CHAPTER 27

T he pain…

The fucking pain…

It seared through every inch of my body inside and out. I was bleeding. Raw. Broken.

I wanted to scream. Cry. Beg.

Something to get it all to stop.

I had no control over my power. No hope of making it go away.

Curling over myself, I clung to the ground, wringing my fingers in the grass. Grass? Gasping hard, I forced my eyes open. Blades of grass cut between my fingers.

Cut through where my fingers should’ve been.

No… no, no, no.

I glanced around me. Long grass, overgrown trees, scuffed-up glass. That inevitable nothing settled in my chest as I sank back on my heels.

Fuck. The greenhouse .

My head tipped back, and I sighed. I stared up at the domed ceiling, catching glimpses of sunlight.

I could feel the spell working its magic. It pulled more and more of me into the greenhouse. It was only a matter of time before I was stuck there for good.

The pain subsided with every passing moment, replaced by nothingness.

Fuck, I didn’t want to be here. I’d known the risks.

“Come back to me…”

I turned as Gray’s voice filled the greenhouse.

“You don’t get to leave me, you hear…”

I didn’t want to leave him.

“It’s you and me, Ryder…”

I closed my eyes with another hopeless sigh.

”Just you and me… it’s supposed to be you and me…”

Warmth spread through my chest, comforting.

“Please, don’t fuckin’ leave me. I need you…”

I needed him too.