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Thinking the interruption was possibly a blessing, I swallowed. “Um, well, if you just get me down to the street, I can walk.”
“No fucking way. Come on.” He seized me around the waist and launched into the sky. A startled cry tore from my throat, but within moments, we were soaring, the ground falling away beneath us. His obsidian wings unfurled, their vast expanse blotting out the stars and plunging us into a deeper darkness. Wonder and terror converged tightly in my chest, and we climbed higher.
As the initial shock subsided, I forced myself to inhale deeply, acutely aware of his iron grip on me. The wind whipped through my hair, and the city shrank to a glittering landscape below. When he asked again, I managed to stammer out my address, and in a few more heartbeats, we descended.
My feet touching solid ground once more, I fumbled for my key at the doorstep, still dizzy.
He grasped my arm, spinning me to face him. His lips crashed against mine in a searing kiss that left me breathless and my pulse thundering in my ears.
“I’ll find you,” he rumbled, flying off before I could say goodbye. After watching him shrink into an imperceptible blur in the night sky, I slipped inside, locking the door behind me.
There was no way he would be back.
A guy like that…
Animmortalwho looked like that… who had me screaming from the rooftop within minutes of getting me up there. Literally.
He’d be on to the next girl tomorrow.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Whispers of Freedom
Tess
I swung the frontdoor open with a creak, and my roommate Addie threw herself at me, her arms wrapping around me with a desperate intensity. Her body trembled against mine, her sobs muffled against my shoulder. When we’d said our goodbyes at the front gate of the haunted house, we never expected to see each other again.
We held each other so tight all the air left my lungs, my hands clenched into fists as if I could hold onto this moment forever. Her hair smelled faintly of that mango shampoo she used, joining with the salty tang of our tears. The unspoken relief enveloped the space, along with the lingering smells of damp earth and red wine.
Our tears flowed freely, soaking into each other’s clothes, the world around us blurring into insignificance. I could feel the rapid beat ofher heart mirroring my own, a frantic cadence that slowly calmed as we clung to one another.
Finally, I pulled away, my eyes swollen and my throat tight. I shut the door behind me with a heavy thud, sealing away the horrors of the night. The living room felt almost alien in its normalcy—the soft hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, the faint ticking of the wall clock.
“I really, really need to sit down.” I could still hear Addie’s soft sobs behind me, a reminder of the ordeal we had both survived, but for now, the couch’s embrace and the quiet of our shared space were all I needed.
She sniffled. “I can’t believe you’re back. What happened?”
I ambled to the couch, each step heavy with exhaustion. The cushions sank under my weight as I collapsed onto them, the familiar fabric a welcome comfort.
“So much happened. I need a shower and a week of sleep,” I muttered, feeling the heaviness of exhaustion settle over me like a hex. The room was washed in the soft glow from a table lamp, and gentle shadows played on the walls, creating a cocoon of calm after the chaos.
Standing over me, Addie reached down to the coffee table and muted the TV before picking up her glass of wine, the dark liquid sloshing in the glass as she took a hearty swig. “First, you need to tell me what the fuck happened. Do you want a glass? Is Ivan…?”
“Sure.” I managed a tired grin. “Ivan is gone. Ding dong, the warlock is dead.”
Her eyebrows rose, and she held up a finger, retrieving a wine glass from the kitchen. The sound of her padding across the room and back was breaking the quiet. “How?” Her voice tinged with both disbelief and curiosity as she poured me some wine. The rich aroma filled the air, along with the lingering odor of… me. I really needed ashower.
She peered at me with shock and awe, like I was a ghost. But after what I’d been through, I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all. I accepted the glass, the cool stem a comfort in my hand, and she sat next to me.
“It’s a long story.” I took a sip, the wine’s warmth spreading through me, easing some of the tension. The living room felt surreal, each familiar detail now infused with a new sense of significance. The soft ticking of the wall clock, the muted hum of the refrigerator, and the faint rustle of Addie’s movements. All reminders that I was safe now. The nightmare was over. “Remember Reaper?”
Leaning forward, she nodded, eyebrows high in disbelief.
“He helped me, and then he got us out.” I raised my glass to my lips and tipped my head back, gulping the rest of it down.
“Reaper?”
I nodded and poured myself more wine, the bottle clinking softly against the glass. I held it up, swirling the deep red liquid and watching the patterns emerge, the light catching the wine’s surface and splashing rippling figures on the walls.
“He helped you?”
