Page 86 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“It’s not you’re only chance. We can come up with a plan.”

“I don’t need a plan! I don’t need to do this by the book!”

“You’ll go to jail for homicide!”

“He killed my parents!” I was gasping for air. “He killed everyone I ever loved!”

“We don’t know that for sure…”

“He told me! He told me.” My voice cracked.

Tears appeared beneath Liza’s glasses. “Summer.”

“He called my mother a slut. He said my dad was weak. Weak until his dying breath. Like me.”

Liza shook her head.

“I was too weak to save him.”

“You were just a kid. It wasn’t your fault.”

Kins sniffed. I looked over at her. Her hands were pressed against her chest like hearing this was hurting her. If only she knew how much pain I was in. She’d let me go. She was more compassionate than Liza.

“I have to do this,” I said. “I have to. It feels like my heart is in a million pieces. I can’t breathe. I need to do this. You have to let me go. Please.”

Kins’ lips parted, but she didn’t say anything.

“You have nothing to prove,” Liza said. “You were a child. There was nothing you could have done to save your parents. Nothing.”

No. I wasn’t talking about my parents anymore. I was talking about Miles. “No, Don’s right. I’ve always been weak.”

“You’re not weak, Summer,” a deep voice said from behind us. It rumbled in the most perfect way. In a way that had always made me want to hear the real voice beneath.

I looked over at the ghost standing in the living room. The dark blue hoodie pulled low over his eyes. The sweatpants. The converses. A fragment of everything that was gone.

“You’re made of steel, remember?” Miles said.

And as soon as he said the words, he d

isappeared. I blinked and stared at the empty living room.

Chapter 38

Tuesday

I had lost my mind. I was officially crazy. Liza’s words had floated right over my head. But Miles’ memory? It hit me like a punch in the gut. I remembered the first time he had said that I was made of steel. It was empowering. I was better when I was with him. I was whole. And I was strong. It was easy to believe when he was by my side.

I stared at the spot where I had envisioned him.

“Summer.” He reappeared, a little closer to me. “You’re okay.” His voice sounded strained, like he couldn’t believe it.

I was definitely hallucinating. V never called me Summer. He refused to. But he looked so real. I tilted my head to the side as I stared at him.

“Is she having some kind of nervous breakdown?” Liza whispered from behind me.

“You just let her drink too much,” Kins said. “And she’s still in shock. Maybe we should give them a minute or something?”

I looked back at them. “Wait. You see him?”

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