Page 39 of The Raven
She was the Angel of Death, cloaked in beauty as she emerged from theflamesof Hell, forcing every person who had wronged her to crawl to her and worship her as their queen.
Pyro’sscreeches tore into the night as thicksmokebillowed from the car, theentirevehicleengulfed by the blaze. But I couldn’t tear mygazeaway fromRaven, and when she reached me, I was unable to stop myself from grabbing her hips andpullingher toward me,slammingmy mouth ontohers.
We devoured each other’s mouths asPyro’sscreams fellsilent, and the onlysound that surrounded us was the crackles of fire andmetaltwisting from the heat.
When we parted, Raven’s cheeks were flushed red, and my breath came out in short spurts. “Only one left,” I whispered, cupping her cheek.
She nuzzled into my hand as if she was craving my touch as much as Ineededhers.
“One left,” she replied, sadness filling her tone.
Unspoken words lingered between us. One left, and then it was over.Ravenwould be gone.
“Do you know whereGrimis?”I said instead of what I really wanted to say.
I don’t want to go on without you.
“No. Myravenis looking for him, but he’s hiding somewhere.”
“What do we do?”I asked, my ears pricking with the faint sounds of sirensringing in thedistance. It was time for us to go.
“We force him out of the shadows.”
I Can't Say Goodbye
The Raven
Thick black smoke billowed into theair, the flames from the fire consuming the Vipers’ warehouse, turning the early morning sky into beautiful shades of reds, oranges, and yellows.
After we’d leftPyroand his car to burn to a crisp, we drove in silence to thewarehouse. Luckily,Mason’scarwasn’ttoo badly damaged from where he plowed intoPyro; otherwise, it would have been a long walk back.
He waited patiently as I poured gasoline over the place, hisinjuredlegspreventinghim from helping. I wished I could say I lit the match and watched theflamesgo up with a smile on my face, but reality was sinking in. Halloween was upon us. My time was nearly up.
DespiteMason’sapartment being on the other side of town, the fire was bigenough that it could be seen from miles away. I watched from his balcony, imagining firefighters tackling the blaze, trying, butfailingto get it under control.
Good. By the time the fire was extinguished, theWarehouseof Hell would beno more. One lessreminderof theVipers’ existence and the misery they unleashed on the town.
Masonshowered, desperate to get the stench ofsmokefrom his clothes andhair, giving me time alonetoreflect.
Reflectthat I only had one more day left on this earth.Reflectthat we onlyhad one more day together. Regardless of whether I succeeded in killingGrimor not, as soon as the clock struck midnight, I would leave the mortal plane.
Leave Mason.
Yes,Ericwould be waiting for me on the other side, and IlovedEric, I reallydid. But the love I felt for him was different from what I felt forMason. When it came toMason, Ilovedhim with every fiber of my being.
Every inch of my soul.
In life, I’d planned on marryingEric, and ifGrimhadn’t taken that awayfrom us, I would have been his wife, but who knew what else thefuturehad in store for us. There would have always been a part of me thatlovedMason. Maybe one day, we would have been together. Or maybe the three of us would have had a polyamorous relationship.
It was afuturethat I would never know.
Tearswelled in my eyes, griefconsumingme for what had been so viciouslystolen, but also at the prospect that soon, I would have to saygoodbyetoMason.
How was I supposed to saygoodbyeto my soulmate?
I feltMasonbefore he spoke, his calming warmth engulfing me the secondhe appeared in the doorway.
“Any sign of him?”he said.
