Luka

O h, thank fuck. It’s over.

“Dude!” Nash slaps me on the shoulder. “That was brutal! How do you think you did?”

He isn’t wrong. That final was brutal, but surprisingly, I think I did pretty well. “Good, I think . You?”

He shrugs. “Who knows? I’m just glad it’s done. You and Lily want to hang out tonight before we all head home tomorrow?”

We walk down the steps of the general classroom building.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to see.”

I pull out my phone and power it on. The first thing I see is the time. It’s 1:56 p.m. I’m impressed with myself for how well I did on my time for the final. On top of feeling decent about it, I finished faster than I expected.

I pull up Lily’s name and see three unopened messages—two from her and one from Rowan.

Lily: Hey, I know you’re still in your final, but I got a call from my dad about Grandma May. They think she had a stroke. I’m on my way to see her, and Rowan is driving. I’m sharing my location, just in case. I love you more than you know.

The next message is the notification where she shared her location .

Rowan’s message basically says the same thing as Lily’s. I immediately exit the messages app and pull up my call log before hitting Lily’s number at the top. It rings and rings and rings until it finally goes to voicemail.

My heart races, and my hands shake as I try again. Same thing. This time, I try calling Rowan, but when he doesn’t answer, I know something is fucking wrong.

Maybe they just don’t have signal?

The moment I think that, the tug in my chest intensifies, and the need to find her overpowers any other thought.

I pull up her shared location to make sure it’s really working. They are maybe twenty minutes ahead of me, tops.

Hurry! We don’t have much time. A woman’s voice that I don’t recognize sounds the alarm in my brain. My feet start moving before I can really process anything, my instincts take over.

“Dude! What’s wrong?! Where are you going?!” Nash hollers as he races to keep up with me. I run to the parking lot and stop when I remember I don’t have a fucking car!

“I need a car! Like right fucking now!”

“Okay, okay, chill. I borrowed my mom’s so I could drive back home tomorrow.” He digs through his bag, but he isn’t moving fast enough for my liking. I need to be on the road right fucking now!

“Hurry!” I say impatiently.

“Geez, I’m trying, okay? There!” He holds up the keys in triumph, and I snatch them out of his hand before he can hand them over.

“Thank you! Seriously! I’m sorry, but I can’t explain right now,” I say as we run to the car, which he points out.

“ Luka! Luka !” I barely hear my name being called over the roaring of my ears. “Damnit, Luka!” she screams.

I turn my head to see Stella standing on the other side of the parking lot. “Hurry up! It’s Lily!” I scream, knowing it’s enough to get her ass moving.

My sister bolts, stumbling slightly before correcting herself and picking up her speed in worry. She makes it to the car just after us, and without wasting a second, I throw the car in drive and squeal out of the parking lot as soon as all three doors slam shut.

“What the hell is going on?” Stella demands from the back seat.

Nash is in the passenger’s seat, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. If Lily isn’t okay, I very well may lose it completely.

“It’s Lily and Rowan.”

“Rowan? What the hell are they doing together?” Stella asks in confusion.

“Lily’s grandmother is in the hospital. Rowan was taking her to see her. They must have run into each other after their finals. Shit, I don’t know!” I run my hand through my dark hair in frustration.

Stella’s phone is now glued to her ear. “Neither one of them is answering,” she says after a pause.

I slam my hands on the steering wheel as I shove the accelerator down even further, nearing dangerously high speeds.

“Luka, man. Don’t you think you should slow down?” Nash asks nervously.

“I won’t make it in time. I’m already too fucking late!”

I can fucking feel it in my chest as the ever-present, invisible pull to go to her slams into me so hard that I lose control of the steering wheel for a second and swerve into oncoming traffic.

“Damn, dude!” Nash reaches over and snatches the steering wheel to correct us just in time for the passing car to lay on its horn as we zoom past. I still don’t let up on the gas, though. The need to get to her overwhelms any common sense or concern for my own safety.

“Luka, maybe you should let one of us drive,” Stella says nervously from the backseat. I ignore her as I pull up Lily’s location on my phone.

“I’m fine. We are almost there.”

Everyone inside the car is eerily silent as I speed through the city and finally make it to the outskirts of town. I keep my eyes peeled for any signs of them, and when the map says we’re practically on top of them, I slam on my brakes.

I freeze when I see the skid marks on the asphalt and car parts littering the roadway .

A strangled cry erupts from my chest when I see the giant, car-width hole in the guardrail. I’m out of the car before I can even put it in park. I faintly hear Nash cussing as he slams it into park for me, but I don’t bother to look back.

That undeniable pull is now a lightning rod of panic as it pushes me so fiercely, so forcefully, that I can’t change my direction if I want to. I skid down the muddy embankment beside the bridge. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it’ll break free from my chest.

Then I see her .

She rests lifelessly on the cold, muddy ground of the river bank, with Rowan frantically performing CPR. I run to his side and tilt her head back to get ready for mouth-to-mouth.

“Call 911!” I scream when I see Stella trying to make her way down to us.

She stumbles when her gaze reaches Lily. Her eyes go wide, and giant tears roll down her cheeks immediately. Her hand covers her mouth as a sob breaks free.

I hear someone giving our location in the background as I watch Rowan continue to perform chest compressions until he pauses for me to breathe for her.

Tilting her head back, I place my mouth over hers and imagine the pathway of the air leaving me and going into her as it quite literally breathes life back into her. I hope my positive thinking and hope will help. I’d do anything I have to.

Keep going. The mysterious voice once again sounds in my mind.

I pray with everything I have that this isn’t the end as we continue to work to bring her back to life .

I just found her. I won’t fucking give her up.

After another round of compressions and mouth to mouth I start to lose hope. She lies lifeless on the hard, cold, wet ground. Her lips start to turn the faintest blue and unfiltered terror sets in.

“Lily! No! No-no-no! Not like this. Not now. Not ever! Breathe, damnit! Breathe!”

I rise as Rowan prepares for yet another round of chest compressions, but just as he lays his palm on her sternum, she suddenly sucks in a quick but mighty gulp of air. My eyes widen as I rush to turn her on her side as she coughs up water .

Rowan falls back on his ass in exhaustion as I pull her onto my lap, sobbing in relief. “I almost lost you,” I cry.

A rattle leaves her lips, her lungs raspy as she tries to comfort me. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

She shivers, reminding me that someone pulled her from an icy river, and she’s still in soaking wet clothes. I haul her into my arms and make my way back up the embankment. Just as we reach the top, we hear sirens in the distance, and I drop to my knees with her still in my arms, refusing to let her go.

“You found me,” she whispers, her voice still hoarse.

I look her in the eyes, unwavering in my love. “I will always find you. No matter what, no matter the circumstances, no matter the challenges. You are mine, Angel, and I’m yours .”

“ Always. ”

I smile. “ Always. ”

Lily

I’m rushed to the same hospital my grandmother is in, with Luka at my side the whole time. I’m terrified I won’t make it to see her in time, and I’m also beyond grateful I’m alive. It’s a mindfuck of emotions that I don’t know how to begin to process.

“How? How am I alive right now?” I ask, still reeling from the fact that I survived the curse that has been killing women in my family for centuries.

“Rowan,” Luka answers.

I turn my head only since I’m still strapped on a gurney in the back of an ambulance. “What? ”

“He was your good luck charm.” He says it like it’s so simple, but I’m not sure I agree. There must be a catch.

You may have escaped your fate, but that does not mean the omen goes unfulfilled .

My breath catches when I hear the voice. What does that mean?

Someone must still make a sacrifice.

No!

Yes. It is our family’s fate.

Emily?

Yes. it's me.

I swallow the bile forming in my throat. My head swims with the realization that my long dead ancestor has been talking to me from the grave all this time. I can't even begin to wrap my head around it but at least now I know I wasn't going crazy like I thought I was for all these months. What I do know is I need to see my grandmother. “Are we there yet?” I ask in a panic.

“Just a few more minutes, I think. Do you feel worse?” Luka asks as he inspects me head to toe. The fear I saw in his eyes when I first came to hasn’t dissipated much, if at all. I feel terrible that I’m the one who did that to him—the one to put that fear there.

“I need to see my grandmother. When we get there, I need to go to her right away,” I say assertively.

The paramedic sitting in the back of the ambulance answers before Luka can say anything. “Miss, once we get to the hospital, you need to be checked out by the medical staff and doctors in the emergency room. I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to go see her until you’re cleared.”

I shake my head in denial. “No! I need to see her!” I wail. “She could die, and I wouldn’t even get to say goodbye! I’m fine, can’t you see! Clearly, I can spare a few minutes to see a dying woman.”

Luka’s hand brushes mine, drawing my attention. “Angel, it’s okay. Once you get cleared, we can go straight to see her. We need to make sure you’re okay, though. You stopped breathing on us for a minute there.” He strokes my cheek, trying to calm me.

No, I died for a minute there.

A tear forms and spills down my cheek when I hear the pain in his voice. I know I scared him, and for that, I will be forever sorry. However, I need to go to her far more than I need them to fuss over me. If she’s not okay , I won’t be okay .

I lean into Luka, placing my forehead on his as I prepare to beg for help, something I have no shame in. “ Please, Luka. Please, take me to her.”

“ Shhh , she’ll be okay, Lily. You need to let the doctors look you over. You know as well as I do that she would kick my ass if I let you risk yourself over her. She may be old, she may be in the hospital, but she could figure out how to do it—to kick my ass.” He smiles warmly, no doubt hoping his small joke helps soften the disappointment.

It doesn’t.

The ambulance stops, and the back doors fling open. They pull my stretcher out of the back of the ambulance, and they rush me into the emergency room.

“Luka! Please! Please! ” I continue to beg as I’m ushered away from him into a room full of nurses and a doctor who immediately start to poke and prod me.

They take my vitals and listen to my lungs. I pick up a few words here and there, like pleural effusion and hypothermia, but none of it matters because no one will listen to me.

No one will take me to her .