Page 231 of Breathe Like Hell

Missing.

Healing.

Angry.

Anything but⁠—

No.

I sprung up to my feet, stomping out of Mason’s bedroom.

“You’re lying. Tell me the truth,” I demanded. This had to be another game, another thing Mason was saying to hurt me. Like he always did.

“Are you fucking stupid?” he spit out. “Hit your head when you fell?”

“No. What are you talking about?” The lump in my throat grew, tears welling up in my eyes. “I’m not stupid.” Micah doesn’t think I’m stupid.

“Then listen to what I’m telling you,” Mason snapped. “Micah—your Micah—is dead. That truck hit you and it killed you. He gave up his life to turn you into an angel. It doesn’t happen naturally when Angelakia die. He had to sacrifice himself for you.”

My Micah.

Gave up his life.

“I thought—Is he in Heaven?” I questioned, panicking. “Was he up there when I was? Can he come back? Can’t he just fall again? Is he healing?”

“No. When an angel dies, it dies.”

“No! He’s not dead. There’s⁠—”

“He’s dead, Dakota. Forever. There’s no afterlife we can come back from. There’s no…”

His mouth kept moving. But I couldn’t hear anything after that.

He’s dead.

Forever.

There’s no afterlife we can come back from.

The room tilted without actually moving.

Something inside my chest stopped.

“No,” I choked out.

No. No. No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

He was just here.

He’s coming back.