Page 237 of Shifting Hearts 1
I spun on her, my chest heaving, my hands trembling with fire I couldn’t unleash. “And then what, Gabs? Huh? We will never be like before. I’m not her!”
Her eyes blazed, stubborn as ever. “Yes, you are. You’re still her. You’re just a bit fucked up right now.”
I laughed, sharp and hollow. “A bit? Try completely. My life is one endless run. You don’t believe me? Ask Em.”
But even as the words burned out of me, my lips still tingled with raw passion, still aching more than ever for Jason. His kisslingered like a brand, and no matter how much I hated myself for it, all I wanted was more.
Jace’s grunts broke into raw screams, jagged and feral. The hiss of water reached my ears, but it was useless. No stream, no ice, could cool the fire ripping through his body. I knew that pain. The lock pass wasn’t merciful, not even for immortals.
My fangs itched against my gums. Every sound of his agony stabbed into me, too sharp, too close. My hearing magnified it, dragged it into my skull until it was unbearable.
“I can’t do this. I can’t listen to this.”
The words ripped out of me as I bolted for the door. My body blurred across the snow, every stride fast, inhuman, the night air slicing through me. The moon painted everything silver, cottages glowing like pale ghosts as I flew past, Gabby’s heartbeat pounding close behind mine. She always followed.
The forest swallowed me whole. Shadows stretched like claws across the frozen ground, but I didn’t stop. My legs gave out, knees slamming hard against the earth.
He was going to see everything. Every kill, every night drenched in blood and fire. The monster I had been, the monster I still was, no matter how hard I tried to drown her.
A raw and violent scream tore from me, shaking the trees, rattling the silence. It carried on the night air like a warning to the world.
Nothing would ever be the same again.
FIVE
JASON
The first two years of her jumping back were brutal to witness. At first, when she spoke to me so often, I almost believed she could see me. I let myself hope. But then I realized she wasn’t talking to me, not really. She knew I was gone. She was only entertaining the idea, keeping herself company.
And yet, I loved it. Loved pretending she was speaking to me. It didn’t feel so lonely.
She broke every rule. She made peace with her brother, even told him what he was. She showed him the cages, those few hidden in the Free State, and he finally believed her. She fixed their bond, stitched it back together like only she could.
Then, just as she once said she would, she graduated and went backpacking through Europe. My chest ached when she reached Italy, so close to me without knowing it. She never knew about the property there. Instead, she slipped onto a freight ship bound for the U.S.
She had no abilities. Nothing to shield her. Still, she whispered to me at night before sleep, confiding secrets as if Icould answer. I wished she could feel me, see me, but I knew she never would.
When her food and water finally ran out, she scavenged in the gray dawn, stealing what she needed before crawling back into that crate of toys to hide. I didn’t know how she did it. I would have lost my mind being cooped up that long. But she was losing hope. I could feel it.
At last she reached U.S. soil. She leapt from the ship, swam to shore, changed into dry clothes, and survived in shelters, trading odd jobs for scraps of food. She kept telling me in the dark how hard it was. Now, I saw it with my own eyes.
She searched everywhere, every place she thought might lead her to me. Evading authorities more than once. I understood why she went to Steven. But sitting through it, watching her in that diner, his gaze crawling over her like she was prey, twisted my stomach.
I saw him leave. Saw him make the call. And in that moment, I realized just how fucking stupid I had been. Nobody knew about that diner. About our arrangement. I should have gone the second he phoned.
Instead, he took her to Adrienne’s coven. When I saw her again, red irises burning in her eyes, my blood boiled. How could Steven kept this from me? It was the worst betrayal.
“You should leave,” I whispered, lying beside her on her bed. She couldn’t hear me. “This isn’t the place for you.”
Heaven knew how badly I wanted to touch her. To tell her she wasn’t alone. That I still knew her. That I never stopped loving her.
She never made friends, but one vampire noticed her. Sonia. She was young, maybe Dom’s age, but old enough to carry herself among humans. Still, her eyes burned red, proof she fed from them. Something about Morgan drew her in anyway. Maybe she saw someone she’d lost long ago.
“You don’t belong here, Natasha,” Sonia told her. “Why are you doing this? Why do you want this life?”
Morgan huffed a small laugh. “I never wanted it, Sonia. I need it.”
“Need it for what?”
