Page 64 of Ethereally Redeemed

I hope that bastard has keys to these uncomfortable cuffs somewhere. Lifting my hands from his chin, I drag them back up above his lifeless body and search for the key. At first, I can’t find it, until I do, and I unlock my own cuffs.

Without wasting another second, I crawl through the front seats, carefully avoiding the airbags that deployed when the car careened into the tree, and manage to unlock the door. I exit the vehicle, nearly losing my balance as I glance around; the woods are eerily silent, but all I can think about is getting back to Naya as soon as possible.

I fucking need her like I need my next breath of oxygen. My head pounds as I begin running as fast as I can in the opposite direction from where we drove, leaving the car and the officerbehind. I push myself to the limit, every inch of me hurting yet pulsing with adrenaline.

I need my little doll.

I need to make it to her.

It feels like I’m running forever, my heart aching with each second I don’t see her.

Not for a second do I dare stop, shifting from sprinting to walking slowly, then to jogging—all to make it back to Grimhill Manor. I memorized all turns, using it to my advantage. Now, when I’ve probably been on the move for hours, my soul soars at the thought of her.

“Naya?” I scream the moment I reach the perimeters of the manor, feeling my body falling toward the ground, exhaustion gripping over me. But I don’t stop screaming her name, hoping, praying that she will be here.

I told her to leave—to run as far away from here as possible, yet there’s a small piece inside me that wishes she didn’t listen to me. That she’s still here.

I’m starting to lose all hope when I suddenly hear branches cracking in the distance, a smaller frame appearing behind the buskage. Her disheveled hair and tear-stained eyes clash with mine, until she’s sprinting toward me.

“Grey!”

She falls before me, scraping her knees on the small stones forming a path.

The world darkens, but I remember what I had to tell her.

“Everlee,” I breathe, my voice weak. “She’s…having a signing in London…”

The world tilts around as the pounding in my head becomes worse. Maybe the car crashed harder than I thought.

Relief sags Naya’s shoulders as she embraces me in her arms, tears falling down to land on my own cheeks as she kisses my forehead. As my words register, a beautiful fucking smilespreads across her lips.

Then blackness seeps into my vision.

Chapter 24

Naya

It’s over.

Those are the only two words I can focus on as I lean my head against Grey’s shoulder, his arm wrapping around me in a secure grip.

Yet I know it’s not over. Only because Emilio Ricci is dead does not mean we’re not still fugitives escaping the law—perhaps even more so now. Even if all my three tormentors are in the pits of hell doesn’t mean I’m freed from them. The scars will always linger, like that extra baggage you can’t get rid of.

Exhaustion has me feeling utterly drained, as if a soul-sucking monster have stolen everything left inside me. It’s hard to believe everything happened yesterday, less than twenty-four hours since I believed I’d lost Grey. A shudder courses through me, and I close my eyes tightly, my nails digging hard into my palms. We’re back in Millvale town after walking for hours.

We had to find shelter in the damned basement at Grimhill Manor for a few hours until Grey restored his energy.My beautiful, broken man.

The look in Grey’s fading eyes as he told me about Everlee’s signing next week has my inside bursting with a newfound energy as I tighten my hold on his hand. A new sort of purpose of life has grown inside me, festering so deep that it has left me with hope of surviving the hell we have lived through.

If only I could see her again, hold her in my embrace, and feel the scent of her sweet, flowery perfume. The longing is so urgent inside me, it feels as if I might pass out—nothing of this feels real, as if I’m living a lucid dream and will soon wake up isolatedat Dankworth Institute.

I found Rebecca after I lost Everlee, and she was the glimmer of a new light I needed. But then I lost her too, and I will never get over the tearing of my soul, the emptiness clawing its way through skin and bone, at finding her dead body hanging from the tree.

I miss them both so much.

The darkness of the night falls over the horizon, bringing a gloomy hue that’s illuminated by the few stars scattered across the sky. I can’t help but stare at it while sitting on a bench by the bus station. It still feels too surreal to be able to do that—the freedom is hard to grasp, and I wonder if I’ll ever get over it. Perhaps it will forever be etched into my mind like a permanent tattoo that leaves its marks and creates scars. Grey wraps a blanket around my shoulders, holding me tight as if he doesn’t dare let me go.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper as I look in awe up at the sky, watching as it lits up like a painting, stars twinkling like diamonds, sparkling with color against the black abyss.

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