Page 111 of Allegiant

I roll my eyes. “It’s not my fault you have some magical way of seeing right through me.”

“I’m as talented as you, just in other ways.” He grins before his face turns serious. “But I need you to promise me that you’ll stay inside the theater until I come back.”

I wrinkle my nose and huff a small laugh. “Where am I gonna go? We came in your car. I’m literally stranded here.”

“Not literally.” Samson’s eyes go over my shoulder to where I’m certain my friends are all watching avidly. “Just stay inside until I come back. Okay?”

“You’re a little paranoid, you know that?”

“Please.” He lifts my hand and kisses my palm. “For me?”

“Fine,” I sigh. I don’t understand what he’s so worried about, but it’s not like I’ve got places to be, and honestly, I feel safe here. Safer than most places. “I’ll stay here.”

A weight slips from his shoulders. “Good. I’ll be as fast as I can.”

He gives a brief wave to my friends before disappearing into the shadows of backstage. I watch him go with a sappy smile on my face.

“Bullshit is that just sleeping together,” Shane says from my side, startling me. He’s smirking as he points at my face. “That smile? That one’s new. Says ‘I’m smitten’ all over.”

“Fuck off.” I can’t deny it any more than I can wipe the smile off my face. “I’m happy, okay?”

“More than okay,” Shane says, giving me a side-on hug. “No one deserves happiness more than you. Remember that.”

Anxiety gnaws at my stomach. I want to believe that, but a part of me chants that I don’t deserve it. Not after Adam. And even if I did, there’s no guarantee it’ll last.

I’m still worrying about it fifteen minutes later as I’m making my rounds, checking that all the lights are switched off after everyone else has left.

Some of the others hate doing this, but I don’t mind. The darkness doesn’t scare me. Well, not this kind of darkness. The type that’s lived inside me for just over a year? That terrifies me.

A creak has my head whipping around. “Samson? Is that you?”

Nobody answers.

I shrug it off. Must be hearing things. It’s too close to the anniversary of Adam’s death. It’s putting things into my head.

I take another step and then stop.

Because there’s suddenly something cool and hard pressed against my temple.

And I know what it is.

A gun.

My mouth dries out as I try to think what I can do. What would Samson do? I try desperately to think of how he disarmed the mugger, but my memory is failing me. All I can picture is his face.

I close my eyes and hold it there. If I’m about to die, I want him to be my final thought. To let him carry me into the darkness.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do this.”

My eyes fly open in shock. I know that voice, although I haven’t heard it in a long time. Not since I watched Adam’s coffin disappear into the ground. “Adriana?”

She steps out of the shadows, and I suck in a gasp. She’s lost weight since I last saw her, along with any warmth her face once held. Almost as though her grief has been eating her alive from the inside.

Just as it has with me.

“Fuck, Adi,” I say, forgetting momentarily that she’s literally holding a gun to my head. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” She laughs hysterically. “Am I okay?! You killed my brother, and you want to know if I’m okay?”