Chapter Sixty-Six
Sky
I found him. Or… he just appeared. The second I walked out of the dining hall, my vision picked up a shadow, a storm cloud slinking across the quad. He was just there, as if he hadn’t been missing all day. I ran to him, praying he wasn’t a mirage. The relief that coursed through me was like coming up for air. But now the dread is leaking back in. I’m in an ocean as the boat fills up with water.
Alone.
He won’t look at me. Won’t let me touch him, and won’t speak. His hood is pulled low, eyes trained on the ground.
“Cade…” I try again, my voice cracking around his name as I reach for his chin.
But he recoils, and it stings like a slap to the face, burning cruelly and humiliating. My hand trembles as I pull it back in, afraid that he might actually run if I push any further. What is this? Did I do something?
“You’re…” I swallow my pride and admit it. “You’re scaring me.”
We’re past the pretenses, the part where we protect our feelings, and I let my vulnerability hang in the air, expecting him to catch it.
He doesn’t.
Foolish tears fill my eyes. Is… Is he serious right now? I’ve been wrecked all day and now he’s going to give me the cold shoulder? And for what? What did I do? Everything in me wants to raise my chin and tell him he can fuck off if he’s going to shun me, to scream how dare he , and leave him here.
But instead, I beg. “Please.”
I sound pathetic— am being pathetic. We may only be feet apart, but the distance could span galaxies. I know where this is going. I just don’t want to believe it. Can’t believe it. Not after everything we’ve done, everything we’ve become… How can he just stand there like a statue while I shatter, and disintegrate, and cease? My soul feels like it’s fracturing, and he just gets to stand there? An ire, white hot, sears me. He can’t. He doesn’t get to.
I shove him hard and fast, not giving him the chance to dodge me. But he’s not hard like the statue he pretends to be, and there’s no resistance. He stumbles and his hood falls back.
I gasp before I can cover my mouth.
He’s pale. Ghostly . So washed of color and life that, for a moment, I’m afraid I’m looking at an apparition. I glance around the quad, expecting others to be as stunned as I am. But we’re alone and regret wipes out all traces of my anger.
Something is wrong. Something bad.
I rush to him and cup his cheeks, surprised when he lets me, and shocked by how cold he is.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I stare up into his eyes, desperate for him to forgive me.
But I don’t find hurt in his eyes. I find nothing. Absolutely nothing. An abyss so empty and devoid that my heart thumps with despair. I don’t know what to do, how to fix it. If I could take it away, I would. But all I have is my love. It’s all I have and I lean up to kiss him, to make sure he feels it.
He jerks his chin, ripping himself from my hold before I can taste whatever poison has infected him.
“ Don’t .”
His voice startles me, prickling something uncomfortable in my stomach, but I fight against it. This isn’t him. I just need to snap him back. “We can—”
His eyes suddenly harden, the malice in them silencing me. I take a step back and brace myself, not liking the way his lip curls.
“We’re over,” he spits. “Stay the fuck away from me.”