Lux (The Nocte Trilogy 3)

I open my eyes.

I’m alone, and even though the echo of Finn’s whispers linger here, I know that he’s not.

My body feels heavy and I can’t lift my arms, and a nurse comes in and when she sees my eyes open, she’s startled, then she rushes to my side.

“Ms. Price! You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

I don’t know. My thoughts are murky and my chest hurts so much. I try to lift a hand to rub at it, at my chest, but I can’t. There are too many tubes, too many wires.

“Don’t,” the nurse tells me as she watches my attempt. “You’ve been through a lot. You’ve got to rest to recover.”

“Where is Dare?” I ask and my voice is hoarse and my throat is sore, like I haven’t spoken in a hundred years.

“He’s in another room,” she tells me. “He’s fine. He’s going to make it.”

Joy leaps at me, lapping at my face, and then I picture my brother and everything falls around me.

“Finn?” I ask, and even I can hear the fear in my voice.

“I think it’s best if the doctor explains everything that happened,” she tells me. “I’ll be right back with her.”

I close my eyes because I’m exhausted and afraid, and it isn’t long before the doctor comes and when she speaks with her raspy voice, I know immediately who it is and I try to leap from the bed.

Sabine stands there, calm as can be in a white lab jacket, and she places a hand on my arm to restrain me.

“Ms. Price,” she says, her dark eyes staring into mine. “You’ve been through quite an ordeal. I’m Dr. Andros.”

“I know who you are,” I hiss at her and she stays calm, because she knows who she is, too.

“You were in a car accident. Mr. DuBray drove off the road. You suffered extreme trauma to your chest and your heart. Your brother suffered massive injuries that unfortunately, he wasn’t able to recover from. He remained alive on life support until a transplant could be made. Your brother’s heart saved your life.”

My hand fingers my chest and there is a fresh scar from my collarbone to my belly, swollen and warm.

“My brother is dead.”

My words are deflated.

Sabine nods.

“I have his heart.”

“You do.”

Save me, and I’ll save you.

I’m supposed to save you, Calla.

The words chant in my head and the voice is Finn’s and the world tips and swirls.

I saved him so long ago, and now he saved me.

And now he’s gone forever.

My loss is profound and unexplainable and the void is enormous. A chasm that I don’t think I’ll ever come back from.

The heart that beats in my chest is not mine. It’s my brother’s. My dear, sweet, perfect brother. My Finn.