Page 165 of Emperor of Wrath

Smiling.

But fading.

Quickly.

“ANNIKA!”

I hear my name somewhere in the distance.

“ANNIKA!!” The voice roars. “THEY’RE OVER HERE!!”

My eyes flutter open just long enough to see flashlights bobbing and weaving towards us. They get close, and in the glow of the moon, I can make out a handful of police officers, some EMTs, and both Takeshi and Mal bolting down a hillside toward us.

My head drops to his chest, listening to his weak heartbeat and the ragged breathing of his lungs.

He’s alive.

He’s going to live.

“I love you,” I whisper against his chest as everything fades away.

I’ll take what little time we had.

That’s enough for me.

37

ANNIKA

It’s white when I open my eyes.

Bright.

And…

My nose wrinkles.

It smells like bleach.

My eyes close again. But then I open them once more. The bright white light assaults me again, just a hazy white glow, and somewhere above me, a face I can’t quite make out hovers.

“Where…” my voice sounds very far away. “Where am…”

“You’re in Heaven, Annika,” a ghostly, vaguely feminine voice whispers. “And I am God.”

My throat bobs.

“Yes, motherfucker. God’s a woman.”

My brows knit. My vision begins to clear as the haze melts away.

Freya is grinning impishly down at me.

“Hellooo, Annika,” she coos in that weird, ghostly voice. “Welcome baaack.”

She yelps as I sit bolt upright, my pulse spiking wildly. Next to me, a bunch of beeps speed up, and an alarm begins to chime frantically.

“Where—” I look at her bleary-eyed and woozy, my head swimming as I try and focus. “What the fuck…”

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