I unlocked the door hastily and swung it open, the icy wind flooding the entry as my heart fell into aterrifying rush.
Barrett stood before me, his black leather armor soaked through, water-slicked blond hair clinging to his skin. Blood was smeared along his cheek, his neck, down the front of his armor.
Air thickened in my lungs as I stepped toward him. “Barrett? What...”
His steel eyes couldn’t seem to hold my gaze, and his breaths turned shaky as his lips parted. “Micah. He...”
I looked around, searching for him, dread clawing its way into my heart. “Where is he, Barrett?”
“Thalia,” he said, taking a step toward me. Suddenly the world was caving in around me as Micah’s faint scent reached my nose, nearly drowned out by darkling blood, by the damp scent of the rain.
I turned, searching for him. “This isn’t funny.”
“Thalia,” Barrett said, reaching for me. “He...”
I smacked his hand away, stepping back as his presence turned suffocating. “Don’t—” I tried to breathe, tried to steady myself. “Don’t touch me. Just...tell me?—”
My voice cracked, tears welling in my eyes at the pain painting his face.
“No...” I muttered, my hand flying to cup my mouth as a sob threatened to spill out. “No, you’re lying.”
“We encountered darklings on our hunt...”
“No...” I cried, crumbling against the wall, my vision blurring as he drew closer.
“I tried...”
“He wasn’t supposed to go on a hunt tonight!” I cried out as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. I slammed my hands against his chest, shaking my head as I hit him again and again. “He wasn’t supposed?—”
“I’m so sorry,” he muttered.
“He went because of you!” I cried out, shoving him away from me, guilt churning in my chest.
Barrett stiffened.
I ran my hands over my face as I stumbled back. He went because of me, because Barrett was my mate, because he wanted to bring us together. If Barrett hadn’t been my mate, if Micah hadn’t gone with him tonight...he would still be here.
“Don’t touch me!” I cried out as Barrett’s hand brushed my shoulder. He recoiled, hurt flashing across his face, along with something else I didn’t want to see. I turned, bare feet smacking against the sidewalk as I walked, unsure of where I was going. “Where is he? I need to see him.”
“You don’t need to see that?—”
“Don’t fucking tell me what I do and don’t need to see!” I bit back, turning to shove him away as he followed.
“I can’t let you do that right now, Thalia. They need to clean him up.”
“I don’t need your coddling!” I shouted, shoving his hand away when he reached for me as every bit of Micah’s absence came crashing down around me. “I need...” I fell to my knees, sobs tearing from my throat, tears spilling down my cheeks as I folded into myself, clutching at a binding mark that had long since faded in the wake of his death.
His death.
Micah was gone.
I’d never get to see him smile again, never get to kiss him, hold him, watch him sleep, comb my fingers through his hair, tease him. I’d never get to tell him how much I loved him, never get to tell him just how much he meant to me. I wanted to hear his voice again, wanted to hear him call me his love, wanted so much more.
Barrett knelt beside me as I broke, as I shattered into millions of pieces. I pushed him away, the guilt too much, his face now a painful reminder. “Leave!”
He stumbled back, brows furrowing.
“I wish I never met you,” I muttered, pushing to my feet as Micah’s smile faded away in my mind, swept away in the dark clutches of the darklings who’d taken him from me. “It’s because of you he took the shift tonight!”
