My hand shook as I read the letter three more times. I wanted to convince myself I was missing something or interpreting the note incorrectly, but it was clear as day: Gage had left me.
I lifted my gaze to Drea, her features blurry through the veil of unshed tears.
“He’s… gone…”
She nodded, her lips pulling into a frown. “I’m so sorry, Tatum.”
The first tear slipped from my eye and Drea quickly folded me into her arms.
“Why would he do this?” I asked as Drea hugged me and tears slid freely down my cheeks. “Why am I not enough?”
“You can’t think like that,” Drea said. She pulled back to look me in the eyes. “Gage is a totally different person around you. It’s undeniable. Even Jacob has admitted it, and considering his feelings for Gage, that’s a big deal.”
I plopped down on my bed, and Drea sat next to me. “Tatum, it’s clear from the letter that he didn’t leave because of you.”
I sniffed and looked over at Drea. “But he didn’t stay because of me either.”
Drea frowned. “Can you imagine being so powerful your entire life and then nothing? He could suck the light from an entire city block, and fly across town, and do magic, and now…”
“He’s basically human,” I finished for her.
Drea nodded, “I don’t like that he left you in this way, but he’s right that he needs to figure things out. No one is perfect, we all have baggage, but Gage needs to unload some of his before he’stheguy for you.”
“But… he can’t be out there unprotected right now without his powers because Arthur has his talisman back and if he finds out that Gage is alive, I know he’ll go after him.”
Drea straightened, her brow instantly furrowing. “What do you mean Arthur has his talisman?”
Oops. I forgot she didn’t know that I’d eavesdropped on her parents in the subbasement.
I quickly confessed what happened, how I’d overheard the adults talking about Arthur stealing his talisman back the day Skye died. I didn’t bother telling her about how it could have been my fault that the demons were able to portal right into the Lumen Compound. Truthfully, with all that had happened, I’d mostly forgotten about that part myself, and it was hardly the most important thing to happen today.
“Talisman or not,” Drea said when I finished, “Gage is aware how dangerous his father is. Probably more aware than any of us. He’s not stupid and is going to do whatever he can to stay off of Arthur’s radar.”
All I could do was hope she was right. I tried to put myself in Gage’s shoes then. If my dad almost killed me and I woke up in Avalon stripped of powers and then had my wings ripped off, would I come back and just jump into a relationship?
No. No I wouldn’t.
I sighed as the gravity of the situation hit me. My happily-ever-after with Gage seemed impossible right now.
“Try to get some rest, okay?” She squeezed my shoulder.
I nodded, the shock of Gage leaving me after he just got back fully sank in about two minutes after I showered and crawled into bed. Everything Drea said about Gage was probably right, but that didn’t make the heartbreak any less.
If you’ve moved on, I’ll accept that.
How long was he planning on being gone? His words played out in my head as I sobbed into my pillow, and Drea pretended she couldn’t hear me. It was a long time before I slept.
* * *
When I opened my puffy eyes the next morning, I told myself I wasn’t going to shed another tear over Gage Alston. He was damaged. Fine. I got that, and I’d accepted him anyway. What I couldn’t accept,wouldn’taccept, was that he kept pushing me away.
Part of me wanted to run after him just to smack some sense into him. The other part of me wanted to shut down emotionally and never speak of him again.
“Yo, Tatum. Wait up!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Dash jogging to catch up with me. I’d just left the Lumen Compound and was only half a block from the dorms, but I’d hoped to slip away unseen. I knew Aurelia wanted to see me this morning, but there was something I had to do first.
“I’m sorry about Gage,” Dash said when he reached me, matching my steps so we walked side by side.
