Page 43 of Phantom’s Mate

And then it was gone.

Britt pushed on. “Maybe I’m not the only one who has to face up to the pain of my death. What about you? What are you afraid to face up to?”

His eyes went cold. “Nothing,” he said. “But this—you and me—was never real. Once we find your sister, you’ll go into the light, wherever humans go, and have your soul’s happily ever after.”

He said bitterly, “And I’ll still be here, trying to decide if I want to stay with a crew who has everything I don’t, or move on to an afterlife where there’s nobody waiting for me. The only thing I can do is take down fucking Jax, and get those dragon artifacts back, before they take out another village with them.”

He walked to the door. “So I’m going to finish the mission. It’s all I’m good at.”

Nick walked away from the cabin, feeling like he’d ripped out his heart and left it behind. But he’d done what he had to do. He couldn’t bond with Britt and keep her here in limbo. It wouldn’t be fair. She deserved more.

He slipped back into the real world, feeling that hot coal burning in his gullet, the anger rushing down on him in waves.

He let the connection to Jax pull him west. It was time he figured out how to take Jax down once and for all.

Chapter 20

After Nick disappeared, Britt sat on her porch steps and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging herself.

She felt bruised all over from the things Nick had said. But that look in his eyes…

It was like having a door into his soul—because it was a twin to hers. He’d never had anyone to count on, never had anyone who loved him more than anything.

So he got tough and hard and never let anyone in. And when he thought she was going to leave him, he’d pushed her away.

Even so, he was still willing to help her find her sister, to finish her unfinished business and move on.

He’d help her because he wanted her to be happy—but he was angry because he didn’t think she’d ever choose him, if she had another choice. He believed he wasn’t good enough.

But he was wrong. He didn’t fail at everything he did. His crew knew his worth. They respected him.

They loved him.

She loved him. She’d fallen hard and instantly, her heart catapulting into his even though she didn’t even have a heart anymore. Just the memory of one.

But it felt real. It beat for Nick, right now, thudding in her chest and wanting to give him all the things he’d never had a chance to have. Someone just for him, who loved him most and best—someone to hold and to laugh with, to make love to him and spoil him and make him feel cherished, just like he’d made her feel cherished.

And she knew, deep inside, that he loved her too. He was trying to set her free, thinking he knew what was best for her.

She didn’t know what would happen once she found her sister and was able to finally connect her with their family. Maybe she would have to cross over to some other place—but it wouldn’t feel like heaven without Nick.

The thought of being separated from him made her feel like she was drowning, and the thought of him being alone forever broke her heart.

Whatever happened, she knew one thing: she had to keep him from destroying his soul by killing Jax in cold blood.

Which meant she had to break free of this place—and to do that, she had to do the exact same thing she’d told Nick to do.

Face the pain, the fear, the failure—whatever was holding her back from remembering everything about her death.

This dark place she was clinging to wasn’t just about her sister, or the locket. It was about her.

Brittany left the cabin and walked down to the road, called up the Kraken costume, and sat down by the tree where she’d died.

Closing her eyes, she began to relive her final minutes.

She was at the Halloween party, pushing through a crowd of costumed people looking for Chaz, hardly able to hear anyone talk over the pulse of the music.

She opened a bedroom door and there was Chaz, with the bimbo in the French maid costume. She let the feelings wash over her—shock, hurt, humiliation. All her plans crashing down—how she was going to show him the letter, tell him about her sister.