Despite the shivering, warmth spreads through my limbs. I’m not alone. My prince of darkness won’t let me die alone.
“Edie? Can you hear me?”
I don’t think the noise I make is anything resembling coherence, but it seems to prompt excited movement, which only makes everything hurt more.
Another scream. I think it’s mine.
Apollo
* * *
Tears course down my cheeks as I stare at the busted screen on my phone. I can’t reach Edith’s either, but I bet hers is fucked up too.
We’re upside down in the middle of an intersection. Sirens wail in the distance, closing in on our position, but unless someone else called 9-1-1, they aren’t for us.
I swallow down the bitter-tasting panic at the back of my throat and risk another glance at Edith. She made a noise a couple seconds ago, and her fingers flinched when I held her hand. She’s not dead, but how much longer can she hold on for? With every second that passes, her life hangs in the balance.
A juddering sob escapes from me, and I cram my fist into my mouth in a vain attempt to silence my fear. It doesn’t work, though the bite of pain through my muscles is comforting.
I should be strong. I should be calm. I should step up for her in this moment. She needs me. But I think my best friend is dying. And if she dies, part of me will die too.
Another sob seeps out between my clenched knuckles as her fingers curl around my hand.
“Apollo?”
“¿Sí, princesa?” My blood chills at the anguish in her voice as she says my name, while relief unfurls in my shoulders that she’s still alive and breathing. She’s speaking, that’s a good thing, right? And she at least remembers my name. Also good.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t leave me.” Her heavy, terror-filled eyes meet mine, as my heart slices into pieces in my chest. “Don’t let me die alone.”
My mouth moves, telling her she has to stay with me, telling her she’s not going to die, and that she has to fight, to live. But it doesn’t look good as her eyes roll back in her head. My mouth might be telling her one thing, but my stomach sinks, and my rational brain kicks in. I’m not sure I believe the things falling from my lips to comfort her.
She’s bleeding, her eyes are glassy when she can open them, and she’s so fucking pale I can almost see through her skin. She really might be dying.
And there’s literally nothing I can do to stop it.
CHAPTER3
Apollo
“I’m fine.”
“Mr. de le Peña, I need you to sit still so we can check you over and make sure you’re not injured.”
“I said I’m fine.” I swat the nurse’s hand away as she tries, yet again, to take my blood pressure. “I was in a car wreck. My best friend—” My voice cracks along with the final piece of the veneer that’s been covering the truth all this time.
Edith Fisher has never beenjustmy best friend. She’s the love of my fucking life. And I might never see her alive again.
The admission to myself swells in my chest, consuming every cell in its path, controlling the rhythm of my heart, the oxygen in my lungs and veins, and shaking the foundation of everything I thought I knew and held true.
Something catches in my throat as I attempt to clear it. “I’m going to guess my blood pressure is through the roof, so that machine isn’t going to tell us anything we don’t both already know.” Clamping and releasing my jaw, I scowl.
She looks at me like I’m a five-year-old who won’t take a nap. To be honest, a nap sounds pretty damn good right about now, but I can’t. I need to know. I need to see Edith. I need to hear her beautifully pitched voice, I need to stare into her grey eyes, and I need to sweep that piece of golden-honey hair out of her face that annoys her when it falls from her messy buns.
I need all of her.
The nurse’s eyes soften. “I’m sure—”
