He lookedexactlylike him. His hair was shorter, and the lean muscle on his body was on display beneath a black tank top, but he had the same smile, the same dimple at the corner of his cheek. The same dark lashes that fluttered rapidly as he took in what he was seeing.
He looked just like him, and yet I hadn’t seen such a wrecked expression on Caiden’s face.
Brother.
A twin.
The best parts of me.The name he couldn’t say because we’d been trapped in a moment and he knew I wouldn’t hear it. So he’d kept me there to wait.
Forafter.
Something in my chest twisted—sharp, painful,infinite.
Inevitable.
This was the after. This was the promise.
Hewas everything.
The vase he was holding crashed to the ground, and like some fucked-up twist of fate, the red petals fluttered into the air, spilling between the two of us.
“No wonder I couldn’t pull anything before.” Wren stood behind me, and in his fingers was a shining red arrow. Exactly what I’d begged for, here now that it was too late.
“I don’t understand, I?—”
“Who thefuckare you?” the ghost in front of me snapped, and I noticed his eyes were a vivid green—the same color as the stars in Caiden’s dream—viridian disdain pouring down on me and drawing the truth from my chest before I could stop myself.
“I came for your brother.”
“Gods, Sephtis. Why can heseeyou? Why are you stillhere?”
That was… a good question. Why could he see me? It shouldn’t have been possible, unless he was close to death himself. And yet…
My hand lifted to my chest—to the place Wren had shot me, to the Ardor that still poured through my veins… and I came away with a soft red petal. The field of flowers.
They aren’t my favorite. The flowers weren’t here before you came.
Oh… gods…
“Sephtis?” Wren’s voice was cautious, because he could see it.
The pain on my face.
“Wren—”
“I can’t take it back,” he whispered. His voice was full of pity as the human stepped forward and his hands connected with my chest in a hard shove.
“What did you do?” As soon as he touched me, my body flooded with heat.
Cole. His name wasCole, and Caiden thought he was all the best parts of him. All the pieces he wanted me to stay for.
To love.
Fuck.
“Wren.” I said it again, because everywhere the man touched me, my body felt like it was on fire. Like it wasfeelingfor the first time.
“What did you do to Caiden?”
