Chapter Eighteen - Wilder
My psychic connection with Leigh snaps like a severed wire. The hollowness in my mind hurts worse than an open wound.
I can’t feel her at all.
Is she ignoring me? Or worse …?
Each of my breaths ends up shallower than the last. She wants me to leave without her. To help the Blades. Does she think I’d rather work with them than her? Soter has my job, and I gave it to him freely. Haven’t I proven that she’s my priority?
We are supposed to get married tomorrow. Being with her is the only certainty I have.
She’s my pulse. The reason I get up in the morning. How doesn’t she see that?
The future I’ve built—everything I’ve worked and sacrificed for—means absolutely nothing without her in it.
“What happened?” I ask Selene. She stands across from me beneath the trees. The lake is behind us, beckoning me back, while my heart pushes me toward Leigh. “Our connection just snapped.”
Selene pokes her tongue against her inner cheek. Is she ignoring me, too?
If I had my magic, fire would be crackling anxiously at my fingers, but it doesn’t seem to work in this realm.
Without the constant heat coursing through my veins, I feel exposed, vulnerable.
But worse is this icy emptiness seizing my heart, screaming that something terrible has happened to Leigh.
Something I could have prevented if she had just been honest with me from the start.
My muscles tighten. “Did you not hear me?”
Selene fidgets. “I heard you, but I don’t know what you expect me to do about it. I didn’t know you could communicate with her telepathically. You’re probably linked because you’re both still alive, much like the ghosts are bound by death. What did she tell you?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “You said she wasn’t here.”
Selene frowns. “I didn’t know.”
Liar. Her nonverbal cues speak louder than her words. “What are you keeping from me?”
Selene rolls her eyes. “You haven’t seen me in ages, and the first thing you do is call me a liar?
” She laughs as if she’s offended. “I’m trying to help you.
This realm isn’t meant for the living. Leave, help your friends while you still can.
If Leigh is here, she must have a reason.
Last I checked, she could take care of herself. Why don’t you listen to her?”
I survey the surrounding darkness. Each breath is a struggle, as if a weighted vest is cinched too tight across my chest.
“Please,” I beg. Selene cringes. “I need to know she’s safe.”
“Maybe she fell asleep,” she offers, but her tone tells me she doesn’t believe that.
“Selene, we’ve had our differences in the past, but I’m asking you for help.” The words tear from my throat. “Can you just ask the other ghosts if they’ve seen her? You mentioned the ghosts here have a psychic connection.”
Selene examines her nails. Each finger is painted a different color, though like everything else in this realm, they’re muted, as if viewed through frosted glass.
“You aren’t going to make this easy—” She cuts herself off with a deep breath she shouldn’t need.
“If I do this one thing, will you leave? It’s for your own good. ”
Selene doesn’t have to look out for me. I can handle myself. “I’ll go. But only if Leigh’s safe.” Which I doubt.
Selene closes her eyes, going preternaturally still. I begin pacing, eyes closed. Worst-case scenarios flash through my mind like a bad horror movie: Leigh hurt, Leigh crying out for me, Leigh unconscious, Leigh—
“Oh!”
I skid to a halt. “You found her?”
“Leigh is fine. She’s with Kosac.”
Kosac. “How do you know she’s fine if she’s with him?”
Selene clasps her hands together. “I’ve already told you that Kosac is harmless. This realm is also safe, which means you should go home. Leigh is a Lunar Witch; she doesn’t need you to babysit her. She is fully capable of accomplishing whatever she came here to do. Trust me.”
My head spins. If Kosac has Leigh, I’m not going anywhere.
“Where are they?”
Selene studies me. “How should I know?”
I’ve encountered people like Selene many times on the job. She won’t share any information unless there’s something in it for her. But she’s dead. What motivates a ghost? I don’t have time to figure it out. If she’s not going to help me, I’ll handle it myself.
“The castle. What’s the fastest way there?” I ask. “This way through the trees?”
Her lips flatten. “Wilder, listen to me. Leave. Leave while you still can. Please.”
“Leigh doesn’t belong here either,” I spit. “I promise, once I find her, we’ll both go.”
Her lavender eyes narrow, a muscle ticking beneath one brow.
I will bring Leigh back. Even if I have to tear this realm apart by hand, I will find her. Selene can either help or sit back and watch her new world burn.