Page 26 of Playing with Fyre

“And this time it won’t just be the two of us.”

My lab lets out a soft bark, and then her head flops down again.

“You’ll love her,” I murmur as I take a sip from my steaming cup. “Trust me.”

Chapter Seventeen

Charlotte

The rain dilutes my tears until I barely taste them. I should have my hood up, but the sting of the cold drops is the only thing stopping me from returning to my apartment and ending my life. The first few days, I didn’t miss the peonies. Not one bit. But before the end of the week, their absence became a black void in my mind.

If I’d had friends, I would have turned to them for comfort. Had my parents not died a few years ago, I’d have called them.

But I have no one. Charlotte Ash is alone in this world, and as the days dragged on, that black void consumed the tattered shreds of my soul until there was nothing left but a hollow vessel, waiting to be filled.

I’ve tried everything, but nothing fills it.

I shouldn’t be out this late at night, but I’m hoping the diner is still open. I’m hoping I can take a seat, order something, and it will fill me. Even though I can’t taste anything anymore, hunger still gnaws at me.

I can’t seem to fill that either.

I grimace as tight pain constricts inside my womb. That came back too, a few days ago. I know it’s psychological now, but that’sallI know. I have no idea how to stop it, what caused it, or if I’ll ever be free of it.

It’s my punishment for enjoying what Fyre did to me. For letting him put his hands on me and not fighting him off tooth and nail.

The street is empty. I’m the only one who’s dared to come out on such a shitty night.

At least, that’s what I think until I hear the splash of footsteps behind me.

My heart strangles me as it leaps into my throat. When I speed up, my pursuer effortlessly keeps pace. I don’t dare look back in case the sight of my stalker makes me freeze up. Instead, I scan the street ahead for help.

But there’s no one in sight. No buildings to dart into. Just solid brick walls left and right. One stationary car a few yards up the road—unoccupied. I can’t run. Not yet. I’ll just start a chase. The element of surprise is all I have. If I could slip out of sight and then sprint away...?

When I see an alley mouth gaping black ahead, I take it.

Thesplash-thudof my footsteps is too loud in my ears. That and my own frantic breathing is all I can hear.

I’ve lost them. I must have. Relief washes over me—even icier than the rain hurtling down into the narrow alley. But it vanishes an instant later when I realize the darkness ahead isn’t an empty void like my soul. There’s substance to it.

I barely get my hands out in time. I crash into a wall, the bricks scraping over my palms, slicing deep. I spin around, already knowing what I’ll see.

A silhouette stands in the mouth of the blind alley. It watches me for long, rain-pounding seconds, and then moves closer. Not hurrying. Just walking.

The closer it gets, the tighter my chest becomes. The more my fingers dig into the bricks behind me, as if testing their solidity.

And then I recognize him.

Professor Fyre.

My relief is nothing but a brief, warm wave. Because the closer he gets, the more real he becomes. Memories of him fill my mind, mocking me for feeling hope. I’m trembling by the time he stops in front of me.

“Wh-what are you doing here?”

I wish my voice didn’t quaver.

I also wish I hadn’t left my apartment tonight.

“I have a gift for you,” he says.

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