Page 50

Guilt and shame wash over me like a tsunami. I hadn’t even thought about the fact this is my fault. That I did this to him. That my blood poisoned him.

Mack grabs my hand forcefully. “Nova, no. I didn’t mean…”

I am trembling. Hot and cold chills coil inside my veins. “I did this to you,” I whisper. Tears start to roll down my cheeks, so forcefully I don’t stand a chance of stopping them.

Tanner comes to me, and wraps his arms around my waist. He nestles in close and kisses my shoulder. “Nova, you didn’t do this.”

Kole is there too now, holding my hand. And then Sam.

We stay like that for a long time. Holding each other. Crying.

Mack is the only one who does not cry. He just stares at me as if he is trying to remember every inch of my face. I can barely stand to look at him. It hurts too much. But at the same time, I can’t look away because it feels like the second I let him out of my sight I will lose him forever.

In the deafening silence, the tablet on the bedside table starts to buzz. Without making a sound, Tanner passes it to Mack and he accepts Luther’s call.

When Luther’s face fills the screen, my throat constricts. I bunch my fists at my sides. My body feels so hot I can hardly breathe. I’m going to explode. Rage and sadness swirl like a toxic whirlpool through my veins. A spark flies from my palm and into the air.

“What’s going on?” Luther frowns. He looks exhausted, and the momentary brightness in his eyes when he saw us all has gone.

Rev moves into shot beside him and I look away.

I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t. I need to explain what happened to her aunt. She needs to know that Miranda was lost weeks ago, and there was nothing we could have done. But I can’t explain that to her. Not now.

Mack is all I can think about.

I slip my hand into his, squeezing tightly.

“We have news,” he says, trying to sit up a little straighter, but grimacing with the pain. He’s speaking as if he’s about to tell Luther something banal and unimportant like the time of our flight back home.

Luther raises his eyebrows. He’s looking past Mack at Kole and Tanner, who are refusing to even glance at the screen.

From the foot of the bed, Snow grumbles and stands up.

“Hey, buddy. You look good.” Luther smiles. “You good? You’re both on the mend?”

A choked sob breaks free from Sam's lips, and makes me screw my eyes shut.

There’s a long pause. Mack opens his mouth to speak then closes it again. He rubs his beard. He's thinner than he was, but still crazy, addictively handsome in his trademark gray sweats and white tee.

“Fuck…” Luther breathes. He knows. He gets it.

Rev frowns and looks at him. “What?”

“It was all a lie.” Sam is the one who speaks. Finally, he turns around. His cheeks are stained with tears but, now, his expression is hard. Angry. Furious. “There was no elixir. This whole thing was a waste of time." He stops, swallows hard, and breaths out heavily. “There is no elixir," he repeats in a whisper, staring at Luther now and not Rev. "We can’t save them. We’re out of time.”

Luther laughs.

The sound surprises me.

Rev opens her mouth to speak, but doesn’t.

Luther shakes his head and brings a whiskey bottle to his lips, then puts it down again. “But they look…” He meets Mack’s eyes. “You look good, Baloo.” As he says Mack's nickname, my heart splinters.

“Fraid not.” Mack puts his hand on my shoulder.

Luther’s jaw twitches. Rev gets up and walks out of shot.

“I’ll get on the next flight. There must be something we can do.” Luther takes his phone from his pocket and starts to search for flight times, his thumbs moving desperately quickly. “There’s a plane leaving in three hours. I'd be with you by tomorrow morning.”