I blinked.Fuck.“Sweetie, I think I should call someone for you.”
“I can smell you. I can tell it’s you.”
I hadn’t zapped her good enough. It occurred to me that I could zap her again in that moment, but I didn’t. She reached for my hand, but I pulled it back. I was going to try to convince her.
“What is your name?”
“You know my name,” she shot back. “I remember. It’s like a foggy dream. We held each other, but I remember. You were in my house, in my bed. I know it’s true.”
It was hard to continue lying to her. “Do you have a car in the parking lot that I can walk you to?”
“If you don’t know me at all, why don’t you leave me alone?”
“I’m concerned for you. You seem troubled. And you’re basically hanging off this enormous bridge. It’s dangerous.”
“Leave me alone,” she said.
I needed to try a different approach. I smiled, fairly certain this guy had a nice enough face. She didn’t smile back. “It’s not every day you see a gorgeous woman dangling precariously over the rail of the Golden Gate.”
“I’m no damsel in distress.”
“No?” I couldn’t take my eyes off of her mouth.
She came closer.What is she doing?She leaned forward.
“Kiss me, Lucian,” she whispered near my ear. “I want you to kiss me, but I want it to be Lucian.”
I couldn’t control it. I couldn’t stop myself. I couldn’t deny her.
When I left the stranger’s body and revealed myself to her, our mouths collided. We were kissing, our tongues twisting, our hands going everywhere. I spread my wings as far and wide as I could to wrap them around us as we kissed. We were cloaked, invisible to the rest of the world. Only Evey could see that we were cocooned by a curtain of black feathers.
She pulled away from my mouth, breathless. She was putty in my arms.
“I want you,” she said. “I want you inside of me.”
Zack’s voice echoed in my mind.The only way you can be together is to take her out.
“Did you hear me? I want to be with you,” she said before kissing me again.
I pulled away. “Like have sex?”
“Yes. That, and I want to be with you forever. I don’t know how I know that. I just do. I’m in love with you, aren’t I? And you did something to me?”
“It’s a mind trick, Evey. You’re meant to feel that way toward me.” We were still huddled inside my wings.
“If we can’t be together, I’ll jump and you won’t be able to stop me. I can feel in your fingertips how much you love me.”
I touched her cheek and ran my fingertips down her jawline. It was true. Every cell in my body ached for her.
“Ahh, touch me everywhere, Lucian, please.”
I kissed her hard. Her legs gave out. I held her body to mine. “Do you trust me?” I asked.
“More than anyone.”
It pained me to hear that, knowing what I was about to do.
I flew up off the bridge, still holding Evey. She nestled into my chest like a sleeping baby, and I pressed my mouth to hers. She opened her eyes as we began falling fast toward the water. There was no fear in her body… yet. We kissed as we plummeted under the surface of the rigid bay water. Down and down we went, still kissing. I knew she wasn’t breathing. I wasn’t breathing either, but I could hold my breath for fifteen minutes—long enough to end Evey’s life as a human.
