I hop off the table, stumble, but use her sadness to stabilise. She’s frantically digging through her pockets again, looking for the stone to flit. The stone I know she left on the table at the entrance.
“No,” I say, making her freeze, hand still in a pocket. Her eyes slowly rise to mine. “You can’t put this off forever, Kacey. We’re doing this today.”
“But…” She steps a little closer, voice small. “What if it’s too much? For you? For me?” More tears slip down her cheeks. “What if we can’t handle it?”
She isn’t just crying for me anymore. All her emotions, the remorse, the regret and guilt, it’s for the both of us.
“We need a signal,” I say quietly, still rubbing my chest. “Something only we’ll recognise. So that if it gets too much, we can use it.”
She slowly nods, wetting her lips and furrowing her brows in thought. “Like a word?”
“Something more subtle,” I say. “Like an action maybe? Something no one else would really notice.”
“What about if I just shake my head?”
I laugh lightly. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s very subtle, K.”
Thankfully, she sees the funny side, chuckling too before suggesting, “A thumbs down?” She tries it.
I bite my lip to stop another laugh. “I think thatmightbe worse.”
She nods, lips pulled flat before glancing down at her gloved hand. Then she opens it, examining all five fingers, gasping out, “Pinky.”
I watch her make a fist, only leaving her pinky extended.
I smile. “Perfect. Just… don’t hold it up like that.” I make a downward gesture, and she lowers it to her side. “That’s better, nice and subtle. When—ifyou do that, then it’s time to go.”
Kacey nods again, wiping away remnants of tears with the heel of her hand. “Thanks, J. I seriously couldn’t do this without you.”
“You could,” I reassure her, “but I’m glad I could be here with you. You know I won’t let anything happen to you, right? I’ll be here, if you need me.”
She grins then, almost too wide, and it adds a tinge of beautiful colour to her cheeks.
I frown. “What? Why are you smiling like that?” I awkwardly laugh, rubbing the back of my neck.
“It’s nothing.” She shakes her head, still smiling. “Just sounded like someone I know.”
I don’t get to ask who because—
Fuck.
My knees buckle. I stumble, nails digging into my chest that suddenly feels on fire.
Holyfuck.
Kacey’s saying something, but her voice is muffled, then I can’t hear anything. All my senses engulfed by the agony erupting from my chest.
I step back clumsily, then take another. Again, and again until I stumble into something hard and—
Everything vanishes.
All light erased.
Then, darkness pours in, and I fall into the Dark Realm.
He’s here.
I haven’t heard that voice in eleven days.
