Page 458

Stunned and no longer in control of myself, I turned toward the closed front door as the ice froze the ground beneath me and climbed up the wall of Quentin's house as if it wanted to get to him.

I wanted to get to him.

There was nothing else I wanted.

But there it fell. My frozen heart. And in the next instant, it hit the floor. Shattered. Into a thousand pieces.

“No,” escaped my dry throat. “No. Please...”

I fell against the door, on which sharp ice shards immediately grew on the surface, spreading rapidly.

“Please, let us talk about it...”

My voice broke.

“Please, Erik...” I laid my head against the door, which continued to freeze over. “Please.”

I didn't know if I uttered those words as I slid down the door. I couldn't even feel my knees anymore, only the ice that creaked as it climbed up the door.

Someone grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me up.

I looked up at the tall young man in the black overcoat who seemed to want to take me away from here.

“No, Miles,” I sobbed. “Leave me here.”

“Absolutely not,” he replied, brown strands of hair falling across his face as he pulled me away from the door and supported me.

Someone else appeared to my right. Larissa.

“Please, leave me here,” I begged, but neither of them left my side.

I wanted to collapse, I didn’t want to exist anymore, because without Erik, there was nothing left that made sense to exist for.

I lost him. I lost the only light in my life. And I knew that sooner or later the darkness would consume me.

Chapter 61

Quentin

Fear

NF

My trembling hand closed around the first plate it could find, and I threw it with all my strength against the wall, where it shattered, sending shards in all directions.

This isn't real.

Another plate. More shards.

I clenched my teeth until my jaw tensed.

J is out there somewhere.

Light blonde strands fell into my vision as I ripped the next plate out of the dishwasher, swung it back, and smashed it against the wall with a scream of pain, as if the wall was to blame for the storm of chaos that was raging mercilessly through my chest at that moment.

This time, a shard hit me on the cheek, but nothing could compare to the tearing inside my chest.

Julie... J...