Page 176 of This Life of Mine

Not that I’m complaining. If anything, I’m curious to see where this particular disaster leads.

The mask hanging in my closet suddenly feels less like a burden and more like a secret shared between us.

Something that should terrify her has actually brought us closer.

Life is strange like that.

But as I watch Lina gather her things, humming softly under her breath, one thought keeps returning. I was wrong.

I spent so long believingThe Wraithwould eventually cost me everything.

Instead, the woman I love stared straight into the darkness and found me standing behind it, and wants me, anyway.

And for the first time in what feels like forever, I’m not divided.

I’m not Alex pretending to be the Wraith. Or the Wraith pretending to be Alex.

I’m just me.

Chapter fifty-two

Alex

My phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s nonstop. I don’t have to look to know who it is. It’s Reese.

Something in my gut restricts. He doesn’t call unless it matters.

“I need to take this love.”

Lina nods.

I get up from my bed and answer the call, turning slightly away. “Talk to me.”

There’s no preamble on Reese’s end. No easing into it.

“Alex,” he says, voice clipped. “We’ve got a situation.”

I straighten. “What happened?”

A beat. Just long enough to feel wrong.

“David Allister was found dead early this morning.”

The words land heavy. Cold. “Shit.”

“Home residence,” Reese continues. “Preliminary report says stroke. No immediate indicators of foul play.”

My jaw tightens.

“When do we think it happened?” I ask.

“Time of death looks to be late last night. Sometime after he left the bakery.”

The timing hits like a punch to the ribs.

My eyelids fall for a brief second, running through every conversation, every look, every detail Lina relayed. The confusion on his face. The sincerity. The man who didn’t know why she’d been shut out. The man who didn’t know someone wanted her dead.

“This is getting messy,” I say flatly.