Page 227 of Deviant

No one will.

Once I leave this bank, Rowen Hawthorne is no more.

Just a ghost the boogeyman can no longer find.

But instead of telling him what’s really on my mind, I give his hand a shake and leave.

The moment I step out of the bank, I halt my step and take in a deep breath, enjoying the sunlight on my face as I say goodbye to the last remaining survivor ofThe Scourge.

Goodbye, Rowen.

I hope you find peace with the others.

And with that, I leave and head to the airport, not wanting to prolong my stay on this island a second longer than I need to, just in case someone is casing the joint looking for me.

Two hours later, I’m boarding a plane to Costa Rica as Miss Lisa Montgomery, and once we land, then I’ll take a bus to Panama to complete the rest of my well laid out plan.

I’m staring at the window from my seat, when I feel someone sit beside me. The sweet smell of sage and mint hit my senses, causing me to throw my head back to check who my traveling companion for the next few hours will be. I instantly frown when I find one of those frat guys you see in bad college movies sitting beside me. His baseball cap is tipped over his head like he’s trying to sleep, so I can’t get a good look at his face, though by the Hawaiian shorts and crude sexist t-shirt he’s wearing, I doubt I’m missing much. This is the type of assemble David would wear if he ever had a normal life outside of Blackwater Falls.

Gross.

He’s probably going to meet his friends for spring break mostly likely at Costa Rica.

If he only knew that younger men than him, die every year playing a game, then maybe he would look at his privilege differently and not take it for granted by getting boozed up for days on end with his boys. I turn my attention once again to the window, hating that I’ll have to spend the next five hours being tormented by the same cologne my true love once wore.

A few minutes after our flight takes off, I’m so on edge just by breathing in Elias’s scent, that I’m considering calling a flight attendant to ask if anyone is willing to switch seats with me.

“I thought I told you that if we ever got separated, to stay in one spot so I could come find you?” a familiar low timber says.

It can’t be.

“I’ve must have been following your ass across the east coast over five months now. You sure don’t make it easy on a guy to track you down.”

“Elias,” I whisper, not wanting to get my hopes up.

“Luckily for you,” he says before flicking the baseball cap off his face so I could get a good look at him this time. “There isn’t a corner in this world you could hide where I couldn’t find you.”

“ELIAS!” I shout throwing my arms around him, happy tears already falling from my face. “How… when… how?” I ask, never wanting to let go of him again.

“The how is easy.” He chuckles, running his nose up and down my neck. “Remember that time we found that one waterfall, just a day before we reached the mansion? Well if you remember correctly, I climbed all the way to the top, and there I saw behind me an even bigger waterfall a few miles away. I made a point to remember its location just in case I needed an escape plan in the future.”

“But it was so high… there was no way you could have survived,” I say leaning back from our embrace just so I can look at his face.

“Maybe love gave me wings and I flew down,” he jokes wiping my tears from my eyes. “Or maybe I didn’t make it at all, and this is my heaven after having suffered months in purgatory. Because as long as I’ve got you in my arms, then even heaven can’t compare.”

“They told you to kill me, didn’t they? That was the text you got that you didn’t want to show me, isn’t it?” I ask him the one question that has been plaguing me since that night.

“I rather they had asked me to rip my beating heart from my chest. It would have been an easier thing to do.”

“Oh, God, Elias! I’ve missed you so much. So much,” I cry before pressing my lips to his, needing his warmth to confirmthat this is not a dream, that my love is actually here with me—alive and well.

He lets out a low groan and breaks our kiss a little too quickly from my liking. He then surprises me yet again by standing up from his seat and extending his hand for me to take.

“Now, Roe… by my count this flight is going to last about five hours or so. I say let’s find someplace quiet on this plane, so you can give me the proper hello I’ve been dreaming of since the night I died for you?”

With a smile as big as the love I have in my heart for this man, I slide my hand in his and let him lead the way.

Because for Elias… there is nowhere I wouldn’t go.

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