Page 37 of Wraith

No.

Not watching.

Sitting behindLucian, leaning forward over his shoulder.

His lips pressed against Lily’s throat, his hands resting on her hips as he kissed her over Lucian’s shoulder, his face partially hidden behind the curtain of her dark hair.He was kissing her.

My stomachdropped.My pulseroared in my ears.

This wasn’tjustsome hallucination.

This was fucking happening.

The three of them were locked together—Lily grinding against Lucian, Ciaran pressing against Lucian from behind.

And no one else was seeing this.

I turned sharply, scanning the chapel.No one else reacted.Not Kael, who was rubbing his temples. Not Thorne, who had his arms crossed, watching the door Emma had been dragged through. Not Lucian’s parents, who sat like statues in the front row.

No one else could see them.

My breathing turned shallow.No. No, this was wrong.My grief had to be playing tricks on me. There was no way?—

But when I looked back?—

Lily was stillriding Lucian,her back arching, her fingers dragging down his chest like he was something to be consumed. And Ciaran? He was stillholding her, his mouth moving against her neck, his hands roaming over her body like she belonged to him, like they belonged to each other.

Lucian’s face was the worst part.

He looked?—

Wrecked.

Not just overwhelmed, not just lost—utterly, completely fucking ruined.His fingers twitched where they gripped Lily’s thighs, like he wanted to push her off but couldn’t. His lips parted like he was trying tobreathe through it,but there was nowhere to go. He wastrapped beneath her.

And the worst part?

For a split second, I thought I saw himlook at me.

His dazed, unfocused gaze lifted just enough that for a breath—just a breath—I thought he was seeingmethe way I was seeing him.

But then Lily’s pace quickened, and his head tipped back against the pew, his eyes squeezing shut, his bodygiving in.

I clutched the wooden pew in front of me, my knuckles white.

No. No, this wasn’t real. This couldn’t be real.

I blinked hard, my heartbeat thundering in my ears.Maybe I was losing it.Maybe this was what grief did to people—made them see things that weren’t there. Made them imagine the dead still moving, still touching, stillfucking.

But then Ciaran’s eyes opened.

And he sawme.

For a moment, we just stared at each other.

This was real.

Lily. Lucian. Ciaran.They were all still here.

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