He turned his head slowly, and for a second, his eyes glimmered red in the thin spill of starlight. Not green. Not even close to human. Just burning.
I froze. My legs wouldn’t work. I wanted to go to him, but the fear pinned me in place. Not fear for myself. For him.
He didn’t move. Didn’t even blink. Just sat there, hands limp on his knees, breathing so shallow I wasn’t sure he was even alive.
“Don’t,” I managed. The word was barely a whisper. “Please, Cole. Please don’t.”
He blinked slowly. “I wasn’t going to jump,” he said, but his voice was flat. Empty.
I clung to that, because as long as he was talking, he was here.
"I was hoping to fly."
Chapter fourteen
Sudden Death - Overtime where the first goal ends the game.
Phoenix
For a moment I wasn't even sure I'd heard him correctly, and I edged closer, one foot at a time, not daring to get too close in case I spooked him. “Can you come back from the edge? Please?”
He didn’t answer. Just stared at the horizon.
The wind whipped around us, carrying the smell of hot stone and something else. Something sharp, electric, I felt in my bones.
I tried again. “If you’re going to stay out here, at least don’t do it alone.”
He let out a breath. I heard it, shaky and thin. Then, without a word, he slid off the rock, landing heavily. For a second I thought he was going to collapse, but he straightened and hunched over, hair falling into his eyes. Then, abruptly, he sat down.
I let out a sound, half relief, half sob. My knees nearly gave out, but I went to him. Not touching, just close enough that if he reached out, I’d be there.
Ignatius and Keegan stopped a few feet away, silent. Neither of them tried to come closer. It was like they knew this was something only I could do. For a long time, he didn’t speak. I didn’t, either. I just breathed in the heat rolling off his skin, the weird not-smoke scent that clung to him. It made my eyes water at first, but then it was familiar, safe.
After a while, he said, “You shouldn’t have come.”
I shook my head. “Not leaving you alone up here.”
He turned to me. “You were leaving anyway.”
There was so much I had to say. “I panicked because I don’t deserve you. I heard what your dad said and didn't know how to deal.”
He glanced back at Keegan and Ignatius as if noticing them for the first time. “I don’t want to be me anymore. I want to be free, even if that’s bad.”
Ignatius took a step forward. “Son, I can help. You're not on your own.”
Cole glanced back out at the sheer drop that made me feel sick even thinking about it. “I thought it would make me break free of the binding, or if it didn’t, then I wouldn’t have to live like this anymore.”
“This is what your father threatened,” I said, sure but still not understanding. I moved closer to him, the heat rolling off him like a furnace, but Cole got to his feet, took another step back, way too close to the edge.
“I need you safe.”
“Safe?” I huffed out a breath, too shaky to even sound annoyed. “You think I give a shit aboutsafe? I've never had safe.”
He stared at me. Just stared. The red in his eyes was fading, but it was still there. Like he couldn’t quite put the mask back on yet.
I got up and moved closer, not touching but close enough he could if he wanted. “I’m not going anywhere, Cole. Even if you do…whatever you do. You can’t scare me off. Not anymore.”
He looked down at his hands, knuckles scraped raw. “You should, though. You saw what happened on the ice.”
