The soft, gentle caress of Calia’s lips against my neck caught my attention, drawing me from a restless sleep. Delicate fingers raked over my chest and down my stomach, tracing my muscles in tender adoration.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, nipping my earlobe softly before resuming a trail of kisses down my neck.
“This is not real,” I said, refusing to open my eyes to the agonizing emptiness that would be waiting. No, I wanted to stay with my wife in this illusion of my own making. This moment was the only place I could still feel her presence, and I refused to let it go just yet.
“Of course it is,” she said, taking her time as she slowly stroked the peak of my nipples with her tongue. I could not stop the shiver which ran down my spine, or the low groan that escaped.
Each touch of her lips drove me to insanity. She could have asked for the world at that moment, and there would be no denying her. And she was torturous in her pursuit, taking her time to draw out what I could only assume was a cruel, delicious punishment.
It seemed that not even in sleep could I find solace. I had spent the past week agonizing over her loss, resentful of every second I remained alive without her.
Because that was the truth of it. I could not choose to live in a world where she no longer existed.
Once we had successfully disposed of my mother, I would join my beloved wife in the afterlife. Jasper and Rowena would mourn, but I would be no significant loss; they would move on in time, and then the world would forget my name.
“Stop thinking, Rion, and just feel,” Calia said softly, parting her lips and nipping the skin at my hip.
I let out a guttural moan, reaching out to tangle my hands in the soft waves of her hair. If only I could see her, that would give me some peace. Her eyes crinkled when she smiled; the warmth inside of them was enough to thaw the ice around my heart.
“Rion,” she gasped as I tugged her closer.
I needed this. I needed her. At this moment, there was no pain. I remained blissfully ignorant of the truth, locking the vault in my mind to keep it at bay.
There was onlyher.
“Kiss me,” she whispered. Her breath fanned against my face, her freckled nose touching mine as she leaned in.
Gods, she was so cold. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and not leave this bed until she was as burning as I was. I would set her aflame, worshiping every inch of her body. There would be no part of her left undiscovered.
“Kiss me,” she said again just before our mouths collided.
Her tongue traced the seam of my lips, and I greedily gave her access, running my own along her bottom lip. We were a torrent of lips, tongue, and teeth, each of us refusing to come up for air.
I could not resist; I had to see her. I would die if I did not.
But as I opened my eyes, I was not greeted by the sight of my wife bright-eyed and flushed from lust. No, this was the Calia of my nightmares, the one I could never outrun.
Her skin was pale, so pale that it was almost translucent, yet clusters of burns spanned her body. And then there were her eyes—milky-white, leached of all color.
Lifeless.
Her haunting, dead eyes stared back at me as though she could see right through me.
Oh gods, no.
I looked down at my hands, which had just been tangled in her hair. They were covered in blood.
I looked up in horror, noticing the gash on the side of her head where blood leaked down her neck and chest. It ran in rivers until she was coated in crimson.
No, no, no, no…
“What’s wrong?” she asked, tilting her head. “Do you not like what you see?”
I screamed, unable to stop the bloodcurdling sound before it escaped my lips. I flew backward, clamoring against the headboard as I curled in on myself and closed my eyes.
“This is not real.Not real, not real, not real” I tried to push the terror clawing its way through me back into the dark pit of my mind. There, I could be numb. I did not have to feel or think.
Seconds, minutes, or hours might have passed. I did not know how long I had been fisting the sheets at my side—the sting of fabric cutting into my hands. That small pain was the only thing I knew was real, and the feeling of adrenaline and a racing heart confirmed it.
