A heartbeat passes. Then all of the wisplights die at once.
“No,” Leo murmurs, voice rising. “No. No. She fecking didn’t.”
His accent comes out more when he’s upset, and as he grabs a scrap from his pocket and summons his own wisp, I realise he’s swaying slightly on his feet, his eyes unfocused and his expression pinched with pain.
He’s the calm, composed one. Sure, he gets intense sometimes, but I’ve never seen him so devastated.
“She’s not…gone?” I ask, finally recovering my voice. “She just… We only kissed.”
The thrill of winning the game had been nothing compared to the moment she freaking threw herself at me, but that’s gonenow. Instead, I’m stuck in some awful nightmare as my thick skull finally puts the pieces together.
She always refused to hug me. Always. She refused to come through the shower screen when I asked her to snuggle. She knew… She never mentioned what would happen, and the others… They knew, too. That’s why they were always so careful.
Which means Kyrith just used me to…
Magic. I’m gonna be sick.
“Boss.” My voice wavers. “Boss, this isn’t funny.”
“No. It isn’t.” Dakari steps back, face grey under the glow of Leo’s wisplight.
“She’s gone.” I didn’t expect North to care, but he looks almost as haunted as the rest of us. “I thought…”
“She wasn’t living,” Eddy whispers, her cheeks streaked with tears. “She said it was like watching life through a pane of glass… That real death would’ve been preferable.”
She felt that way? Why didn’t she say anything? I would’ve been there. I could’ve done something.
Numbness is tingling through my limbs. Some strange ringing has taken up residence in my skull, echoing in my ears like a scream.
Wait…
Thatisa scream. Kyrith’s scream.
I’m on my feet in the next second, shoving past a frozen Eddy to the door. The Rotunda looks like it was the scene of a battle. The Christmas tree has been knocked over, sending broken baubles and torn ribbons everywhere, but my focus is on the trapdoor.
“She didn’t want you down there!” Dakari yells after me, grabbing my arm.
“Fuck that!” I retort, brushing him off. I dive for the handle and yank on it with all of my strength. “She’sscreaming.”
