Page 106 of Wreckage

“I want to marry her,” he said finally.

My stomach twisted. “Elena?”

Troy nodded, resolute, confident, unshaken.

“She belongs to both of us,” he murmured. “And I want to make it official.”

I swallowed, staring into the flames. I wanted that, too. But first—we had to survive this.

Troy stood, pulling the pill bottle from his pocket and holding it out to me, his hand shaking violently.

“If I’m not back in a week,” he whispered, “split these with Elena and end it.”

I took them with numb fingers, my throat too tight to speak. Instead, I opened the bottle, poured several into my palm, and handed them to him.

“If it gets too bad,” I murmured, voice breaking, “take them. Come with me.”

Troy’s breath hitched, eyes glassy, raw, and full of things I didn’t want to name. We hugged, holding on like we would never see each other again.

Chances were, we wouldn’t.

When we climbed into bed, Elena between us, her body warm and soft and ours, I knew?—

This was the last time.

Chapter 37

Elena

Iwoke to silence—a kind that was too loud, too suffocating, and too empty. The cold surrounded me, but nothing compared to the ice inside my chest.

I turned over, my heart already pounding, my stomach twisting violently?—

And then I saw it.

Troy was gone. His bag was gone. I knew this meant more than him trying to scout.

A choked sob ripped from my throat before I could stop it, my body lurching up as my breath came in sharp, panicked bursts.

I felt like I was free-falling, spiraling, unraveling all over again. It was like the ground had just vanished beneath me, leaving me to plummet straight into nothingness that our lives had become.

My gaze landed on Adrian.

He was sitting by the window, his back to me, his arms crossed, his gaze locked on the wilderness outside.

He didn’t turn immediately. Didn’t say a damn word to me. It was almost like old times again. But I felt it. The way his body tensed at my sob, the way his shoulders curled inward slightly like he was preparing for the worst. Like he already knew what was coming.

When he finally looked at me, his green eyes were shadowed, and for a brief, fleeting second, I saw the same grief I felt buried deep inside them.

But it wasn’t enough. Not anymore. They lied to me. They betrayed me. And now Troy was gone.

Everything I had left, everything I thought was real, was gone.

I let out another sob and collapsed onto the raft, my arms wrapping around myself, my breathing in sharp, uneven gasps.

I wanted to disappear. I wanted to vanish into the snow like I never existed. I wanted to die.

Adrian moved toward me slowly, cautiously, like I was a wounded animal that might lash out if he got too close.

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