Page 114 of Priest and his Anarchist

My eyes fly open, and before I can catch my thoughts, my body flies forward and my thighs burn when I kick off my shoes and do the one thing I know will help me.

I run.

I hit a hard wall of darkness. I scream when a hand covers my mouth. No. No. No. I can do better. I can do better. I need more time. Time. Time is all I need to complete the finale. I have a strong mind. They haven’t seen it yet—because—because—because I can’t!

Time is something I don’t have, and that’s become inherently obvious. What was the last thing I remember, damnit. What was it!

We were at the race. Halen screamed. Priest carried me to the car. “She reminds me of Micaela.” I swallow roughly, but my throat closes. I stand straight, looking up to the wall in front of me. Surrounded by concrete and computers, Del Morts has never felt so suffocating.

“Hello, baby…”

I spin around to the voice, afraid that I’m hearing things when I see Mom and Dads standing in the middle of the room.

My knees buckle as I fall to the floor in slow motion. The relief to see them too heavy, but everything is too heavy. Everything.

“Shhh…” Mom catches my fall but lowers us both to the down. “I know. I know.”

The pain of not being good enough isn’t what’s hurting. The sobs that leave my throat feel like razor blades, and she swipes the tears from my eyes, her own so similar to mine.

“She’s back, isn’t she?”

Mom’s smile falls, her face slowly morphing to Nate’s.

“Yes.” Nate pulls me in and kisses my head. “She is. And she’s back for good. Be smart.”

“Come on. Let’s take you home for a bit…” Father scoops me up in his arms, his footsteps heavy and loud. I trace the Kiznitch tattoo on his chest.

He pauses, but I don’t have the energy to look. My nerves are burned out, and my world is bleak. They fed me hope, hope that she wouldn’t come back, but now she is.

And he loves her. Oh, but he loves her.

“Let her rest. She doesn’t have long before she’s gone.”

Mom’s touch is on my cheek. “Shhhh. It’s all in your head, baby. You’re always still going to be here. Rest…”

What? I slip deeper, and deeper…falling deeper, and deeper—everything goes black.

—

“Luna!” The bite of her slap stings my cheek, and I fly up from the back seat, gasping. River’s worry lines disappear when my eyes land on her. “Thank fuck! We need to leave. Right now. Do you trust me?”

Staring down at my hands, the dream long since disappearing in the back of my head. Priest’s sharp words directed at Nate and his mother outside the tinted car windows, a mumble of cuss words.

“Of course I trust you! What happened?” My eyes collide with hers, the faint sting of whatever got me on my neck disappearing. Jesus. Nate and his mother—and fucking Bas!

“Are you ready for everyone to know?” Her eyes search mine, and it hits me at once.River has known all along.

I shake my head. “No. No, it’s too soon. Is she back?”

River doesn’t smile. “She is. It’s why Bas called it in. A mistake on his part, truthfully, since I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect Priest to barge in and save you.”

The weight of reality lands on me at once. I’ve lost him anyway. I knew this day was coming, that my part in his life wasn’t forever, it was just afor now, yet I did it anyway.

I fell for the boy who would never catch me because he’d always be in love with her.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

priest

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