Page 58 of He Will Always Love Me

Was that really what we were fated for? To find each other and fall in love only to be killed?

It seems like a cruel fate to relive over and over again.

But why? Why are we doomed every time? And is that what awaits us this time?

My life has gotten better ever since Libby has become part of it, but I can’t risk her life for that. She could have a full and happy life without her fated mate, couldn’t she? If being together is going to get us both killed, perhaps I should just walk away. Being alone is surely better than being dead, isn’t it?

A hand claps me on the back and on instinct, I take the hand and twist it.

“Ow! Damn, remind me not to sneak up on you.”

I let go as soon as I hear Elyzin’s voice.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “I was just lost in thought.”

Elyzin shrugs and rubs his wrist. “It’s all good. What’s got you so deep in your head that you’re attacking your best friend?”

How would I even begin to describe it to him? I decide to go with a half-truth. “It’s about Libby.”

He immediately grimaces. “Realized you could do better?”

I shoot him a withering glare. “No.”

Elyzin scoffs, and I glare at him harder. “What is your problem with her?” I demand.

He looks a little startled at the question. “What do you mean?”

“I mean every time I so much as bring her up, you almost act like it’s personal.”

He hesitates for a moment before shaking his head. “I don’t know, okay? I just have this feeling about her. No matter what, I just can’t seem to shake the feeling that something’s wrong with her.”

“What about me? Can you at least trust my judgment?” I ask. “Can you trust that I wouldn’t just pick anybody to be with? That I know a good woman when I meet her?”

Elyzin almost seems at war with himself. Finally, he sighs. “Maybe.”

I elbow him. “Or you could at least trust that I have better judgment than you.”

That earns a laugh. “Fair enough.”

I begin to smile, but alarm bells sound off in my head. Something about Elyzin feels wrong for the first time in my life. I’ve known him since we were kids, but there’s suddenly an aura there that feels dangerous. More so than my being with Libby.

It feels like it’s trying to warn me about something. Or remind me.

Every time I go near him after that, I get the same terrible feeling. And so I begin to put distance between us even though I don’t necessarily intend to do so at the start. It just sort of happens as time goes on, a natural effect of the fact that I suddenly can’t help but recoil every time he comes around.

I go over to Libby’s one night, and she begins to prepare dinner for us. We laugh and chat and trade witty comebacks. It’s perfect, it’s normal. Even the warning in the back of my mind is dulled. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it really is a symptom of my overactive imagination and nothing more.

And then the stove catches on fire. Libby screams and tries to smother it. The smoke triggers another memory.

Fire. So much fire all around us. Nearly being trapped. Nearly being burned alive.

And then we make it out, only to be met with guns pointed at our heads.

I snap out of it, grab the fire extinguisher, and help put out the fire. All in all, the damage could be much worse.

Libby lets out a relieved laugh. “That was too close.”

And even though she’s only joking, it strikes a chord within me. What if that wasn’t chance?

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