Page 13 of Deceit

I hung up and turned the corner, andjustas I was about to hit redial, my feetfroze at the scene before me.

My worst nightmare had come true.

I dropped my phone and sprinted over to the unmistakable body of Theo, theenormous pool of blood he was lying in glistening under the morning sun’s rays. I threw myself down next to him, not giving a shitthatwithin seconds, I was drenched in his blood.

“Theo! What the fuck? Wake up,”I bellowed as I tried to frantically shakehim awake.

His eyes didn’t open.

His body didn’t move.

When my panicked gaze moved to the gaping slash across his throat, Ipulled his lifeless body into my arms.

“No, no, no. Come on, Theo! Wake up, I need you to wake up!”I cried,thick tears streaming down my cheeks.

I couldn’t think straight, chaos reining in my mind as all I could do was holdhis body and scream his name while praying to a god I knew didn’t existthatthis wasn’t happening.

Thatmy cousin,my best friend, wasn’t dead.

I didn’t know how long I held him, rocking his body against mine, andbegging him to wake up, when suddenly, his eyes flew open, his dark brown eyes, almost identical to mine, glaring back at me. Only now, they were void of the lifethatonce filled them. They were empty.

Dull.

Lifeless.

Fear pounded through me when Theo opened his mouth to speak, bloodpulsing from the wound in his neck.“This is your fault,”he said, a haunting lilt to his voice.“I’m dead because of you.”

He raised his hand, and it was onlythenthatI realized he was clutching aknife, the sharp blade coated in vibrant red blood. My heart rate accelerated, but my body remained as still as a statue, ready to allow Theo to take my life.

I didn’t want to live without him.

Icouldn’tlive without him.

But as he brought the knife toward my throat, my body bolted upright, mylungs desperately sucking in air as sweat poured down me and soaked my bed sheets. With my heart pounding against its cage, it took a few seconds to blink the nightmare away and focus on the room around me.

My bedroom, in my apartment.

A voice in my head told methatwasn’t right, though. I moved out months ago when a war was brought to Hollows Bay, and the apartment block was destroyed.

Movement from the corner caught my eye. My head twisted to the shadows,my breath hitching when Theo stepped into the light, his body still covered in blood, and his vocal cords exposed from where the skin at his throat had been sliced wide open.

“I was always there for you, Miles. But where were you when I neededyou?”he hissed, venom lighting up his soulless eyes.“And now, you wanther.But she isn’t yours.”

I swallowed, guilt eating me up from the inside because he was right. Iwasn’t there the one time he needed me when he was always there for me, without fail. Butthatwasn’t the only thing he was right about.

I did want her.

Sofia.

Jailbait.

I wanted her from the minute I saw her four years ago, but I would neverhave her. Notthen, and not now.

“I’m sorry,”I whispered, my voice hoarse.“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,Theo.”I ripped the covers off, pushing aside the fear crawling through my veins as I stood.“I don’t want her. I promise, I don’t want her.”

“Liar!”Without warning, he launched across the room, shoving mebackward onto the bed.

This time, when I jolted awake, I knocked my laptop onto the floor fromwhere it had been resting on my lap, my bedroom bathed in the soft glow of the screen, which still showed the webpage I’d been reading before I’d fallen asleep.