I had wanted Addison and her lies to disappear, yes—but not like this. In the end, up here on the edge of the world, I realize that I need Carter to choose me. Letting Addison die doesn’t satisfy anything.
With that thought comes a vital awareness. I had told her only one reality could exist. When Addison went over the edge, her version of the truth went with her.
Only one truth remains: mine.
As the day starts to break over the mountain top in hues of pinks and deep purples, I begin the slow and painful crawl across the pass. I’m exhausted, my body wracked in agony, my leg bleeding, but I’m not going back the way I came. Behind is the past. Ahead is the future, and all I want is that new and promising tomorrow. It’s right there…so close.
When I finally drag myself across the ledge, Carter is waiting for me on the other side of Devil’s Tooth.
I’m bruised and nearly broken as I fall into Carter’s arms, but his comforting scent enfolds me, dousing any lingering fear. I don’t ask him how he got here, or how he knew how to find me. I just trust it’s a sign we’re meant to be together.
“You’re here,” I say in confirmation.
He strokes my hair. “You didn’t need to prove anything,” he says, echoing my thoughts. “I’ve always chosen you.”
It’s the words I’ve desired to hear for so long—ever since Jeremy shattered my world.
I tell Carter I love him, and he doesn’t reject my love. This moment is solace for all the wrong done to me over the years.
I examine the knife wound Addison left behind, a new scar I’ll forever carry. I’ve lost a fair amount of blood, but no major artery was hit. She obviously didn’t study any anatomy books. After I strip a layer off the bottom of my shirt and secure it around the wound to staunch the blood loss, we maneuver down the steep and treacherous trail to the bluff.
I feel as if I’m leaving something behind. A part of me I always feared—the part that forever questioned whether or not I had been the one to take Jeremy and Irina’s lives that night.
Like so many haunting elements of our psyche, the truth was buried inside me all this time.
After years of being told I committed the heinous act, it had become part of my reality, of my identity. Now, that lie is buried at the bottom of the ravine with all the other traitorous deceits. Moving forward with Carter is like stepping into the sun for the first time since that dark eclipse descended over my life.
Devil’s Bluff is unchanged and yet, everything feels different, new. The car I bought is still parked in the same spot, as if last night was only a dream. Addison’s little Subaru is parked right behind mine.
Glancing between the two cars, I make a decision. We can’t take both, and one has more incriminating evidence. I check the front seat of her vehicle and find the keys still in the ignition.
“Thank you, Addison,” I say out loud. Sometimes the stars really do align.
With a painful limp, I trek over to my car. “It has to burn,” I tell Carter.
Fire cleanses. Once all traces of Sully and Addison are gone, we can finally start over.
I toss Sully’s phone into the backseat as Carter grabs the gas can from the trunk. We douse the interior, then he takes out his Zippo lighter.
A flash of memory of the lighter in my hand as I flick it open…then it’s gone. I shake my head to clear the dull haze and slam the car door closed.
I study my reflection in the passenger-side window. My hair a tangled mess. My face smeared with dirt and blood.
“You’re beautiful,” Carter says.
He moves to stand beside me, Zippo in hand, and I smile. I again look at the window and tilt my head, curious as to why his reflection is missing.
Is he really here, Ellis? Or is it a delusion?
The voice inside me is a tired bitch, and it’s time to shut her up permanently. I pick up a rock and weigh it in my hand before smashing it through the window.
“Goodbye, Dr. Leighton. I don’t need you anymore.”
I look at Carter as he flicks the lighter and, after making sure the flame is strong, tosses the Zippo through the broken window.
We set fire to the car, watch it burn together.
I slip my hand into his, and it’s warm and comforting, just like the flames that lick high into the early morning sky.