37. Orion
37
ORION
“GONE”
I stand in the shadow of the brush, my eyes locked on Seraphina as she walks toward my blue truck. I couldn’t just leave her, but I also couldn’t stay. Not when she looked at me like that. Like she?—
I can’t finish the rest of the thought. Because if I think about the hatred in her eyes, I’ll fall apart. I’ll shatter into a million, billion tiny pieces, and I’ll never be able to put myself back together. So I stand here, watching her long legs strain as she steps into the cabin of the truck.
How can something so close be so fucking far out of reach? It defies the laws of nature, the universe. And I can’t—I can’t lose her. Not like this. Not now.
Yet I have.
I lost her.
I never had her.
The sick realization twists into my mind and causes my heart to burst, and I fall to my knees, watching the taillights disappear into the forest, leaving me with nothing but exhaust, heartache, and the knowledge of what I know to be true.
She’s gone.