Could the angry waters below catch me like they did my tears and wash away everything I was feeling?
Could the deep, raging river take the pain away?
Could the water rid me of the weight crushing my chest?
Could eternal sleep give mepeace?
Gripping the railing harder, I stepped closer to the metal railing to peer farther over the edge.
“Serenity.”
I froze and took a shaky breath. That voice. It still sent a shiver of warmth down my spine and a tender caress to my soul. If only Dante’s voice didn’t hurt now, too.
Chapter 29
Dante
I STOOD IN THE SHADOWS behind Serenity as she looked at the river under the bridge. I’d never been so glad that I was an Incubus, able to travel through space to whomever I had tasted pleasure from. It let me find Serenity in an instant when I’d come to my senses about getting her back, though I was surprised when I’d traveled through shadows to find her here in the cold late February air. Then again, we hadn’t spoken in weeks. I didn’t know what she was doing these days, and that fact made an ache form in my chest. I looked around to ensure no one was nearby before I emerged from the shadows.
“Serenity,” I called softly.
She inhaled hard, and her shoulders stiffened. I held my breath like she seemed to be doing. Finally, the tension in her frame eased, and her hands slipped off the railing.
“Serenity, I—”
She turned around. My blood ran cold. Time froze as my eyes tried but struggled to process what I was seeing.
Face covered in endless tears.
A swollen purple and bleeding eye.
Red fingerprints on her pale throat.
Reality caught up with me all at once, and I rushed forward, losing my grip on my human form as I snarled, “Who did it?Who fucking did this, Serenity? Was it Bradley? I swear to all that’s unholy, I’ll—”
“Do nothing,” she finished flatly, her sad and hardened gaze never wavering from mine. “You won’t do anything. You aren’t involved anymore. What happens to me isn’t your business.”
I wanted to shout that she was wrong. I wanted to say to Hell with not being involved. She’d beenbeaten, and I wanted to fucking destroy the person responsible. But she had a wall up, and I couldn’t blame her for that. I couldn’t blame her for pushing me away right now.
“Please,” I croaked, balling my clawed hands at my sides to keep from reaching out to her. “Let me help you. If you’ll let me explain, I—”
Long-held fear and silence grasped my tongue. I’d appeared here, ready to grovel at her feet. I’d been ready to confess what happened to me and how that had shaped my feelings toward humans, ultimately influencing how I’d treated her. Yet all the words I’d prepared stayed lodged in my petrified throat.
Serenity sighed and looked at the ground between us. “You know … Even after finding out how you really feel, I stand by what I said. I still don’t see you as a monster. I wish I did. I wish I saw you as some bad guy that I could hate. It would make this hurt less. But I don’t hate you. I don’t …”
Unable to stop myself, I reached toward her. “Star—”
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped between clenched teeth. She stepped farther away and fixed her glare on me. “I wasneveryour star.”
Those words stabbed right into where my soul would’ve been if I’d had one. The pain finally got my tongue moving, the words quickly pouring out of me.
“I admit it, okay?” I said helplessly. “I-I lied to you. I saw you at the bar, and when I realized thatscumbagwas your boyfriend,I decided to get involved. I knew he and his friends were messing with you because they found his cheating funny and—”
“You knew?” she gasped. Her eyes widened, and fresh tears filled them. “You knew he was cheating on me?”
She didn’t seem nearly as surprised over her being cheated on as she did about my knowing, which made me wonder if she’d somehow already discovered the prick’s promiscuous ways.
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “I saw him at Harper’s party back in November with someone else and then with that Cassidy chick at—”
