Page 65 of Ashen Souls

I lay back.

The building had settled into a midnight stillness. Sleep was coming whether I wanted it or not, and sooner or later, that meant only one thing.

Daeren.

The ache he left behind hadn’t disappeared. It wasn't loud, just a waiting hum in my blood. But tonight, for the first time since this all began, I wasn’t sure I wanted him waiting for me when I closed my eyes.

Rolling onto my side, I huddled deeper into the blanket.

But Daeren’s name bled through anyway. And right behind it came the memory of Ethan’s gaze: unflinching and focused, that felt less like a sanctuary and more like a beautifully disguised trap. The two figures tangled in my exhausted mind, leaving me to wonder which was the greater threat: the dream I could never truly hold, or the man whose very real touch might ruin me in an entirely different way.

I wasn’t even sure what I wanted anymore. For the darkness to leave me alone… or to answer.

Sleep had barely taken me before the pale morning light ripped me back to consciousness. My mind and body had remained exactly where I left them. Held fast to my bed.

A thread of relief took hold.

If Daeren had torn me across the divide last night, the transition would have felt wrong. There was no question he would have obliterated whatever fragile warmth Ethan had sparked in me. He would have plunged me back into his darkness, eclipsing everything else with his possession. And the most dangerous truth of all was the sickening certainty that if he had tried, I wouldn't have even raised a hand to stop him.

And I hadn't wanted that. Not yesterday.

The distinct sensation of being watched settled over my skin. I blinked the grit from my eyes.

“Aveline.” Harper was looming over my bed. “If you pretend you’re dead one more time, I’m legally allowed to steal your clothes,” she announced, too loud for the morning.

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face as I pushed myself upright.

“Oh good,” she said, stepping back. “You’re alive. I was seconds away from filing a missing-person report titled My Best Friend Is a Liar.”

“I went out,” I muttered.

“You vanished. You ignored every text. You emotionally scarred me.”

I blinked at her. “I emotionally scarred you?”

“Aveline, after Thomas... after what happened. You can't just fall off the grid like that. I thought something had happened to you.”

Guilt hit me.

She was right. I’d been so wrapped up in Ethan, and the looming threat of Daeren, that I’d forgotten the real danger Harper had just faced.

I winced. “I’m sorry. You’re right. My phone was in my bag. I wasn't thinking.”

Harper let out a long breath and dropped beside me.

“Fine. But you owe me. Deeply. Permanently. I had to fall asleep to true crime to calm my nerves. Do you know what that does to a person?”

I let out a startled laugh.

Harper crossed her arms. “Start talking. And don’t skip the good parts.”

I rubbed my eyes. “There weren’t any good parts.”

Her grin widened. “Liar.”

“I ran into Hale.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”