Page 41 of Fatally Yours
“I swear I saw Natasha…” she murmured as she wiped strands from her face and sat up. She kneaded her eyes with her knuckles. When she removed them, she blinked once, twice, a final time, and then screamed at the top of her lungs, making me wince.
Her eyes were rounded as she glanced around. Then she noticed August and let out another shrill sound that made my ears ring. Her gaze darted between us as she drew her legs to her chest.
“Someone please tell me what the fuck is going on here, now!” she cried as her face paled. I almost wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation. Honestly, I thought she was tougher than that, with all those macabre shows she watched and her ghoulish interests. That wasn’t even considering her boyfriend, who was currently rotting on death row. Her face drained further of color as she shook her head, coming to the realization.
“The ritual worked…” she said in awe. “But we didn’t… not for you… not yet…” She looked at me, her face twisted with a perverse mix of amazement and shock. My brow raised, thinking about them discussing trying again after our perceived failure. It was strange to remember how stupid we all felt and the way I embarrassed myself again in front of them by breaking down in tears.
“I brought her back,” August said. “I killed her. And I brought her back.” Mandy’s eyes were so wide that I feared they would pop out of her skull.
“Y-youkilled her?!” she exclaimed. He nodded.
“So you’re both…” Wes trailed off, his morose expression and corpse-pale face said it all. He almost looked like us—drained of blood, lifeless, lacking a soul.
“Dead. Yes,” August said. Mandy’s hands fell from her face as she sucked in a breath, giving Wes a look.
“T-that was a stupid question,” she said with a tremble in her voice. She took another breath that made my jealousy turn into an inferno, but I stifled it only because there was no way to regain life.
“How did you bring her back?” Mandy was pulling herself together as the quivering in her legs came to a halt, and her curiosity was piqued. Wes rolled his eyes and swiped his hand across his forehead in a poor attempt to quell his fear.
“I can’t tell you,” August said.
“Could you… bring me back?” Before I could blink, Wes shot up from his place on the couch, smacking her on the arm with the back of his hand.
“Mandy!”
“I was just curious!” She gave him an eye roll. “Not like I was going to go get myself killed or anything.”
“Right,” he said sarcastically, settling back on the couch. Mandy turned to August with a glint in her eye—one I was all too familiar with.
“So, could you?”
“No,” August said. “I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t,” he hissed. “I only got one. I chose Natasha. End of discussion.”
“Man, being dead made you no fun,” she pouted, crossing her arms. Wes pressed his thumb and index finger to his brow with a sigh.
“If you had any idea what we’ve been up to, you would definitely have the opposite opinion,” he said with a hint of a smirk, flipping through another page. “Take that as you will.”
“Why’s that?” Wes asked.
“We killed Devin.”
“You did not.”
“We did,” he affirmed. Wes looked at me, surely hoping I would proclaim that August was once more spouting bullshit or telling tall tales. If only I had better news for him…
“Did you really?” he asked. I nodded silently as he leaned back on the couch in disbelief, pressing his palms to his face and muttering another string of obscenities under his breath.
“That guy was a jerk, anyway,” Mandy huffed, shrugging her shoulders. Wes sighed, his face lacking as much life as we were.
“I-I suppose that’s what you’re doing here, then.” He struggled to spit out the words. “K-killing all your enemies.” Without looking up from the file, he nodded. “Then, what does that make us?” August’s mismatched eyes shot to mine. There was a spark of anger there, but I couldn’t find the same fire. My passion was more than likely dulled by the joy of seeing them again.
“I’ll let Natasha decide since you really only wronged her,” he growled. “Be grateful she’s nicer than I am, but don’t get your hopes up. Being dead changes you.” Mandy’s previously jovial expression fell as her hand threadedwith Wes’. My chest hollowed out as I felt the silence threaten to crush me. Her eyes were wide and pleading as her bottom lip began to tremble, and all her joy slipped away.
“So… are youchanged,Tash?” she questioned, her voice barely a whisper.
