Page 41 of Tall, Dark and Haunted

His voice is raspy, and I know that his mind is back in our hotel room. But how can he be thinking about sex right now? He’ll never see me naked again.

“It’s not fair,” I whisper. I almost don’t want them to hear me. I feel guilty just thinking it, let alone saying it. I don’t want to convince them to do the wrong thing—no matter how much I want to live.

“I know, Rhia.” Topher nods his head solemnly. “I’m sorry.”

“I wish—” I stop, not really knowing what I’m saying. I wish I had been alive when they were? I wish we had a little more time? A lot more time? Nothing I could say would even begin to put into words the longing I feel for them.

We sit down on the castle steps, but no one says a word. Each of my mates is touching me in some small way, desperately trying to prolong the time we can enjoy the pleasure of a simple touch. A brush of a finger along my jaw, a kiss to my cheek, a hand at my nape, a thigh against my thigh. Small touches I reciprocate, the sort that people would often miss if it hadn’t suddenly become the most important thing in the world to them.

My head is resting on Red’s shoulder, my eyes closed, when I hear the deputy mayor shout, “Arrest them!”

She stands a short distance away, a small crowd of Silver Springs residents around her. And several policemen are making their way towards us.

“That really isn’t necessary,” Topher says with stern politeness. His head is raised in a proud, regal sort of way, the result of being raised as an aristocrat. “We’re willing to go peacefully.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” the deputy mayor says, although she eyes us nervously as if she actually expects us to jump up and put a stop to whatever the coven plans to do. She doesn’t trust us. But then again, why would she? Who wouldn’t want to live, if given the choice?

Resigned to my fate, I sit quietly while the coven makes a circle around the castle with what appears to be salt. When they’re done, they link hands and begin to cast their spell in a language that I don’t understand. The magic ripples through the air, and I cling to my mates as tightly as I can. I try to memorize how it feels to hold them. The warmth of their skin.

“This is it,” Red says under his breath, squeezing my hand.

Nodding my head, I tell myself that we’re doing the right thing. That we’re saving Silver Springs. We’re heroes. But right now, I really don’t care.

I care that I’ll never get to live with my mates. We’ll never have cubs. Or travel the world. We’ll never grow old. Or do any of the other things mates do.

Tears sting my eyes, and I have to push those thoughts aside. Those things will never happen now.

“I love you,” each of my guys tells me in turn. Their mouths drop to mine, kissing me with the passion of dying men. Men who know that this is their last kiss.