“I fucking know that,” I snap. “Spare me the details if you don’t want to find your arse right back out on the road.”
Mars lets out a sigh that’s more like a sound of surrender and nods once, slow and heavy. “The accident… it was my fault.”
I blink and blink again, not understanding. “What?”
He finally looks at me. Not angry or defiant, just flat out ruined. “I told Atlas that night about Luna and me. We weregonna make it official. We were going to be something real. He flipped out and said I wasn’t good enough for her. That I didn’t deserve her. We fought hard. It was a screaming match right outside the arena with his parents waiting for him in his car.”
I suck in a sharp breath when I see the storm of broken pain behind his eyes.
“He left after that. Got in the car with his parents and I saw him… I saw the way he drove off, all reckless. He was fucking furious, Tor. I know he was the one behind the wheel. I know I’m the reason he was upset. I lit the fuse. It’s all my fault that they’re dead.”
My throat closes as I start to shake my head. Mars doesn’t even seem to notice.
“I stayed behind and let him go. I was going to go after them, but I thought… maybe it’s better if I give him space. Maybe give it some time and then make things right, but then the call came about the crash, and they were just… gone.” His voice cracks on the last word. He shakes his head, jaw clenched so hard it trembles. "How the fuck could I stay after that? How could I look her in the eye when I killed her whole fucking world? Her brother, her mom, her dad. All of them dead because I wanted to be selfish and love her. I wanted something I didn’t deserve, and she paid the price for that."
Silence swells between us, thick and burning as I stare at him with my hands still clenched on the wheel. I want to scream again. I want to punch him. I want to grab him by the shirt and drag him out onto the gravel and pound on him until my fists give out and then hug him with everything I’ve got. But all I do is slump forward and rub my face with both hands.
"You are the biggest fucking idiot," I mutter, barely loud enough for him to hear.
I can’t look at him and see the devastation that I know is all over his face, so instead, I put the truck back into gear.
He killed himself the day they died. That’s what I see now. The Mars sitting beside me is a ghost. He’s been walking around carrying that shit in his chest for the last two years. Alone, like a goddamn martyr.
And Luna… sweet, stubborn Luna. She never said a word to any of us. Not about what they had together, not about Mars. She’s been holding all of it alone, too. No wonder she shattered.
I grip the wheel tighter, my heart breaking for all of us. I still want to beat Mars bloody for what he did, but I can’t lie to myself and pretend he’s the only one who needs punishment. We all do because we failed him, our friend, just as much as he failed us. In our anger and grief, we just let him go. None of us ran him down and forced him to tell us why. None of us fought for our friend who lost just as much as us if not even more. Because it wasn’t his fault. That accident that fractured all of us, that he's been blaming himself for and punishing himself over, had nothing to do with Mars at all.
The rest of the drive is made in silence. Heavy and cracked at the edges. Two hours later, just outside of our town, a car flashes its lights to wave us down. I slow, pulse ticking in my neck, and ease the truck over. Time to face whatever comes next.
Chapter 60 - Julian
We’re so fucking close.
I can almost taste the air of home as the outskirts of town rise ahead, the skyline a familiar line I used to hate due to its limitations and now ache for like it’s the goddamn holy grail. My fingers grip the handlebars of the bike too tightly, knuckles white beneath my gloves. Reid rides just ahead of me, shoulders tense. I can feel it in both of us, that gnawing need to see Luna. To make sure she’s okay. To get to her before the world tips even further into the abyss. A dragon? A mother fucking dragon? I still can’t wrap my head around that.
The cracked moon looms overhead, bigger than it should be, too close, too wrong. It’s like a giant reminder that nothing is normal, nothing is safe, and whatever magic has bled through the seams of our reality brought more than just these new powers. It brought dangers we haven’t even seen yet.
We hit the last stretch of road leading into town and my heart lifts until I see rows of empty cars and trucks lining both sides of the road like a fucking apocalyptic car show. Doors areleft open, some with windows smashed in, personal belongings scattered across the pavement like breadcrumbs leading to nowhere. I slow, anxiety twisting in my gut. Reid glances over his shoulder and signals for me to follow. We snake through the path between them, engines rumbling low, eyes scanning every shadow, but when we round a slight bend and the road flattens out, our momentum dies.
Roadblock. Barricades across the highway and no way around. Even worse are the soldiers in black gear with rifles raised in our direction. Reid skids to a stop, shooting an uncertain look my way through his open visor, and I pull to a stop beside him, my shoes scraping the asphalt as I plant my feet. My heart slams against my ribs in frustration at the last obstacle standing between us and our goal.
“Fuck this,” I mutter, yanking off my helmet and climbing off the bike.
One of the soldiers steps forward with a hard look on his face. His accent is sharp, British according to the patch on his shoulder. This isn’t the RCMP or the Canadian military. They shouldn’t be here in any capacity.
“This is a restricted area. Turn around and head back.”
“Like hell,” I snap. “We live here. Our families are here.”
“Back up. Now.”
“No,” I growl, stepping closer. “What the fuck gives you the right to block us from our own town? Who the fuck are you people?”
The answer comes in the form of a rifle stock slamming into my gut. Pain detonates in my abdomen, white-hot and breath-stealing. I drop to my knees, gasping, spitting into the dust. Reid shouts my name, but a second soldier grabs him, wrenching his arms behind his back.
“Julian!”
I can’t breathe. Can’t think through the unexpected pain. Rough hands haul me up and drag me off the road. Reid gets the same treatment as our backpacks are stripped off and taken. I try to call my new power, but nothing happens. I can't concentrate with hardly any air in my lungs as they shove us toward a bright yellow school bus already half-full of people.
