Which will you trust—your heart or your eyes?
The words echoed in my mind as the card vanished from my hand.
On the path ahead, a man walked toward me. No more than a silhouette at first, he emerged from the center of the orchard with a determined stride.
He lifted his head and met my gaze as he approached, his smile mischievous behind a thin beard, his eyes like leaves in the autumn.
My breath caught, my feet carrying me to him of their own accord.
“Ronan?” I gasped, falling into his arms, but he didn’t reply.
Helookedlike Ronan. Smelled like him too, filling my senses with the cloves-and-campfire scent that always reminded me of home. Of our friendship. Of everything we’d become to each other.
But when I reached up and touched his face, his smile died, and his eyes turned flat and empty in a way that sucked all the hope from my heart. I watched in mute horror as the hazel melted into solid black, then changed to a hazy gray. Slowly, wordlessly, agonizingly, the rest of his body turned to smoke in my arms and floated up into the trees.
We’d finally been reunited, and Ronan… He’d been smoked out. Obliterated.
A scream lodged itself in my throat, the pain in my chest driving me to my knees.
I hadn’t even caught my breath yet with I felt the touch of another man’s hand on my shoulder.
“There, there, love. No need for that.”
I tilted my chin up to see my vampire, impeccably dressed in a charcoal suit, crisp white shirt, and ivory tie.
My heart was shattered. I’d just lost my best friend, the man I loved. But the sight of Darius soothed the endless ache, just long enough for me to take a breath.
“Darius,” I whispered, reaching for the hand still resting on my shoulder. “He’s… he’s gone. Ronan is gone.”
When Darius spoke again, his voice was heavy with something I didn’t quite recognize. “We’ve been searching for you a long time, Gray. This isn’t unexpected. Perhaps you shouldn’t have come to this realm.”
“But… this wasmychoice. My fate. I never meant for you and Ronan to follow me here.”
“Intention hardly matters,” he said, cool and logical as always. “We are, in fact, here.”
Disappointment. That was the thing I’d heard in his voice, so unfamiliar to me.
He pulled his hand away and took a step backward. “I should probably take my leave.”
“Wait!” I shot to my feet, stumbling after him. It was hard to walk; suddenly I was wearing an ivory sheath dress the same shade as his tie and a pair of nude heels. “I’m coming with you. I think… we’re supposed to go somewhere?”
“I don’t think so, love. We’ve been searching far too long, and there is still much ground to cover. I must leave.”
“What are you talking about? I’m right here, Darius! You found me!” Was there something in the atmosphere affecting his perception? His mind?
He shook his head, lowering his eyes to the ground. “I’m afraid it’s too late.”
“It’s not!”
He closed his eyes and stepped into the direct sunlight. Blackness seeped down from his head, running down his face like spilled ink.
“Darius, no!” I reached for his hands, trying to pull him into the shade beneath the tree, but he wouldn’t budge.
His black skin began to smoke.
I tugged harder, yanking and jerking, begging him to move, but he was still as a statue, rooted as a tree. I gave him one last tug, but my hands slipped, and I fell to the ground at his feet.
Blood poured from his lips, dripping onto my head, warm and sticky and terrible. Paralyzed with fear, I sat helplessly as Darius liquified before my eyes.
