stolen from me when he died.
“Adam?” I murmur.
“Yeah?”
“I love you so damn much.”
“I love you, too.”
The beautiful white walls crumble as the blank scene around me fades. I’m about to leave Adam for real this time.
“You’ll see me again, Roar,” he promises with a light kiss against my cheek, and then I wake up.
The cement floor is hard against my back, and it takes me a minute to sit up. I glance sideways where Jules’s body still lies with the iron stake sticking out of his chest, and I wonder how long I spent in that in-between state. I peek at my arm and frown when I find it’s uninjured. I move it with care, confusion flooding through me. Did Jules heal me before he died?
I hear shuffling upstairs, but I can’t move fast enough to hide from the two people that come barreling down the stairs. I’m not sure why, but I know they’re light fae. There’s one guy, appearing to be in his late twenties, with sandy brown hair, and another, younger-looking guy, with dark red hair. They both look as if they could take me out in a matter of seconds. Against muscles like that, I wouldn’t stand a chance.
Glancing back and forth between me and Jules’s body, the redhead growls deep in his throat. He takes a step toward me, and I kick my feet, pushing myself away so I can scramble upright.
“Back off, man. You know we can’t touch her now,” the older one says.
“The hell we can,” he snaps. “She killed our leader.”
“You know what that means,” he replies.
I lift my head. I don’t know what that means. “What are you saying?” I speak for the first time, and the men look at each other.
“You took his life, which means you took his position in our world.”
Any response dies on my lips.
“You’re the new leader of the light fae, Aurora Marshall.”
My eyes widen. “I’m no leader and certainly not of the light fae.”
“Jules was our leader,” the brown-haired one says. “You took his place when you took his life.”
I shake my head. “I’m human. I can’t be your leader.” When the men exchange looks, my stomach twists. “What?” I demand.
“You’re not anymore.”
My mouth goes dry. “I . . .”
“You’re fae,” he says.
“Get out,” I say. “Now.” They look at each other and leave without another word.
You’re fae.
Those words play over in my head until it’s spinning. My legs give out, and I drop to my knees on the floor beside Jules.
“You son of a bitch,” I say through my teeth as tears fill my eyes. I rip the iron stake from his chest and cry out when it burns my skin.
The back emergency exit flies open and breaks off its hinges, slamming onto the floor, and Tristan storms into the room with Allison and Max flanking him. His eyes find mine right away, and my breath halts.
The three of them stop dead in their tracks, staring at me with wide eyes. Max glances at Jules’s lifeless body, and the recognition that flashes in his eyes is mirrored by Allison’s and Tristan’s expressions.
I cast my gaze down as Max and Allison move around me to grab Jules and haul him out the back door.
The room is silent, and then it isn’t. I can hear Tristan breathing, his heart pounding. I can hear the faint sound of his shoes against the floor as he closes the distance between us. I can hear everything I couldn’t before.
I can’t bring myself to look at him. If I do, I’ll shatter.
“Aurora,” he murmurs, and his voice cracks.
My chest tightens, and my hands shake at my sides.
“Aurora, look at me,” he says in a deep, tight voice, as if he’s struggling to hang on.
I shake my head, clenching my jaw.
I feel his presence before I see the tops of his shoes reach mine. He reaches out and cups my face, allowing me to keep my head down. His thumbs brush across my cheeks. My heart drops, and tears well in my eyes.
“Look at me, please,” he begs.
I lift my face enough to meet his gaze, and the tears slip down my cheeks, wetting his fingers. His eyes are wide and panic-filled. His face is pale, and his expression is strained; he’s terrified.
“What have I done?” I breathe. And then I shatter.