Page 84 of Torn Ivy
Torin snorts. “Oh, you’re in there, Ivy Hammond, whether you want to admit it or not. But as much as I love your sarcasm, not quite. We have to remember that you don’t, so we will do it for you. You know Death. We all do, unfortunately. He is your ancestor. You are supposed to be his heir, but Life?—”
“Has other plans. I remember,” I murmur. Now that he says it, I know. “But if Life wants us back in that reality so badly, should we even be contemplating this?”
“Yes,” Bram says. “Going back to our proper timeline is the right move. We just need to do it on our terms, not hers.”
“And how do we do that?”
Torin’s eyes gleam with determination. “By making a deal with Death himself.”
I snort. “Right. Because making deals with cosmic entities has worked out so well for us so far.”
“Death is different. We can trust him.”
I turn to see Tate walking up the garden path, covered in snow and soaking wet. He doesn’t even seem cold, just oblivious to everything around him. “How so?”
“He visited me earlier. We need to go back. To fix this.”
“You know?” I venture.
His face darkens. “I know.”
“And you still want to do this?”
“We have to. I’m not fucking done with you yet, Ivy,” he says, desperation making his voice catch in his throat. “Nowhere fucking near done with you. I can’t live like this. I would rather be dead than not love you.”
My breath speeds up at his words, but I don’t know what to say.
“You remember?” Torin breathes.
Tate nods grimly.
Bram slaps him on the shoulder. “Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t fucking come to that.”
I stare at Tate, trying to reconcile the intensity in his eyes with the hollow shell of a man I woke up to. “You remember everything now?”
He nods grimly. “Death showed me what we lost. What I lost. And I can’t... I won’t accept living like this.”
“Do you think he could help me remember?”
“Are you dead in the other reality?”
I stare at him. “I don’t think so.”
“Then probably not. I’m connected to him now on a level I wish I weren’t. But here we are.”
“Rolling with the punches.”
He smiles at my words. “You remember more than you think.”
“I hope so because this sucks a pile of crap.”
We share a smile, and the snake wrapped around my neck slithers down my body, leaving my neck freezing cold as the snow falls on it. It slithers over to Bram, who freezes. The snake curls around his leg and slowly moves up his body.
“Erm,” he stammers.
“He’s harmless,” I say.
“To you, maybe.” He recoils as the snake reaches his chest. “This thing came out of my mouth. I really fucking hope it’s not trying to go back in.”
