Page 84 of Ghosts of the Dead

He chuckles. “You’re acting like we’re made of glass.” His thumb traces my jaw. “We’re not. We’re just as tangled up in this as you are, and none of us is backing down.”

I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t get the words to form.

As if he can read my mind, he leans in and answers my unspoken question. “Not even Jace. He just has to get out of his own damn way first.”

I close my eyes and breathe him in, trying to let the words settle, but the ache in my chest lingers, because I feel it. For all of them. And it’s one thing this dead world can’t teach me how to fight.

The achein my chest hasn’t gone away.

Even with Mars’s soft words still echoing in my head, even with Caspian’s arms around my body and comforting me, I still feel frayed at the edges. Like if someone pulls too hard, I’ll unravel entirely into a pile of purple-haired disaster.

I wipe the last tear from my cheek and pull away. “I need a minute.”

Mars nods and backs off to give me space. Caspian brushes a knuckle under my chin. His eyes are softer than usual. “We’ll be here.”

I stand with a nod and wander a few steps toward the fire, hoping the warmth might help chase away the chill that has nothing to do with the temperature. The guys leave mebe, drifting to whatever task they’re pretending to focus on next. The quiet settles around us, uncomfortable and awkward.

A loud thud breaks the silence, followed by a sharp, dramatic groan from behind that could rival any soap opera death scene. I whip around, adrenaline already spiking, and my heart jumps into my throat when I search out the danger. Mars is on the ground, sprawled out in the dirt like he’s been shot. One arm drapes over his chest while the other is flung wide, his eyes closed and his mouth slack.

“Oh god,” I start, already moving toward him. My heart races.

Caspian stands over him with his arms crossed over his chest, his gray t-shirt still rumpled from earlier. His face is the picture of calm, like he’s inspecting a mildly interesting rock rather than a supposedly dying man. “Tragic. Really.”

Mars cracks one eye open and peeks up at me. “Tell my story,” he croaks out. “Let it be known…I was a brave man. A sockless one, but brave.”

“Can you write that down for me?” Caspian asks, his voice monotone.

Mars’s voice turns raspy and strained as though he’s waiting at death’s door. He clutches at his bare chest, that’s still covered in sweat. “Tell them…I died saving the group…sacrificing my last sock for the greater good.”

Caspian snorts, not even trying to hide his amusement. “You stubbed your toe on a rock.”

“Heroically,” Mars insists. He closes his eye again and lets his head loll to the side.

I blink while I process what I’m seeing. My heart stutters for a beat, then I sputter into a laugh that bubbles up from somewhere I thought had gone dormant. “You two are ridiculous,” I say, trying and failing to bite back a smile that threatens to take over my entire face.

Caspian crouches beside Mars and lifts his leg to inspecthis toe with exaggerated seriousness. “Hmm. Looks fatal. I give it an hour, tops.”

Mars aims a half-hearted kick at him with his other foot. “You mock the dead? Have you no respect?”

“The dead don’t usually whine this much,” Caspian counters. The corner of his mouth twitches.

Mars clutches his chest. “I’m not whining. These are my last words. Very important last words. Historical, even.”

Caspian grins and flicks dirt at him. “You make it too easy.”

“I’m in a weakened state,” Mars protests before dramatically blowing the dirt away from his face.

Luna chooses this moment to trot back into the clearing with her tail wagging. She takes one look at Mars on the ground and bounds over. She nudges his face with her nose and steps all over his chest in her excitement to investigate why one of her humans is all of a sudden at perfect licking height.

“Betrayed.” Mars gasps when Luna’s paws dig into his bare stomach. “Even the dog turns on me in my final moments.”

Luna, mistaking this for a new game, barks and starts tugging on his pant leg.

Mars pushes himself upright with a theatrical groan while trying to fend off Luna’s enthusiastic helpfulness. He dusts himself off before giving me a sly grin. “See? We’re falling apart without you. Complete chaos. Total anarchy.”

I shake my head, but the laugh bursts free and unrestrained. A real laugh. The kind that starts in my belly and works its way up until it spills out.

The sound startles me for a second at how bright and real it is at a time like this, but it feels good. Right.

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