A Desire So Deadly (A Need So Beautiful #2.5)(22)

Chapter 9

I round the boulder and see Harlin sitting in the sand in front of a small fire. He’s staring into it, even though I’m sure he sensed me walk up. He doesn’t lift his head when he starts talking.

“After you left, I thought about what we’d do when this is over. Where we’d go.” He glances up, and the sadness in his eyes guts me. “I thought maybe Portland. My brothers are still there. But then . . . reality came crashing down.”

My heart breaks; the idea of running off to Portland with Harlin is all I could ever want—something so simple. And impossible.

“You’re good,” Harlin says with a shrug. “You’re the embodiment of good—you could never leave a Shadow here to hurt other people. You could never just walk away.”

“Harlin—”

“I can’t lose you again,” he says, his voice cracking. “I won’t survive it. I’m not as strong as you.”

“You are,” I say, walking over to kneel in the sand next to him. I grab his arms and wrap them around me. I kiss his cheeks, his mouth. I hold his face and force him to look at me. “And you’ll get through this.” I put my hand over his heart. “I live here, Harlin. I can never really leave you.”

Without responding, Harlin leans forward to press his lips against mine. It’s a good-bye kiss, one filled with loss and pain. In the distance, we hear the sound of car doors slamming shut. We both turn in that direction, and then Harlin helps me to my feet. He sniffs hard, wiping his cheeks with the back of his hand.

“I love you,” he says quietly. “You’ll come back. I choose to believe you’ll come back.”

I lower my head, wishing I believed it too. Every second that ticks by feels like eternity, and then finally River is the first to emerge from behind the rock. He’s dazed, like he can barely recognize me. He looks like he might fall, but he reaches to steady himself on the boulder.

“His brain might be a bit scrambled,” Lucy says, walking in behind him. She’s dressed in a tight black dress, her hair slicked back. She glances over to Harlin. “Hey, Seer.”

Harlin hardens his jaw, his anger plain on his face.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Lucy says, waving her hand at him. “At least ask how I am.”

“That’s the thing,” he says. “I’m not really in the mood for your sadistic games. Just walk away, Lucy. Then everyone survives.”

“Sweetie,” she says with a fake pout, “I think we both know that’s impossible. But hey, maybe if you weren’t such a miserable failure, we wouldn’t have ended up this way.” She flashes a smile, knowing her comment has wounded him when he lowers his gaze.

Lucy grabs River by the elbow and takes him across the fire from us. The amber glow from the flames casts shadows on her face while she whispers terrible things in my brother’s ear. River’s eyes slide in my direction, his body sagging against Lucy. For as tall as my brother is, he’s weak next to her. She’s killing him.

“River has nothing to do with this,” I say, my heart pounding with anticipation of our impending fight. “You wanted me back; well, here I am. Send him home.”

“Claire, what is going on?” River asks. He groans as Lucy holds out her fist and clenches it. My brother coughs, blood spurting between his lips.

“Stop!” I scream, and shoot forward. But Lucy holds up her other hand and I’m struck down, my insides freezing up in hard knots.

“Stay where you are, Claire,” Lucy says. “I wouldn’t want you bursting into light or anything.”

Harlin quickly helps me up, glaring at my sister like he might murder her after all. Even someone as gentle as Harlin has a breaking point, and Lucy has driven him to it. My sister flicks her fingers, and River falls to the sand, released from her grip, and my pain subsides.

Lucy looks down to where River is lying. “I kind of want to keep him,” she says conversationally. “Always wanted a brother. What do you think? He can travel with us. We’ll head back to Arizona and see Dad. We can whisper to him that you’re his daughter, even though you don’t look like Elise anymore. We can make sure he’s okay. You want to know that he’s okay, right?”

Grief tugs at my heart, and I nod. “Of course I do. But then we’ll be Shadows, unable to control our impulses. Spreading pain and misery to everyone around us. You know it can’t work.”

“I’m an optimist,” Lucy says. She purses her lips and looks toward Harlin. “What will that make you, Harlin, other than a nuisance?”

“The voice of reason,” he offers. “Because I’m telling you right now, you’re not leaving this town with Claire or her brother.”

“And what will you do to stop me?” She laughs. “You don’t have the strength to stand against me. I can make you see all manner of things—like your dead father, perhaps.”

Harlin curses, glancing away. I hate what my sister did to him last time—confronted him with the image of his father, bleeding to death in front of him. It broke Harlin’s heart. She could have killed him, but she didn’t. Why didn’t she kill him then?

“For you, of course,” she answers, turning to me as she reads my thoughts. “I know you’d hate me if I killed him.” She looks at Harlin. “But even if I do spare you,” she says, “what’s the point? You can’t be with her—you know that. Either Claire evaporates”—she makes a flutter with her fingers—“or she turns to the Shadows. Either way, she’ll be beyond you, Seer.”