Chapter 80
JAYDEN
It’s said that when a soul splits into different bodies, when they finally reunite, there is a shift in the universe. A collective transformation in the consciousness of self. It’s finding your existence and where you belong.
As Plato put it, when a soul finds its parts, it loses itself in astonishment to the immensity of love and friendship. The intimacy is an all-consuming hold that refuses to let each other out of sight. There is nothing you won’t do to stay together. To be whole. To be home.
Eli became my home the instant I set eyes on him. He made me feel more of myself than I ever had. And since that day, I haven’t let him out of my sight. Not for one fucking second.
Until right now.
The desperation to get to Finley was so overwhelming that I took my eyes off him. And holding one part of your soul while the other fights for its life is an impossible task.
“Eli,” his name sputters from my chest in a choked whisper as he scrambles away from Presley.
The thick stick rolls from his bloodied hands before he pushes onto them, clambering onto his knees in an attempt to get up. The distinct, sulfury smell from the gunshot cloys in my lungs when his stare lifts to Fin and me.
A fragment of hope, too quickly snatched, when he collapses face-first to the dirt.
“Eli!” Finley’s piercing shriek slices through me.
Her trembling body throws itself from my arms to the ground, where Presley is dashing for the gun. He snatches it up faster than Fin can get to it, and against every instinct in my body, I stick to the promise I made Eli.
I protect our girl.
Not before I warn him, though. “Eli!”
With one heaving lurch, Eli throws himself back into Presley. His hand grasping Presley’s wrist with a hard wrench to disarm him. A slicing wisp sears my shoulder at the same time as a thunderous blast cracks through the grunts and cries.
My eyes flash to Eli, where he’s coiled around Presley on the ground. His hand still clutching Presley’s limp wrist to the top of his chest, where the gun is still smoking. Eli’s face is unrecognizable with all the blood. All the bits. Bits of skin and flesh and hair and… so much blood. Everywhere.
Everywhere.
Everywhere.
“Eli…” Fin’s gurgling sob murmurs through the sudden stillness, cutting through the hammering of my heart in my ears.
When she collapses into my chest, fitting so perfectly, my arms close around her on instinct. Squeezing her to me, I spin her away from the stomach curdling sight, ignoring the erratic pulse throbbing in my shoulder.
“JJ,” Finley hisses into my chest. Her heaving cough sputtering blood over my jaw. “I… J… J…”
“Fin? Fin? Finley!” Fuck. My hand grips her face, fingers tapping her cheek with the inward roll of her eyes. “No, Baby… No. No, Baby…”
Sirens blare around us. Dirt crunching. Dust kicking up in the air.
And it’s all too late.
Too little, too fucking late.