Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

There is no moss here, because this had been freshly carved, recently opened, and very recently seal

ed. But there’s no way Dare can be here, because I just saw him last night. He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine.

As my hands palm his name, as I reassure myself, pictures fill my head, images and smells.

The sea, a cliff, a car.

Blood, shrieking metal, the water.

Dare.

He’s bloody,

He’s bloody,

He’s bloody.

Everything is on fire,

The flames lick at the stone walls,

Trying to find any possible way out.

The smoke chokes me and I cough,

gasping for air.

I blink and everything is gone.

My hands are on a blank wall, and Dare’s name is gone.

The flowers are gone.

I’m alone.

The floor is bare.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t breathe.

I’m crazy.

It’s the only explanation.

I scramble for the door and burst out into the sunlight, away from the mausoleum, away from the death. I fly toward the house, tripping on the stones.

“Calla?”

My name is called and I’m afraid to look, afraid no one will be there, afraid that I’m still imagining things. Is this what Finn felt like every day? Am I starting down that slippery path? It’s a rabbit hole and I’m the rabbit and I’m crazy.

But it’s Dare, standing tall and strong on the path, and I fly into his arms, without worrying about pushing him away.

His arms close around me and he smells so good, so familiar, and I close my eyes.

“You’re fine,” I tell him, I tell myself. “You’re ok.”