Iris (The Wild Side)(28)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I’d had no word from her in weeks when I found a small envelope on my doorstep.
It had no postage, wasn’t even addressed. All that was written on the envelope was Dair in neat handwriting.
Without opening it, I knew whom it was from.
And even before I read it, I felt an awful, pervasive dread creeping over me.


Dear Alisdair,
If you’re reading this, it means that things have gotten out of my control. It means I’ve had to leave you, probably forever, and I wrote this because I could not leave you without saying goodbye. Know that I did not leave you willingly, that I could not. I’d give my life to stay with you, but also know that I’d give you up to keep you safe. In a world full of lies, you were my truth. You were my light and my compass. I may have been cursed with a short life, but you made it worthwhile.
Do not wait for me. Please, move on, live a happy life. You deserve it, and I want that for you. I love you, and if you don’t believe any other thing I ever said to you, you should believe that. You were my first love and my last, but I shouldn’t be yours.
Yours forever,
Iris