I know what is coming. I can feel it in my bones. It’s like a car crash I can see approaching, but there is no way to avoid it. Part of me always knew that Gray would discover the truth one day. But I never wanted it to be like this. Not like this. Anything but this.
“You are far stronger than him!” declares Blondie.
Fuck this cockwomble. I’ve never wanted to punch anyone in the face more. He is destroying my world with six little words. Six nails in my coffin. As if it is nothing to him. Beneath his contempt or care.
“Is it true?” whispers Gray.
Oh fuck, the way my chest is hurting, I think I’m about to have a heart attack. I give Gray a nod since I can’t prise my tongue from the roof of my mouth.
Gray stares at me. So many emotions flowing through his beautiful eyes. None of them good. I watch in horror as silent tears start to fall. I want to lean forward and kiss them away. I want to fix everything and make it better. But I can’t. I’m the one that did this. I’m the one who has hurt him.
“It was to keep you safe,” I croak.
Gray draws in a shuddering breath that shakes his slender shoulders. His expression can only be described as devastated. Oh my gods. This is awful. What have I done? How can I undo it?
“You were so lost and damaged. You could have hurt so many people!” I wail, pleading for him to understand.
He just stares at me and cries silently. I would do anything for his forgiveness. Anything at all. Surely he can see that?
Blondie’s friend, the dark-haired demon, walks over to Gray. He pulls him out of my bed and into his arms for a tight embrace. Gray clings onto him and starts to sob out loud. Huge wracking sobs that sound as if he is breaking. Breaking all over again when I was only just beginning to put him back together.
Blondie waves his hand regally, and a portal appears on my bedroom wall. The scents of sulfur and spice flow out of it. There is a doorway to Hell in my bedroom and Gray is about to step through it.
I’ll never see him again. Never hear him purr. I have only ever seen a handful of his smiles and I was so looking forward to coaxing more out of him.
I’ve only known him for such a short time, I don’t understand how he has come to mean so very much to me, but he has. He is my everything. I want him. Need him. I want to be with him. I want to settle down with him. Nothing else in this world holds any allure.
Gray is my life. My heart. My love.
He is stepping into the portal now, held by the dark-haired demon. My chest feels as if it is on fire. I force my ribs to move, my lungs to suck in air. Nothing has ever been more important.
“Gray! I love you!” I yell with all my might.
The portal winks out of existence. All three demons have gone. Gray has left me. I am alone.
Did he hear me?
Or was I too late?
Chapter twenty-six
Sammy’s face is swimming before me. All blue eyes and blond hair. Not the dark that I want to see. I lift up my hand and another blast of whiskey burns my throat. Why is Sammy here and not Gray? It’s not fair.
“Mal!” yells Sammy, far too loudly.
“What?” Is that really my voice? It sounds so slurred.
Sammy sighs. “Did you hear a word that I said?”
“Nope,” I say as I take another swig of whiskey.
Where the fuck has the bartender gone now? My row of glasses are empty again. He is a useless cunt. I told him to keep me going.
“I said, a bunch of people came to the house looking for you.”
Oh. Shit. That’s not good. I squint to see if it makes Sammy any less blurry. It doesn’t.
“Are you okay?” I demand.
