Page 26 of He Will Always Love Me

The buildings are high-sided warehouses in this part of town, the streets long and straight and clear of any kind of cover. Every instinct screams at me that this is not the place to be caught out in the open, but it’s unavoidable if we want to get back tonight.

I’m relieved when the comm-nav indicates our turn coming up on the left. I know I’m flagging. I must have sustained an injury in the blast earlier that weakened me. Wilkes has pulled some way ahead. All I can do is focus on the mane of blue fur that falls out over the neck of his uniform as it bounces up and down in time with his step.

“Halt!” comes a voice from behind us.

My heart leaps into my throat. Wilkes is at the corner and dives for cover. I pull on reserves I don’t have and send power into my legs, willing them to get me to safety.

There is a shockwave as the enemy's laser fire hits the thick metal wall of the warehouse to my left, ripping a hole in the reinforced steel shell of the building. Instinctively, I veer to the right.

“Wilkes!” I shout, convinced he has been caught in the blast. There is no answer.

I am aware of intense heat searing the fur away from my skin, and I’m lifted from my feet and thrown a dozen paces down the road. The last thing I see before my world goes black is Wilkes's terrified face looking at me from the side street.

“Run!” I croak, but I don’t know if he hears me.

I wake under the glare of a streetlight. Why am I lying in the middle of the street?

The pain is the first indicator of recent events. My left-hand side is in searing agony. My nostrils are filled with the scent of burning fur. Wilkes’s frightened face pops into my memory.

I look around for him, knowing if he left me here, my unconscious state convinced him I was dead and he had to escape. My logical mind knows that he had no choice, but my heart feels betrayed.

It’s an odd sensation, though, as if I knew sooner or later, the time would come when I couldn’t trust him.

I close my eyes and shake off the thought. Wilkes is my oldest friend. I’m only blaming him because the world is too much for me to deal with right now.

Her face appears in front of me, her eyes full of love and concern. “Ataxia?” I ask, believing her to be the Goddess that comes to claim our immortal souls at the end of our lives.

“No, silly, it’s Alana. You remember me.”

I do remember her, but I don’t know where from.

Her face fades, and I feel utterly bereft.

When I come around again, it is still night. I’m freezing. My body is wracked with shivers. Where am I?

I take in the ruined street. From my prone position on the ground, I can see the hole in the warehouse wall.

Oh, yes, I remember. I’m dying. There is a calm acceptance of the situation. A vision of the woman from my dream swims before my eyes. She has always been there, I realize. Tucked away in my mind, coming out in dreams and secret longings from deep within my soul. I always thought I’d meet you. It feels strange that I will die without her, whoever she is, by my side.

At least the pain is gone. A small part of my brain is screaming a warning that this is not a good thing. But I ignore it. I’m floating away. Who knew death could be so peaceful?

I am following her down a long tunnel. Her short black hair is tied into a ponytail, but most of it has escaped its bonds and falls around her face. She tucks the stray ends behind her ear. The action is so familiar to me.

She looks over her shoulder and flashes me a smile, and I'm certain I would follow her to the ends of the universe.

The tunnel ends abruptly in white oblivion, but she does not stop, does not pause, simply leaps into the air. My heart pounds into my ribs, and I take an involuntary gasp of breath. But she does not fall.

Now I know my body is dying, but it does not matter to me as I step off the ledge and spread my golden wings. At last, I am free.

CHAPTER 14

MAYA

“Do you think it’s over?” Tia asks. The tears streaming down the kid’s cheeks carve canyons in the mud that cakes her face.

My gaze drifts from the teenage girl to her parents and then to the other humans hunkered down with me.

It’s quiet. The shooting seems to have stopped, but that doesn’t mean it won’t start again at any moment. I’ve seen too many people get gunned down for venturing out too early after a firefight.

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