Page 93 of A Taste of Bliss

When had I done something to get someone to appear?—

The wraith. I’d lured the wraith, hadn’t I?

When I went out and sang the song he used to turn me.

I focused on him and he appeared.

Meaning my lure could not only bring me a fae, but one that I focused on.

Did it work on humans? Could it work on the dead?

Leighton’s face jumps into my mind, and I don’t stop to think if it would be a good idea or not. I start singing, letting all of my anguish into my song, letting my heart ache for what I used to have. Except that the ache is noticeably weaker. My mind wanders to a unique set of eyes that I can’t seem to erase from my mind. The blue-green eyes that caught my breath when I first saw them. Wondering what happened that changed them.

I finish my song, pondering if it worked.

Minutes tick by and nothing. No one shows up.

The grassy area by the pond is as quiet as a gravesite.

It didn’t work.

I get up, throwing a stone into the pond at an angle, watching as it skips across the surface. If the wraith needs me stronger, then he’s going to have to fucking help me. So whatever, I give up.

I head back to the house, my thoughts running rampant. What type of realm is Leighton stuck in? If time moves differently there, is she even herself anymore? Will she remember her time there when the wraith brings her back?

Will she still hate me?

I still hate her. The pain she inflicted on me was almost worse than I could inflict on myself. But it’s my fault she’s gone. I have to atone for that.

And a sick part of me wants her back in a romantic sense. The part of me that would rather leave this world than have to keep walking around in it alone.

But I’m not alone, I remind myself. The faces of my friends filter in and out of my mind’s eye. A shuddering sob escapes me quickly as gratitude for my friends hits me in waves. I’m not alone.

I turn down the street the row of townhomes is on, stopping short when I see a small figure walking slowly towards me.

It’s Bliss.

And she’s wearing a thin set of silky pajamas, her legs and arms bare in the tank top and shorts.

“Bliss?” I call. She doesn’t answer me, but she does come to a stop right in front of me.

Something is wrong. Her usually bright and gorgeous eyes are almost glazed over. She looks at me like she’s looking through me. Her teeth chatter and she’s shaking from the cold, her nipples pebbling beneath her top.

Fuck.

My lure did work. I was just too far away and she was asleep.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

What the hell do I do now?

“Bliss, can you hear me?” I take off my hoodie, but it’s not a zipper one, so I try getting it over her head. She pushes me off.

“Bliss, it’s freezing. Wake up.” I give up on trying to get it over her head and instead wrap the arms around her shoulders and tie them together at the front. “I’m so sorry.”

She doesn’t respond, just sort of tilts her head to the side and lets out a yawn.

“Where the fuck are you even staying?” Think, Pisces. Where is Goddess’ Trance’s lodging?