But the split rocked under him, the ground opening up with a deafening crack.
Dex slipped away from view, swallowed by the flames.
He was gone into a fiery hell while the embers continued to fall from the sky.
Turning to ash.
Turning to dust.
Just like my heart.
***
I awoke to something tickling my face. I groaned and moved my head. It felt like something was inside of my brain, pinching at different sections, impeding my ability to think. I couldn’t think – it was just all blank. All dull and grey.
I decided to keep my eyes closed and go back to wherever I came from.
Something wet swiped across my cheeks. More tickling.
Finally I opened my eyes, wincing at the bright light from the sky and yellow fur that was in front of my face.
“Kayla!” someone yelled from far away, a woman’s voice.
Suddenly the licking stopped. I slowly pushed myself up on my elbows and watched as a shaggy golden retriever ran away and into the bushes.
Where the hell was I? I looked around, feeling stupider than ever, like my mental ability had regressed back a few decades. What had happened?
“Oh my goodness,” came a voice above me and I looked up to see a middle-aged woman stop a few feet away, the golden retriever at her side. “Are you okay?”
I blinked and tried to get up but could barely get to my feet. The woman was at my side and helping me the rest of the way.
Her eyes peered at me inquisitively. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?” she asked, her dog sticking its cold nose into my hand.
Though I was dizzy, I knew I was okay. Physically, anyway. “No,” I said slowly, trying to step away from her grasp. My mind raced, trying desperately to hold onto the fragments of memory that were whizzing past.
I had gone for a walk by the river.
A man had been here.
He’d talked to me.
He knew my name.
“Are you sure?” the woman was repeating, while telling her dog, Kayla, to leave me alone.
I stared at her dumbly, absently noting how silver her hair was, as shock hit me with a million pin pricks.
Michael O’ Shea, Dex’s brother had been here. He knew my name, he’d mentioned my blood. He said he’d see me in New York.
Then he kissed me and I was out.
He was going after Dex.
“I have to go!” I told the woman, turning on my heel and running down the path that would take me to my street. I couldn’t run fast enough – even though I knew I hadn’t been hurt by the altercation, it still felt like a nightmare, like I was trying to lift my feet out of drying cement and I couldn’t move fast enough. Even my fingers were slow as I repeatedly tried to call Dex’s cell. It rang and rang and rang until finally started going straight to voicemail.
Somehow I made it to my house. My parents car was still gone but now so was the Highlander.
Shit.
I couldn’t exactly explain what it was that was making me panic, maybe it was the obtuse way Michael had talked to me, maybe it was Pippa’s warnings ringing in my ear and forcing me to connect the dots, or maybe it was the fact that when I looked into Michael’s eyes I saw the absence of humanity inside their depths – it didn’t matter. Every single nerve in my body was telling me to hurry now and ask questions later. The fact that Dex’s car was gone was not helping. It seemed like going for a friendly drive with his estranged brother would be the last thing he’d want to do.
The front door to my house was already open, though as I booked it up the driveway, I noted that there weren’t any signs of blood or struggle. I burst into the front hall and looked around wildly.
“Dex!” I yelled. “Dex!” I started running for the stairs but heard a slight moan coming from the kitchen. I paused. “Ada!?”
I ran inside and saw her lying on her side on the tile floor, trying to sit up, her blonde hair in her face. I immediately dropped to my knees and put my hands on her shoulders. She was damp to touch, though it was probably from the workout she had been doing in the living room earlier.
“Ada!” I said, trying not to screech. “What happened?”
“Perry?” she asked weakly. I helped her get into a sitting position.
“What happened?” I asked again, applying slight pressure to her shoulders. “Where is Dex?”
She put a hand to her forehead and slowly shook her head. “I…I don’t know. I…there was a man here.” Suddenly she looked straight at me, fear mixed with sweat on her brow. “Oh my god. He took Dex.”
I swallowed hard, trying my hardest not to let the terror take over me. “How do you know that? What happened? Think!”
She rubbed her lips together, her forehead creased as she tried to think. “I was just in the living room…working out. I heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. There was this guy. At first I thought he was selling something, he had this douchebag kind of smile, you know, and then I realized that there was something seriously wrong with this guy.” She took in a deep breath. “I can’t explain why I thought that, it was just a feeling or the way he was looking at me, I don’t know. He asked if Dex was home. And he was…I’m sorry Perry, I didn’t know what to say.”
I just shook my head, trying to get her to continue. I felt like we were losing time by the second.
She went on, sliding her hands down over her face. “I told him to hang on a second, that I would go get him. But Dex was already coming down the stairs, like he knew. And that’s when I knew I made a big fucking mistake by answering that door. The look in Dex’s face…I can’t describe it. He was angry. And then, then it was like he was fucking terrified, more than I’ve ever seen him.”
She paused. “The guy, he told Dex he’d been looking for him, that he finally needed him for something. And Dex, he didn’t say anything. I wasn’t even sure if he heard him at first. Then he looked at me and I knew how much trouble we were in. He yelled at me to run and get you.” She exhaled shakily and in her eyes I saw as much helplessness as I felt. “I was going to, I started to run. Then the guy reached out and touched my shoulder and that’s the last thing I remember. I guess he dragged me to the kitchen, I don’t know.”
I couldn’t even process it and yet my brain was attempting to. Dex was gone. Michael had him. He had managed to knock both Ada and I out with either a touch or some way of getting inside of our heads. What did he want with Dex? Did Dex go willingly? Where were they headed?
I’ll see you in New York, Perry. That’s what Michael had said to me.
“What is it?” Ada asked. “Who was that guy? What happened to me?”
I took in a deep breath, trying to hold it together in whatever way I could. “That was Dex’s brother.”
She frowned. “Huh?”
I slowly got to my feet and helped her to hers. “Michael O’Shea,” I told her. “I met him on my walk. Whatever he did to you, he did to me. He was able to get in my head and he was able to get in yours. And whatever he wants with Dex…it’s not good.”
“I figured as much.”
“Ada,” I said slowly, wishing she could feel my panic, know what Pippa had said to me. “Listen to me. As dramatic and bat shit crazy as this all is and all sounds, we have to get Dex back.”