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“It doesn’t matter what they think,” he said. “I know you are.”

“I’m not special,” I said. If I were special, then my body wouldn’t be trying to kill itself. I wouldn’t have to go to the hospital every morning for medicine and tests. I’d be strong, and I was weak. “Just a girl who’s going to die in a few months,” I mumbled, then shook my head, trying to get out of my own mind. “Why are you here anyway?”

“I didn’t come for you. I came for Cade.”

“Cade didn’t take the guy from your pack,” I said.

“And how do you know this?”

“He told me.”

“He lies.”

“I trust him.”

“I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because he told you he loves you when he doesn’t.”

“He does,” I said, taken aback. “And how do you know about that?”

“You know how I know, Lightning. I know everything you do.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, and he stepped toward me so I could see his chiseled jaw with a slight scruff in the moonlight. He took my chin in his large hand and lifted it, drawing his tongue across his extended canines.

“Tell me how you know.”

“I don’t know.”

“Say it.”

“I … I don’t …”

“Say it, Lightning. For me.”

After swallowing hard, I found myself opening my mouth, as if my body knew something I didn’t. Or maybe I did, but I didn’t want to admit it to myself.

He drew his thumb across my lower lip, his voice coming out softer. “Say it.”

“Because I’m yours,” I said.

“That’s right, Lightning,” he said, but suddenly, he was gone, had disappeared into thin air, yet his voice was traveling from my left ear to my right, dancing in the wind. “You’re mine, Ember. All mine. Don’t forget it.”

Chapter Sixty-One

Ember

“Ember, get up!” Cade said in a hush whisper, shaking me away. “We need to go.”

I blinked my eyes open to see Cade standing over me, brows furrowed together in worry. Instead of giving me any time to adjust to the abrupt birthday wake-up call, he yanked me out of the bed by my wrist.

“Get your shoes. Now.”

“Why? What’s going on? What time is it?”

He pulled me down the steps. “Three in the morning. Get your shoes.”