Page 131 of Ashes

Seth. . . can you hear me?

“I’m not Seth, firefly. I’m Asylum,” was his answer. “Please stop making me repeat myself.”

I shifted away from him, realizing he probably was inside my head.How the hell ?

He let out a soft chuckle. “Fun, right?” He offered me another bite. “I have so much to tell you, my sweet forever girl. I just don’t think the time is right. So we’ll wait until it is. Now, what would you like to eat?”

I just want to sleep. Please. I want to wake up from whatever nightmare this is.

Wordlessly, Asylum stood in front of me. He pulled the sheets and blanket back on his bed. He came back to me where I sat in his computer chair and lifted me into his arms like I was just a rag doll. Tenderly, he placed me on his bed and tucked me in, dropping a soft kiss on my forehead, his lips lingering.

“I’m sorry for what happened at the facility,” he whispered. “I never wanted to do that to you. Ever. Not like that. I promise you the next time I’m inside your body, you’ll beg me to stay. And I will. We’ll talk more after you’ve rested. Sleep, firefly. We have some revenge to plan.”

He moved away from me and cradled my cheek as I stared up at him.

Asylum terrified me.

God, he terrified me.

But he also drew me in.

I’d missed him. Seth.

I’d missed him so much, but the man before me wasn’t Seth. He wasn’t my best friend. Weakly, I reached up and rested my hand over his. I let my thumb trail lightly over his smooth wrist as he stared down at me.

“You missed me too,” he said in a soft voice. “You just didn’t know me well then. I promise you’ll know me now though. That promise comes with many strings I plan on tying you up in, my sweet forever girl. I’ll never let you go again.”

I swallowed, my lips parting as we stared at one another.

He rested his other hand over my chest. “Calm, Sirena. I’m not the worst monster on these grounds.”

Please don’t hurt me. . .

“Never again. I promise.” He thumbed along my bottom lip. “Now sleep for us. Things will be different tomorrow. Seth will be here. I know you miss him.”

I closed my eyes, really hoping he wouldn’t bludgeon me to death in my sleep.

He let out a soft laugh as his finger brushed against my jaw.

“We’ve moved on from such things. Sleep, my love.”

I kept my eyelids closed as he hummed our song softly.

It sent shivers down my spine.

Just not in the way I expected.

These shivers excited me.

Maybe I’d lost my damn mind too.

ASHES

We walked in silence across campus. I knew we were going to see Asylum. But what we were going to do confused me. Church had just said we were going to take things slow and wait it out. He’d said that Cady needed to chill.

But now we were making our way to his place with Stitches moving slower than the rest of us.

I fell back to walk beside him as he shuffled along in a pair of dark sweatpants and a white t-shirt.

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