17. Riley

Chapter 17

Riley

T he last thing I remembered was the lorry I'd been trying to overtake crossing into my lane.

The bang as he clipped my wing.

Screeching brakes.

Burning rubber.

Then pain.

Endless pain.

I couldn't move. Couldn't answer the first responders shouting outside my window. Couldn't even release the scream that was reverberating around my brain.

This was it.

I was dying.

I'd known it would happen eventually, but I hadn't expected it to be now.

Faces flashed before my eyes. Mum. Matty. Leo. Ferry. Ollie. Luca.

Danny. Danny. Danny.

Like I'd somehow manifested him, a wolf appeared at my window. I tried to reach him. Tried to bury my fingers in his fur, wanting to thank him for being here at the end. To have him be the last thing I touched. The last thing I saw.

But my arms wouldn't cooperate. They hung lifeless.

I thought I said his name. I thought I tried.

Then I knew nothing but darkness.

I thought there was supposed to be a light. Something guiding me on to the afterlife. I was one of the fortunate few to know there was an afterlife waiting for me. Not that I knew where I was going to end up. Heaven seemed the obvious choice, but at least in Hell I might see my friends again. The demons could visit me. Maybe they could persuade my overseers to go easy on me.

I didn't think about it anymore. I couldn't, because going to either of those places meant I'd be leaving everyone. Mum. Matty. Leo. Ollie. Ferry.

Leaving Danny.

In that darkness, I waited. And as I waited, I imagined. Imagined Danny hearing about this. Realising I was driving myself to the place I'd asked him to take me to. He'd no doubt blame himself, which was fucking stupid. He wasn't at fault.

But I wouldn't be there to tell him that. Would Leo? Or Matty? Would they sit with him while he mourned?

And what about in September? Would Mori tell one of the others about the cabin? Would someone go up there, so he didn't suffer alone?

And would today become another black mark on his calendar? Or had Danny been half expecting this? I was human, after all. We all knew they'd carry on life without me one day.

I just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

Every thought in that darkness was about Danny. About how he was going to cope. How this would make him feel. It was consuming me.

The light eventually arrived. It was a pinprick at first, growing larger with every second. It was warm. Welcoming. Beckoning me forwards.

I took a single step. There was a tugging sensation on my arm.

Glancing down in confusion, I saw Danny's wolf. Towering over me, his jaws were wrapped around my bicep, gently pulling me in the other direction. His solemn eyes were pleading with me. Begging me to go with him.

I didn't understand why he was here, but I was reluctant to leave him. He wasn't letting me go, but I knew he would if I insisted. There was no pain, despite his firm hold. He was anchoring me. Keeping me here.

I looked back at the light. Instinctively, I knew I'd be happy there. That my worries would cease to exist, leaving nothing but peace in their place.

But that would mean letting Danny go. I couldn't do that.

I wouldn't.

I stepped away from the light, letting Danny's wolf tug me further away. The light faded into darkness once again, but I wasn't afraid.

I had Danny.