Page 67 of Ghoul Me, Maybe
I collapse.
Breathing, somehow.
Sienna’s by my side in seconds, hands on my face.
“Elias.Elias!”
“I’m here,” I whisper.
“You idiot. You suicidal, beautiful—you stayed.”
I nod once.
And feel...not lighter.
Not healed.
Butfree.
CHAPTER 24
SIENNA
He’s slipping through my fingers.
I don’t mean metaphorically. I meanliterally.
Elias is turning to mist.
It starts at his fingertips—trailing upward like fog curling off a grave. His jaw is set like stone, like if he clenches hard enough, he won’t fade. But I canseeit. The shimmer in his skin. The way light passes through his chest now, like it’s no longer sure he belongs here.
“No. No, no, no—stay with me.” I drop to my knees, grabbing his coat, like that’s going to keep him anchored.
He looks at me, and something inside mecracks.
Not the kind of crack you patch up with sleep and sarcasm. The kind that splits wide and ugly, right through the middle of your chest.
His voice is low. “Sienna, it’s okay.”
“Don’t youdaresay it’s okay,” I snap. “You broke the relic. The spirits are gone. The storm is over. Wewon.So why the hell are you vanishing?”
He doesn’t answer.
Because we both know.
The relicwasthe tether.
He was bound to it, even when he hated it. Even when it tortured him. It kept him here. That was the cost.
I slam my hand against his chest.
It goesthrough.
Like water.
I yank it back, gasping.
“You promised,” I whisper. “Youpromisedyou’d stay.”
