Page 46 of Hardest Hearts

I want to ask what change he had, but it might be best if I just go over and see for myself. “Okay.”

I step out of the darkness to see Joe already at Michael’s side, his hand on Michael. Michael is on the ground, not moving. What is wrong with him?

I hurry over, ignoring the rough rocks beneath my bare feet. I slow as I reach him.

“Michael?” I approach carefully, not sure if he has lost memories or if the changes are visible. There’s something wrong with the shape of him. He is sprawled on the ground.

He growls before I get close. “You stay away from me. I’m better off without you.”

“She didn’t do this. Whatever you were thinking and feeling did.” Joe looks up, his face pinched with worry.

“I didn’t do this to myself.” He pushes up. His shoulders are bigger and covered in thick plates like armor. They cover his chest completely. He has gotten heavier, wider, and the horn that took the place of his eye has thickened to destroy the bridge of his nose. He has become like a rhino.

He glares at me. “I saved you, but you kept choosing him.” He points at Joe. “You prefer him to me.”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

“When have you ever chosen me? I remember you at school, and it was never me you went out with. The only reason you let me touch you was because you wanted something.” He takes a step toward me, and Joe steps in front of me.

I put my hand on his back and step to the side. I don’t need Joe to protect me from Michael. “That was true the first time, but then I got to know you. Then you remembered who you were. I have made mistakes and bad choices the same as everyone does. But I don’t need to punish myself for them anymore.”

Is that why I’d never broken up with Bret? I’d made a mistake and believed I had to live with it no matter what? “Joe figured out how to let the past go. I think that’s what helped him change back.”

I glance at him. The long tail hanging out the back of the purple robe is the obvious reminder of what he was.

Theo comes over, his shadow drifting over the rocks. “There are monsters climbing up. We need to move on.”

“Let them come,” Michael snarls. “I am sick of hiding.”

“You’re coming with us, and you will find your humanity,” Joe adjusts the bone spike that he’s using to keep the robe closed.

“I thought I was already morecompassionatethan your ex,” Michael sneers. “Why do I need to be more human?”

“Because you can’t climb the spire if you behave like a monster,” Theo says.

“I am a fucking monster. I have been for years. Maybe this is where I belong.”

Tears prick the corners of my eyes. I can’t bear the thought of leaving him, or any of them, behind. “You don’t really believe that, do you? Don’t you want to go home?”

Michael opens his mouth, then closes it. “Why should I return to a place where I have no life, and all I have is responsibility?”

“Because you belong up there. You’re human.”

He shakes his head. “I was dumb enough to be caught up in your desire to go home, but I think it’s all bullshit. I’d rather live than die chasing a dream with someone who isn’t brave enough to embrace who she is. Who she could be.”

I wince at the harshness of his words.

“We need to go now.” Theo crouches. “Climb into my arms.”

“Michael, please.”

“I am, Horn. Run before I eat you and your lover, Prey.”

Joe gives me a shove and I stumble into the shadow. I can’t see through the tears that fill my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

“What happened to him?” What had Theo and Michael talked about?

“Jealousy hardened his heart.” Theo scoops Joe and me up and starts running.

---