Wait. Why am I apologizing to him?
“Watch where you’re going,” he muttered irritably, and he stood over her, arms crossed, watching as she struggled to gather her papers before they blew away.
“Youran into me!” she yelled up at him, and then she threw her leg over a page that lifted into the air. Darn the wind.And thanks for your help, Fin.
“Please…” he scoffed. Turning away, he seized a page out of the air. “Hope’s greatest fool, Hailey, you’re pathetic.”
Like she ran into him on purpose! Is that what he thought? What a jerk.
Rushing to her feet, Hailey snatched the paper from his hand. He held it tight, so she had to pull again.
Ask me nicely, he should’ve said, but he only scowled.
Hailey blinked, and for one hopeful moment, she imagined his thumb grazing her hand. Finally, he released the page, and she staggered back.
“I said I was sorry, Fin,” she said, as a traitorous lump grew in her throat.
Dammit.She meant to call him Pádraig. And she didn’t have time for this now. Didn’t he know this was her last day on Earth? Maybe he did, and he didn’t care. The thought pricked her eyes, which welled with tears. She had to get out of there.
Shoving the whole messy pile of notes into her bag, she ran off with her head bowed, eyes fixed on the ground.
You’re a weeping cesspool…Well, yes, she was weeping, but she didn’t think she was infectious waste. His cruel words reverberated in her head, bouncing around, turning over and over.Hope’s greatest fool…
Oh, stop it!Why did she keep torturing herself?Because those words are familiar, her subconscious reminded her. A memory…it was a memory—she’d seen those words before, but where…?
Hailey glanced back, keenly aware that it might be the last time she laid eyes on him. His head was bowed as he trotted off.
“Goodbye,” she whispered.
Fin burst into Asher’s house without knocking, hell-bent on a confrontation that would hopefully end with his death—once and for all, sparing him another second of living with the agonizing heartache that sucked the air from his chest. He’d hurt the only woman he ever loved, and he’d probably lost her forever. Not that he deserved her anyway. He didn’t deserve to even look at her.
“Asher!” he barked, storming from room to room. When the Envoy didn’t answer, Fin bellowed as loud as he could, gritting his teeth, his face hot with rage, “Asher!”
“Where is she?” Asher answered urgently, appearing suddenly in the doorway behind him.
Fin pivoted and lunged at the Envoy. “You listen—”
Asher grabbed his neck and squeezed. “Cobon obscures my vision, Pádraig. He may already have her, where is she?” Asher repeated, his eyes a volcanic fury. He eased his grip enough for Fin to speak.
“I just saw her leaving Eureka—five minutes ago,” he croaked, his voice partially strangled. “She had her books, library?”
Asher tossed Fin to the floor and spun around.
“I’m going to tell her the truth, Asher!” Fin shouted as soon as he caught his breath, and Asher turned back scowling hatefully.
“You will tell her nothing, slave,” he said slowly.
“Suck it, Asher. I won’t miss another second of her life.” He said it with conviction, because hewantedit to be true. Hewantedto stay with her forever. But Asher would never allow it. He’d destroy her, and Fin’s heart would turn inside out. He’d die a thousand deaths if he ever did something to hurt her again. No, this was the end for him. He couldn’t bear to face another dawn without her. He knew what he wanted. An end. And Asher was the only one that could provide it.
“You delay me with your misplaced defiance when her very life is at risk. And you will tell her nothing!”
It was working. He was angry. Maybe even furious. Fin shook his head.
“I’m going to tell her the truth,” he repeated, his voice weary, defeated.
“Wrong answer,Fin.” Asher grabbed him up by his neck again.
“What are you going to do, Asher? Kill me?” He tried to hide the hope in his voice as he egged the Envoy on.
