Page 48 of The Raven
Energy drained from my body, and I could feel my warmth leaving me andflowing into Mason in great waves, the same way his warmth had flowed into me when I needed him to remove my pain. I continued repeating it, focusing on his pulse getting stronger, and allowing myself to relax into the darkness.
Somehow, I knew Mason was going to be okay. He would live.
Thatwas enough for me to let go.
My eyes flew open, my lungs burning as I gulped in air. Disoriented, Imanaged to get to my feet as panic gripped me. There was only one thought in my mind.
“Mason! Mason, where are you?”I screamed, blinking to take in mysurroundings.
A sinking feeling cascaded through me like a rock plummeting to thedeepest depths of the ocean when realization hit.
I was back in the in-between.
“Welcome back,”a familiar voice said.
I spun, coming face-to-face with Oz.
“Mason, is he-”I couldn’t bring myself to finish the question, tears stabbingmy eyes.
“He’s alive,”Oz replied in his neutral tone.“You saved him.”
Relief slammed into me like a sledgehammer, a myriad of emotionsbubbling under my skin. The weight ofthatknowledge, coupled with the events of the last week, became too much.
My knees collapsed, and I hit the ground with a resounding thud. The dambroke, and my whole body shook from powerful gut-wrenching sobs.
It was over.
The Vipers were dead.
Mason was alive; he’d go on to live his life.
So why didn’t I feel at peace?
Perhaps I’d assumed wrong. I suppose I hadn’t given much thought towhat came after, maybe I’djustassumedthatonce the last Viper was dead, I’d see a beam of bright lightthatwould carry me away to a place where I’d spend the rest of eternity.
But there was no light. The only thing surrounding me was the derelict trainstation, overgrown with weeds, and Oz.
I didn’t know how long I sobbed for, but Oz waited patiently, a comfortinghand on my shoulder as I purged all the hurt, the pain, and the heartbreak from inside me.
“What happens now?”I asked, lifting my sorrowful eyes to meet his kindones.
“There’s someone here to see you.”
With furrowed brows, I twisted in the direction Oz had nodded, leaping tomy feet and sprinting to the end of the train station when my gaze landed on someone who’djustappeared.
“Eric!”I cried, launching myself into his arms, my legs circling his waist,and fresh tears brewing.
The heart I hadn’t felt beating in so long thudded against my chest as hewrapped his arms around me and spun us.
“Baby, I missed you,”he said, his palm stroking down the length of my hair.“God, I missed you so fucking much.”
A wrecking ball of guilt crashed into me, destroying my short-livedmoment of happiness.
I wriggled out of his grasp, my feet landing on the ground, but Eric kept hishands on my hips.“Hey, what’s wrong?”
I tore my gaze away, unable to look at him because of the immense shamecoursing through me. The worst part was, I didn’t regret being with Mason. It had felt so right.
“Eric, I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry,”I whispered.
