Page 52 of Wraith

It was a secret between us, a moment of pure, unadulterated possession that would fuel my fantasies for years to come.

And as she disappeared from sight, leaving me to clean up the evidence of our tryst, I knew that this was only the beginning.

Lilith had awakened something within me, a hunger that could never be sated. I was addicted to her, to the way she made me feel, to the way she consumed me. To the way she owned me.

I would do anything to experience that high again.

But for now, I had to pull myself together and face the world outside. I had to pretend that nothing had happened, that my world hadn’t been irrevocably changed by the ghostly touch of a woman—my fated mate—who was no longer among the living.

People didn’t get second chances with their fated.

I did.

I took a deep breath, steadied myself, and prepared to face the rest of the day with a secret that would burn within me for as long as I lived.

Or for as long as she let me.

Thirty-Three

I stoodoutside Aeron’s dorm, fist raised, knuckles hovering inches from the door. Again.

I had been here before. Just last night.

It had been late—too late, probably—but I had been so fucking tired. I just needed someone to talk to. Someone to ground me, to remind me that this wasn’t real, that I could still fight this, that I wasn’t alone.

But Aeron hadn’t answered then.

And he wasn’t answering now.

I knocked, harder this time, waiting. Praying.

Silence.

I checked my phone. No new messages. All my texts, my missed calls, my desperate attempts to reach him—ignored.

My stomach churned. No. No, no, no.

I knocked again, louder. Still nothing.

Aeron wasn’t here for me. Just like Thorne wasn’t.

The realization came slowly, like ice creeping up my spine. I had no one.

I had been popular once. People liked me. I had been the center of everything—Kael, the golden boy, the life of the party. But it had been a mirage, a sick fucking joke. I had only ever been their show horse. The one they paraded around, the one they admired as long as I played the part.

But the moment I needed something?

The moment I fell?

They weren’t here. They had never really been here.

Thorne. Aeron. Gone.

But Lilith?

Lilith had stayed.

A shuddering breath left me as my forehead pressed against the cool wood of Aeron’s door. I had been so afraid. The moment she came back, I had fought her. I had screamed, begged, ran myself into the fucking ground trying to keep her away.

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