Page 136 of Bound By Roses

Am I alive?I hope so, even just for Abby’s sake. She may never forgive me for this. This is the one thing she said she couldn’t handle, and I made a choice that could very well rip us apart forever. Even if my intentions were noble, even she would argue this was a time to be selfish.

A wraith screams behind me, and that’s enough to propel my feet forward into the swirling mist and further away from the rift behind me.

Further away from Abby.

I feel for our bond and there’s nothing. No warmth. No tether grounding me to my sole reason for existence. And that can only mean one thing. Either I’m dead, or she is. I didn’t feel the snapping of our bond like I did when the curse broke, but this is somehow worse. It’s like it never existed to begin with. Likeshenever existed.

That thought alone is enough to send me into a spiral—literally. I trip over a root just barely visible in the haze and tumble down a low hill into a thicket of stinging thorns. I’ve been here all of five seconds and I can already say that I’ve never regretted a choice more.

Fuck this place.

And fuck Jade for being the reason I had to come here. The reason I had to give up the one thing I swore I never would. My heart hurts at the reminder of just how alone I am in this forest. It’s different from the forest outside of Lunae, and yet it’s exactly the same. Every tree, every rock. The only difference is that it seems no life can be sustained here. There’s not a single blade of grass or leaf on a tree. Everything is dead.

Even me.

Only I don’t feel dead. There’s no pull to travel through this world between worlds. Not even an inkling of where the other side is. This feels more like a prison. Or perhaps, a reversal of the world I knew. It’s like I stepped into a mirror and now that I’m on the other side, it’s impossible to look back.

But there must be a way. If the wraiths can pass freely, then there must be doors. Other rifts. All I have to do is find one.

I pull myself out of the bush and ignore the tearing of flesh. I can barely feel it over the aching emptiness that fills my heart. I left Abby there with Void and Jade and Gods, if she can’t get out…

A wraith wails again, and this time it’s much closer. Mist swirls on the hill above me as it searches. Searches forme.

Because I’m not supposed to be here.

Fuck, they can probably smell me. Even if I shift, I don’t think I’m dead. One look at me and they’ll know. They’ll kill me. Feast on my soul. Guarantee an eternity without the one person I can’t exist without.

This isn’t the time, but I can’t help but wonder if Kaylee knew. How many times has she said that not all futures have a happy ending? I knew there was a sword hanging above my head. An hourglass filled with blood instead of sand.

I’m running again, though I have no idea where. A flash of light on steel grabs my attention, and I race towards it. Gripping the hilt of a sword driven deep in to the earth, I don’t slow my momentum as I pull it free. Why there’s a sword here, I can’t be sure. I can’t even be sure if it’ll be any use against a creature made of mist, but having something solid in my palm is a comfort.

I can hardly see more than a few feet ahead of me, just barely able to dodge dead trees and broken branches that litter the forest floor. I twig snaps to my right and I turn towards it, blade raised in front of me on the off chance it can deflect those flying fuckers.

There’s something just ahead of me. I see it moving as it draws nearer.

I don’t think the Gods have ever answered my prayers, but I need them to hear this one. Abby needs to live, even if I don’t. Even just the chance to love her was enough for me and if this really is the end to my story, I can bear it as long as it isn’t the end of hers.

Shadows move. Mist swirls.

I ready myself for—

“Evan?”

The sight of my brother standing in front of me is enough to knock the wind out of me. I drop hard to my knees, feeling the sharp, solid earth beneath them. Evan reaches out a hand. “Hey, Quinn,” he says as I take it and he pulls me back up to my feet. His touch is solid, but it feels like the coldest thing in this place. How is he here in one piece? He’s not a phantom. It’s as almost as if he’s—

His fist collides with my face, knocking the thought and perhaps a tooth out of me.

“What the fuck was that for?!” I hiss at him, trying to keep my voice low in case we’re not alone in this darkness.

His answer comes in the form of a tight hug. Even when he was alive—or we were—he didn’t hug like this. “You idiot,” he says in my ear. “I told you not to do this.”

Did he? Because that’s not what I remember. I remember him telling me to stay alive and then making sure I figured out how to close the rift. “Tell me the truth. Am I dead?” I need to know before I can worry about anything else.

We break apart, and I get my first proper look at him. He’s exactly the same as the day I tore him to pieces, only he doesn’t seem quite as tall as he once did. Though that’s probably because it’s been six years and I’m the only one still aging.

“Not yet, but you will be if you don’t come with me.” He shrugs off the dark grey cloak that was wrapped tightly around him and drapes it over my shoulders. I guess even in the veil, nudity is considered awkward.

He darts into the fog and I follow as best I can. The way he moves through this place is…strange. As if he’s part of it, in a way. The mist moves with him. Not around him like it does me.

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