Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
I stood outside Aeron’s dorm, fist raised, knuckles hovering inches from the door. Again.
I had been here before. Just last night.
It had been late—too late, probably—but I had been so fucking tired. I just needed someone to talk to. Someone to ground me, to remind me that this wasn’t real, that I could still fight this, that I wasn’t alone.
But Aeron hadn’t answered then.
And he wasn’t answering now.
I knocked, harder this time, waiting. Praying.
Silence.
I checked my phone. No new messages. All my texts, my missed calls, my desperate attempts to reach him—ignored.
My stomach churned. No. No, no, no.
I knocked again, louder. Still nothing.
Aeron wasn’t here for me. Just like Thorne wasn’t.
The realization came slowly, like ice creeping up my spine. I had no one.
I had been popular once. People liked me. I had been the center of everything—Kael, the golden boy, the life of the party. But it had been a mirage, a sick fucking joke. I had only ever been their show horse. The one they paraded around, the one they admired as long as I played the part.
But the moment I needed something?
The moment I fell?
They weren’t here. They had never really been here.
Thorne. Aeron. Gone.
But Lilith?
Lilith had stayed.
A shuddering breath left me as my forehead pressed against the cool wood of Aeron’s door. I had been so afraid. The moment she came back, I had fought her. I had screamed, begged, ran myself into the fucking ground trying to keep her away.
But why?
Why had I ever thought I could run from this? From her?
My fear had been dramatic. Misplaced. I had been stupid.
Lilith hadn’t been tormenting me.
She had been showing me.
Showing me how pointless it was to fight. Showing me how alone I was without her.
And maybe…
Maybe I deserved this.
Maybe the pain, the exhaustion, the fear—maybe it was supposed to be mine.
Because I had killed her.
We had all killed her.
And so far? I was the only one who understood that.
Thorne and Aeron? They were still pretending. Still deluding themselves into thinking they could move on. That they could forget her, that they could escape this.
But they were wrong.
Lilith was patient.
She had waited for me to understand.
And now?
Maybe it was time to show them too.