Page 122 of Haunted Hearts

The way he’s speaking sounds off; the tone of his voice itself sounds the same, but it’s as if he has this sense of knowing he never possessed before.

“When did you become vague and philosophical?” Alok asks sarcastically. “What? I cope with traumatic events with humor.” He scans my body, as if he doesn’t want to meet my eyes.

I sigh. “How bad is it?”

I put my weight on my arms as I push myself up to sit, the pounding in my head overwhelming. I reach up, running my fingers through my hair, trailing up my horn when it ends too abruptly. It’s broken.

“It’s not that bad,” Alok says, looking away as he scratches the side of his head.

My eyes lock onto Cade, anger twisting into a rage beginning to burn just under the surface…

“Don’t look at me like that. You were in the way.” He says it flatly, but for a moment, I swear I see the corner of his mouth turn up.

Nothing I can do about it. Who knows what the hell he’s capable of now. I doubt he even knows.

I slowly shake my head in defeat as I look down at Calli. “Will she be the same?”

“That depends on her,” Cade says, his tone quiet—gentle.

I lean over, kissing her forehead. “Come back to me, baby.”

CHAPTER 43 CALLI

What happened? Am I… dead?

I look around. I’m in a large field with clear blue skies above me, below, a battleground—masses of bodies clothed in different-colored armors littering the ground. They are all twisted, contorted in positions that shouldn’t be possible for a body to be in. They don’t look human, horns adorning their heads, their skin all kinds of different colors. I look down at my hands and see that they are not my own. Panic blooms in my chest.

This isn’t right.

Why am I here? Why do I feel as if I was a part of this? A war with so many losses on both sides.

I drop to my knees to see a young soldier, his eyes still open wide with fear. Tears begin to stream down my face as I grip the grass under me. I lift my head to the sky and wail. I feel responsible, I don’t know why…

I wipe my tears as I look down at the boy’s milky blue eyes, stuck open, the fear of death still lingering on his frozen expression. I gently close his lids.

He died for nothing…

Tears sting my eyes as rage builds. I begin to feel as if I’m off balance, everything shifting. I blink and the scene changes. I see rolling hills; I’ve never been here before, but I see a woman standing near a cliff in a long dress. She looks like she’s from a different time. The wind caresses her long brown hair as she turns her head and smiles at me.

She looks like… me. What the fuck is happening?

She stares at me with her gleaming deep brown eyes, and it makes my heart—hurt.

I immediately know I love her. But who is she?

She approaches me and pulls me into an embrace. I wrap my arms around her and feel a peace I’ve never known… But it’s wrong, it’s not real. The image shifts, as if glitching. Moving back and forth between her smiling face and her limp body in my arms.

No. You can’t go.

I stare at my hands covered in blood; this isn’t real. This isn’t happening… No. She can’t be gone. She can’t be dead.

I can feel myself crying out as the world around me moves yet again.

Why does it feel like I’ve lost—everything? The overwhelming heartbreak tears through me.

I have to bring her back.

What? Why would I think that? How would I even do that?