Page 108 of Soul of a Psycho

“Cade!” she screams when she realizes she hasn’t swayed me.

Her heart thumps erratically against my own as she peers around me at the oncoming train. But I can’t let her go. Maybe this is better. I can die with her in my arms instead of with her across an audience. Maybe when her soul ascends, she will pull me with her.

She suddenly relaxes in my hold, and I feel her take a deep breath.

“Okay!” she yells over the rain. “If this is what you need, then I’m with you.”

She slips her arms out and wraps them around me, placing her cheek against my chest.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I shout.

“I told you, I love you, Cade. No matter what. Even if we have to die for you to realize it.”

Chapter Seventy-Four

Sky

Cade is the only thing that exists in the chaos, and I hold on to him with everything I have. The torrent rain, the rumbling ground, the screaming train, it all threatens to crush me. But he is impenetrable. He is my harbor. I bury my face against his wet shirt, listen to his heartbeat, and accept my fate. There’s something relieving about it, something comforting about giving in. I don’t have to worry about graduation or talking him out of it. And I’m okay with dying if I’m with him.

I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on the heat radiating from his body, on the way it feels to finally be near him after all these weeks. I retreat into his earthy scent of rain and metal, and picture him with the skull paint, steely faced as the wind whips through his hair. He’s the harbinger of sweet death, and I am his consort.

All this time, I wondered why I wasn’t more afraid of my stalker, and it’s because I never had anything to be afraid of. Because it was just Cade. Watching and guarding me in his own distorted way. I realize he’s more broken than I thought, more in need of love than I could have imagined. And I promise to love him through this, all the way to the end.

My ears ring at the deafening blare of the train as it bathes us in its harsh spotlight. It’s so close I can feel the steam wrappingaround us, its hot maw bearing down on us. I commit every hard curve of Cade’s body to memory as my last seconds descend on me.

And then the air is knocked from my lungs with impact.

But there’s no pain, and I find that I am still in Cade’s hold. I risk opening my eyes and see the train rushing by. The blur of steel and grind of metal just inches away. We’ve somehow ended up in the field beside the tracks with Cade beneath me.

I shift off his body and let my head fall back on the grass, taking a breath. I’m woozy and disoriented, the sky a smudge of clouds sprinkling a fine mist onto my cheeks. I was willing to die, but… now tears leak from the corners of my eyes and my muscles feel weak,

I’m barely aware that Cade has stood and that the train has passed. The night is eerily quiet and fogging quickly. I force myself to sit up, swiping at my eyes. I look up to see if he’s in the same state of relief as I am, but the darkness has shadowed his face.

“Cade?”

“That was stupid,” he seethes. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

I narrow my eyes at him, wondering if he can see my expression.

“Speeding up the timeline.” I throw his words back at him.

How dare he be upset with me? It wasn’t me who held us on the tracks. I wipe my hands and try to stand up. I feel like such a child on the ground. But my legs wobble with the effort, and I make it as far as my knees, needing a second to gain my strength back.

“Stay down, Sky.”

“What?” I snap my head up.

“Stay down and don’t follow me.” His words are cold and detached.

I catch the shadow of his set jaw as he turns and begins to walk away. My mouth falls open. He can’t leave. I haven’t even pleaded my case.

“No!” I shout after him, and use everything I have to push to my feet.

But he doesn’t stop walking.

“Cade!” I try to keep up on my weak legs.

He’s quickly vanishing into the fog, just a demon retreating into the night. If I don’t stop him now, I don’t know if I’ll find him again in time.

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