Chapter 28

28

DECLAN

I step out of the hotel room, pulling the door shut behind me with a quiet click. The cold hallway air hits me, and I breathe deeply, trying to shake the heat that still clings to my skin from being in that room. From being near her.

Carolina .

What the hell is happening to me?

Dropping my shoes on the carpeted floor, I lean against the wall, scrubbing a hand over my face. My head is spinning, my thoughts tangled like a knot I can’t seem to unravel. I’ve dealt with a lot of messed up things before—crime scenes, violent suspects, even the occasional cult behaviors—but this…this is different.

It’s her .

And that vision.

God , that vision. Seeing myself die . I couldn’t escape it, couldn’t just shake it off like a bad dream. I felt it. The smoke. The fire. The crushing burden of inevitability. And Carolina, trying so damn hard to save me, knowing it was futile.

Slipping into my shoes, I push off the wall and start walking down the hallway. I don’t know where I’m going. Hell , I don’t even know what I’m trying to figure out anymore. Maybe I just need to clear my head and get some distance before I make another mistake. Before I do something really stupid—like kiss her.

God , I wanted to kiss her. Even with everything else we were dealing with, all the danger, all the unknowns, I couldn’t stop thinking about how close we came in the car. How close we were in that room just now.

Carolina wants to pretend none of this is happening between us, but I can’t. Not anymore. She’s all I can think about. Her magic, her visions, her damn mirror soul talk. I’m being dragged into it, whether I want to or not.

And I do want to. God , do I want to.

But then there’s that other thing—the thing I can’t shake, no matter how hard I try.

The vision of my death.

It wasn’t just some fleeting nightmare or vague premonition. It was real. I could feel the heat of the flames, the smoke choking the air from my lungs. I felt the moment I realized I wasn’t getting out of that cabin. The resignation in my bones, the way Carolina looked at me—knowing she couldn’t save me. She kept telling me to run, but I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t leave her.

And I died for it.

I stop in front of a window at the end of the hall and stare out at the city skyline. It’s comforting, in a weird way, to know the world is still moving out there, even while mine feels like it’s spiraling out of control.

I try to focus on the other things we should be worrying about. The disappearances. The demons. Camila’s stolen necklace. But instead, all I can think about is the way Carolina looked at me when I mentioned the mirror soul thing in the car and then again in the room.

That moment. That flicker of fear in her eyes.

I press my hand against the cold glass of the window, letting the chill seep into my skin.

What is it, Carolina? Why does seeing me die shake you so much?

She told me she’d seen me die in those visions, in those past lives. She’s seen it happen over and over again. And I get why she’s scared. I get why she’s shutting me out. But the thing is, I’m not scared of dying. I’ve seen too much and done too much to be afraid of that. What scares me is not getting the chance to really be with her. To try, at least, to break whatever cycle we’re caught in.

I rub the back of my neck and shake my head, frustration building in my chest. I’m not afraid of dying, but what the hell kind of life is this if we just keep pushing each other away?

I think about what she said earlier, how her magic made her bring me along. Like she didn’t have a choice. Like it was something out of her control.

Maybe that’s part of it. Maybe it’s the magic that’s making everything between us feel so...intense. But deep down, I know it’s more than that. There’s something real here, something I can’t explain, and no amount of magic or visions or fate is going to change that.

I’m not going to let her push me away. Not when I know she feels the same pull I do.

With a sigh, I turn away from the window and head toward the elevator. I need air. Real air. Maybe some distance will help me figure this out. I press the button, waiting for the doors to slide open, the dim lights overhead flickering slightly. Even the hotel feels on edge, like everything’s out of sync.

The elevator dings, and I step inside, leaning against the back wall as the doors close. The hum of the machinery is almost comforting; a brief moment of normal before everything gets complicated again .

I think about what she said—about her magic deciding things for her. It’s strange to think that someone so powerful can be at the mercy of her own abilities. To think that someone who can see the future is just as trapped by it as the rest of us. She’s strong, no doubt about it, but there’s a vulnerability there she doesn’t want to admit. It makes her human, despite the power humming under her skin.

The elevator doors open with a soft chime, and I step into the lobby. A few people mill about, but the place is mostly empty. I push through the glass doors, the cold autumn air hitting me like a wall. It’s exactly what I need.

I’ve been a cop long enough to know that you can’t ignore the bad stuff. It doesn’t just go away because you want it to. You have to face it head-on, even when it scares the shit out of you. And right now, the thing that scares me the most isn’t the demons or the disappearances—it’s dying without ever getting the chance to be with her.

I stop in the middle of the sidewalk, my breath coming out in puffs. Carolina’s been keeping me at arm’s length since the beginning, trying to protect me from something she thinks is inevitable. But the truth is, I don’t need protection from her. I never have.

What I need is for her to trust me and believe that we can fight this together, whatever this turns out to be.

One thing is clear: I’m not walking away from this. From her. I don’t care what fate has planned or what she thinks is destined to happen.

I’m going to fight for us. For whatever this thing between us is. Because for the first time in a long time, something feels right. Even if it’s wrapped in danger and magic, it feels real.

And I’m not about to let that go.

The outside chill starts to seep into my bones, my skin prickling with goosebumps as I walk down the quiet street. Each breath I take is visible in the crisp fall air, and it clears my head just enough for me to make sense of the whirlwind of thoughts still spinning in my mind. After a few more blocks, the exhaustion from the last two days starts to settle back into my muscles.

I turn back toward the hotel, my footsteps quieter now as I make my way inside. The lobby is empty, the muted lights casting long shadows on the floor. I nod at the night clerk, who doesn’t bother to look up from her book, and step into the elevator. When the doors slide open, it feels like stepping back into a different world—one where everything is heavier. My body, my mind, and everything that’s waiting for me upstairs.

When I get back to the room, Carolina’s already asleep. She’s curled up on her side, her breathing soft and steady, her face half-hidden by a cascade of dark hair. The sight of her—so peaceful, so vulnerable—hits me in a way I wasn’t expecting. It’s a stark contrast to the chaos of the last few days, and for a moment, I just stand there, watching her.

I feel the weight of everything we’ve been through settle over me again, but this time, it’s mixed with something else. Something deeper. More personal. I want to protect her from all of it—from the demons, from the dark parts of her own magic that she can’t seem to control. But I can’t do that if she keeps shutting me out.

I strip off my shoes and jacket and slip into the bed beside her, careful not to jostle her or get too close. The exhaustion is so thick that it pulls at me immediately, and my body aches with the need to sleep. But I can’t stop my mind from wandering.

The last thing I want is to wake up and see another vision of my own death. Or worse, to find Carolina next to me, and the line between us so blurred that there’s no going back. It’s too much, even though every fiber of my being wants to pull her closer, to feel her warmth against me. But I don’t. Not tonight.

It feels like only a few minutes pass before the sound of my phone vibrating against the nightstand pulls me out of the dark fog of sleep. There’s a pressure against my chest, and I’m disoriented for a second before I realize why. Carolina’s draped over me, her arm wrapped around my torso, her body pressed against my side like it belongs there.

My arm tightens around her instinctively as I reach for my phone with my free hand, my eyes still half-closed. I manage to hit the screen and mumble, “Detective O’Reilly,” my voice rough and thick with sleep.

Bas’s voice cuts through the haze like a hammer. “Where are you?”

I groan softly, rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger, and glance at the clock on my phone screen. 6:15 a.m. Why is Bas even awake? And why is he bothering me when he should be under a mountain of paperwork?

“Did you find something?” I ask, not bothering to hide my irritation.

As I wait for his response, Carolina shifts against me, her arm tightening around my torso in her sleep. The warmth of her skin against mine sends a slow heat through my body, settling low in my stomach. It’s a dangerous feeling—one I know I can’t indulge. But it’s hard to ignore the way my body reacts to hers, the way my heart races just being close to her. For a second, I wonder what it would be like to just hang up on Bas and stay under these blankets with her forever.

But I can’t. We both know I can’t.

“No,” Bas finally says, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts. “The Captain hasn’t seen you since the day before yesterday, and since we’re in the middle of multiple active missing person cases, he sent me to track you down. ”

“Okay, well, you found me,” I reply, glancing at the ceiling, trying to keep my voice level. “I’ll be in later.”

But of course, Bas doesn’t stop there. “See, the thing is, O’Reilly, I’m standing in front of your hotel room, and your car’s not in the lot. But guess whose is.”

Shit.

Carolina stirs, lifting her head and blinking blearily at me. Her eyes widen as she realizes she’s been cuddled up against me in her sleep. She pulls away slowly, sliding across the bed, and I can feel her hesitation. My body wants to follow after her, to pull her back, but my brain’s still catching up to what Bas just said.

“I’m following up on a lead in New York,” I say, trying to keep my voice casual, though I’m mentally cursing at how quickly things just got complicated. I rub a hand over my face, willing the pulsing in my temple to disappear. “Carolina asked to come along.”

“With Carolina Castillo?” Bas’s voice is full of suspicion, and I know what he’s thinking. Carolina’s still a person of interest in the case—at least, officially—and me being with her is going to raise more questions than I care to answer right now.

I press a hand to my forehead, staring up at the ceiling. “I came to talk to Esme Briarwood. Carolina’s friends with her, and she asked to come along. I didn’t see a reason she couldn’t.”

There’s a long pause, and I can practically feel Bas piecing it together on the other end of the line. “Esme Briarwood? Why would you need to talk to her?”

“I thought she might be able to help identify the substance found at the crime scenes,” I say, frowning at the pale white ceiling. “CSI couldn’t figure out what it was. Might be something imported.”

Another pause, longer this time. “Got it.”

I let out a slow breath of relief. “You can tell the Captain I’ll be back today. Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Still working on that paper trail for Owen Donovan, but I don’t think we’re going to find anything.”

“Keep looking,” I say automatically. “He was hiding something. I’m sure of it.”

Bas clicks off, and I let the phone fall onto the bed with a sigh. Carolina has moved across the room, sitting stiffly in the chair by the window. She’s putting as much distance between us as she can, like she needs the space to think or breathe.

“Sebastian?” she asks, her voice quiet, but there’s a tension in it I can’t ignore.

“Yeah,” I say, sitting up in the bed and rubbing the back of my neck. My body feels stiff and sore from the past few days, and as I roll my neck to the side, I hear a series of pops that make me wince.

“What time did you get back last night?” she asks, ignoring the obvious tension between us. It’s not an invitation, but it’s something.

I meet her gaze, watching for any sign of what she’s thinking. “I wasn’t gone long. Probably a half hour after I left. Sorry about that—walking out, I mean. I just needed a second.”

Her expression softens slightly. “Understandable.”

That one word sends a jolt of relief through me. Maybe we’re getting somewhere. Maybe things between us aren’t as broken as they feel.

“It gave me some clarity on our situation, though,” I say, shifting on the bed, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees.

“Oh?” she replies, her voice wary.

I take a deep breath, knowing this next part is a gamble, but one I have to take. “Yeah. I decided I’m going to fight for you. For us.”

Her eyes snap to mine, wide with disbelief. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t think I did because what I heard is absolutely impossible. No sane person would come to that decision.”

I shrug, giving her a teasing smile. “I never pegged you as a coward, Carolina.”

Her eyes flash with anger, and I know I’ve struck a nerve. “Excuse me?”

“You’re so scared of a past that isn’t even ours,” I say, my voice soft but firm. “You’re a different person in this life. You have Camila, Silas, and Luna. You’ve seen us together. We’re inevitable.”

She shakes her head, her voice tight with frustration. “The future can change. The past can’t.”

I lean forward, my gaze locking with hers. “And have you ever considered that this is what your magic is trying to tell you? That by showing you all the ways we end, it wants you—wants us—to find a way to survive? Or are you just too scared to let someone in that you refuse to see what’s right in front of you?”

Her jaw tightens, her eyes hardening. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

I stand up, crossing the room until I’m standing right in front of her, looking down into her eyes. “Then prove it.”