Page 105 of The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck

The world stops wavering and rights itself at last. The shapes of people nearby and the world around us solidify into reality. I am lying by the pool with my head on Alistair’s lap. He stares down at me with stark lines of worry embedded in his face. His clothes are dripping wet the same as mine.

“You scared the shit out of me,” he breathes.

“What happened?” I ask weakly.

“I was about to ask you the same damn question. One minute you were standing there watching the beach. The next you were floating face down in the fucking pool. I’ve never... Please don’t do that again.”

“No.”

“You weren’t breathing,” he says with all due horror. I reach up to touch my forehead to locate the exact spot of all the pain. But he catches my fingers and says, “You’ve got a bad gash there that’s bleeding. Best not to touch it.”

“Take this.” The king steps forward and offers a handkerchief. He gives me a curt nod, likeGood work for not dying and making things even more awkward or whatever.

Alistair holds the neatly folded-up cloth to my temple. “Lilah, did you hear me? You weren’t breathing when I pulled you out of that pool. Do you understand?”

“You mean I was dead? I actually died?”Ouch.Frowning is a bad idea.

He just nods.

“Huh.”

“One moment,” says the king, sounding astonished. “You almost die and that’s all you’ve got to say regarding the matter? ‘Huh’?”

“It wasn’t completely unexpected.” Lady Helena sighs. “But that’s a long story and none of your business.”

The two bodyguards standing beside the king appear just as mystified by this statement as the man himself. Not that anyone is in a mood to explain. Weirding out royalty could be seen as an accomplishment. It wasn’t on my original wish list, but I don’t hate the addition.

“I am not officially here,” the king announces with his usual stern expression back in place. “It’s best if I leave before emergency services arrive. Alistair...”

“You should go,” answers his son without hesitation.

Lady Helena wiggles her fingers at him in farewell.

Dougal grunts and gives him a sour look.

Without further ado, the king and his retinue leave the scene. It sort of seemed as if he wanted to say more. To have more time with his firstborn child. But then, he’s had forty years to say something.

“I can’t believe it. I’m alive.” The sense of relief is staggering. How the predictions have all come true and I am still here. Amazing.

Alistair just nods.

“A seagull dive-bombed me,” I add in a harsh whisper. My throat still feels like it has been scraped raw. I do not recommend drowning. Not at all.

“What did you say?” asks Alistair.

“A seagull. I fell. Hit my head.”

“A seagull attacked you?” His brows rise to all new heights at the news. “So, you lost your footing and hit your head falling into the pool? Is that what you mean?”

I nod and wince. Neither talking nor moving are great. “Willow was right.”

“Yeah. Guess she was. You weren’t breathing...didn’t have a pulse. You actually died.” He carefully dabs my forehead with the handkerchief. “No more of this shit, Leannan. I love you, and thinking you were gone took about a decade off my life.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“You heard me.”

I am not going to cry. My eyes are just glitching or something. It’s been a really big morning.

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