A Need So Beautiful (A Need So Beautiful #1)(66)

Monroe nods. “No one can remember but a Seer. And I know it hurts. I’m so sorry. But if you step off that railing, you’ll be chained to this earth, slowly rotting. You don’t want that. Go into the light.”

“Funny,” Onika laughs. “And what if there’s nothing there, Charlotte? What if he really just wants to get rid of you?”

But I think of Warren, and how I was with him in the end. How much I loved him, not as myself, but as the light. And I know there’s something beyond me. And I know it’s good.

Onika stomps back over toward me. “I’m getting tired of this game,” she says, and waves her hand. “Let’s go.”

But I don’t move. Instead I hold on to the cable and wait for the next pain to hit me. I close my eyes.

In the distance, above the sound of the rain, I hear something familiar. It’s the sound of a motorcycle. I open my eyes and look down the bridge.

“Harlin called me,” Monroe says. “He was looking for you.”

“He didn’t forget me?”

“Not yet.”

I watch in anticipation as Harlin’s bike comes up the high point of the bridge and nearly spins out on the wet pavement as he sees me. His boots hit the concrete and he stops, his eyes wide underneath his helmet.

I’m balanced on the railing of a bridge, but I’m staring at him, overflowing with emotion.

He takes off his helmet, stumbling off his bike as he lays it on the ground next to him. He drops his helmet as he stares at me.

And I remember that I’m no longer hidden. My face is golden, all of me, really. I can’t decide what he’s seeing—if it’s brilliant or horrible.

“He is handsome,” I hear. Onika is sitting on the railing, picking at the leather of her gloves. The rain doesn’t seem to touch her anymore. “It’d be a shame to lose him,” she adds. “Lose that cute little apartment in the Pearl. The one with the painting studio.”

I watch as Harlin comes closer to me. His boots are dragging on the ground, like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “Charlotte?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I nod. “It’s me.”

“Baby, what’s happened to you?”

I shrug. “This is it, Harlin. This is my secret. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry,” he repeats. “My God, you’re so beautiful.” My sense of loss overwhelms me, and I sway, almost stepping down. But I fight it and hold on to the cable.

“They want me to go,” I say. “They say I have to leave.”

“Leave? No.” He looks so devastated at the thought that I’m not sure I’m strong enough. I don’t think I can leave him. “To go where?” he asks, glancing between me and Monroe. Monroe shakes his head and wraps his arms tight around himself, like he can’t handle this part.

“I’m not sure.”

“I don’t understand,” Harlin says. “I don’t understand what’s going on. Come down from there, let’s go. Maybe there’s a doctor or someone who can help you.”

“No!” Monroe shouts. “Do not get down, Charlotte. You’ll be bound. You do what you’re supposed to do.”

“What?” Harlin spins around to glare at him. “Are you telling her to jump off the damn bridge? What have you done?”

In the distance sirens cut the sound of the rain. Monroe swears. “They’re coming for you, Charlotte!” he yells. “They think you’re trying to commit suicide. They’ll pull you down.”

“Good,” Harlin says, and then turns back to me. “Whatever Monroe is telling you, don’t listen, Charlotte. You don’t have to go. You can stay with me.”

“Wow,” Onika says. “Maybe he’s right. You should listen to him.”

“Baby,” Harlin continues, “I promised I’d take care of you. That first time you got on the back of my bike two years ago, I promised you that. I meant it then and I mean it now. I won’t—”

The night stops. I hold up my hand to him. “You remember that bike ride?” I ask him. It can’t be.

He nods. “Yeah.”

“Do you remember our first kiss?” My heart is pounding beneath my jacket.

“In the hall. You were covered with green paint.” He pauses, looking lost in the memory. “I ruined your white uniform shirt.”

“You did.” I burst out with a cry, but it’s one of disbelief. I look past him to Monroe, who’s standing there looking stunned.

“He’s a Seer,” he says. “That’s why you’re my last, Charlotte. Because now Harlin will take over.” Monroe stumbles back, like he can’t believe he’s free. Free of the Forgotten.

“Another Seer,” Onika says. “Didn’t anticipate that one. Well.” She slaps her hands together. “Glad we cleared that up. Now let’s get out of here before the police show and you end up on the nine o’clock news.”

“No. Leave me alone,” I say to her.

She grins. “Say it again and I will.”

The sirens are getting louder. When I look at Monroe, he smiles at me compassionately. “Jump, honey. It’s okay to jump now.”

Harlin tells him to shut up, and then holds his hand out to me, begging me to get down. He doesn’t understand any of this yet, but I know that Monroe will teach him. Give him the journals.