Page 23 of Dark & Darker Still (Vane and Roc: Origin)

Twenty-Two

Alice

The chill finds me first, creeping into my fingertips.

My face is wet, mashed into the dewy grass.

When I open my eyes, Lainey is sitting beside me.

“You’re here,” I mutter, my tongue thick.

She smiles down at me.

“Are you okay?”

Body aching, I slowly sit upright.

In the graveyard, the giant oak sways in the wind, the boughs creaking.

“The princes…” I shove damp hair out of my face. “The guards.” I scan the hillside, the cemetery. “Where did they go?”

Lainey’s smile falls.

My heartbeat is a slow drum as my stomach sinks.

“Lainey?”

Her chin trembles.

“What happened?”

I crawl over the grass to her and reach out?—

And my hand goes right through her.

“No.”

Her mouth moves, but no words come out.

“No. No.”

The wind shifts again and she shimmers like a mirage.

“No!”

I lurch to my feet and run across the hills, race back to the house.

The door stands open, the house dark and still.

I hurry through the kitchen, into the living room and?—

Vane and Roc.

Blood everywhere.

And Lainey in their arms.

Her clothing is torn. Her eyes are wide open and dead.

All of the air is sucked out of the room, and I collapse, unable to breathe.

Roc is holding her close to his chest and sobbing.

Vane’s eyes are glassy and faraway, but he’s shaking like he’s fevered.

I spin around and vomit.

The purging of my stomach and my soul is so deep, my body contorts, heaving until there’s nothing left.

My eyes burn.

My throat is raw.

Lainey is dead.

And it’s all my fault.