“Something must’ve broken in your head while you were sleeping all those years.”

I look through the window at the trees passing us by.

“We fucked up, Jonathan. Both of us. I’m brave enough to admit it.”

I glance at him. “How about you leave me that deal with the Rhodes, then?”

“That’s a business deal; the best one will win.” He pauses. “The past is in the past. Our children shouldn’t pay for our mistakes.”

Sappy fuck.

His phone vibrates before I can say anything.

“Agnus, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.” Ethan listens to the other end. “This isn’t the time for your phone to die. Elsa is missing.”

His brows scrunch. “You sent me a text? Fine. Let me check. And return to London immediately.”

He hangs up and checks his phone then his jaw tightens.

The emptiness I felt since Alicia’s death strikes me again. Only now, it’s sharper and harder.

Something is wrong with Aiden.

“What happened?” I ask in a voice I don’t recognise.

Ethan shows me his phone.

Agnus: There’s been activity at the basement’s lock in Birmingham’s mansion.

“Elsa went back to the basement,” Ethan murmurs. “It doesn’t make sense. If they went more than two days ago, why haven’t they returned?”

“Aiden is a survivor,” I say with finality.

“So is Elsa.”

I bark at the driver to change the direction to Birmingham.

It all ends where it started.

38

Aiden

I’ve been slamming my shoulder against the metal door for the past hour or so.

My dominant left shoulder is safely dislocated, so I switch to my right one.

I tried everything from pushing to pulling and even kicking. They’re all useless against a fucking metal door.

Logically, I recognised that, but I still didn’t stop. It’s the only way we’ll get out of here.

In between, I’ve been soaking my pullover with water and placing it around Elsa’s head.

She’s been slipping in and out of consciousness, mumbling feverish things about her brother, her mother, and her dad. She was even having a conversation with Eli in a language that doesn’t sound like English.

The worse her state becomes, the harder I kick the damn door.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The bitter taste of desperation is reminiscent to how I felt when I hit the door ten years ago. Back then, I thought she died. Back then, I lost hope.

But not now.

She can’t fucking die.

“Aiden…” Her croaked voice is like a rush of adrenaline, tightening my muscles.

I leave the door and descend the stairs two at a time to reach her. She’s sprawled on her side, eyes closed and face pale. It’s even paler than earlier. I touch her cheek and it’s on fire — even worse than before.

Fuck.

I grab my pullover, pour cold water on it, then place it back on her head.

“Aiden…” she mumbles in her feverish haze.

Her pupils move rapidly behind her closed lids. She must be dreaming.

I sit on the floor and let my dislocated shoulder fall limp. It hurts like a bitch when I move it. My attempts to push it back were it belongs have failed miserably.

Pain doesn’t matter, though. The girl lying helpless in front of me does. I lean over and place a chaste kiss on her dry lips. “I’m here, sweetheart. I’ll always be here.”

“I love you, Aiden.” It’s barely a whisper, but it hits me straight to a sombre corner in my soul.

She loves me.

Elsa fucking loves me.

I’ll never get enough of hearing those words out of her mouth.

I take her hand in mine and place a kiss on the palm. “Stay with me, Elsa. You promised, remember?”

“Do you love me?” she whispers.

I capture her cracked mouth in a quick kiss, nibbling on her bottom lip longer than needed.

“Tell me, Aiden… T-tell me…”

“I will when you open your eyes.”

“I said it many times. You’re not fair.”

I chuckle at the lines forming on her forehead. She’s frowning and being stubborn even when feverish.

“What I feel for you isn’t only love, obsession, or addiction. It’s all of those and more. Do you know what that means, sweetheart? It means I can’t live without you, so don’t you fucking dare leave me.”

A small smile tugs on her lips before it falls flat. Her hand grows heavy in mine.

I check her pulse. It’s been jumping in and out of synch for the past hour. Her skin has turned alarmingly white for someone with a fever.

After one last kiss to her lips, I start to stand up. I’m getting her out of here if it’s the last thing I do.

Even if I have to lose a limb in the process.

The click of a door echoes in the air.

My head snaps upright as fast footsteps come down the stairs. I never thought I would be happy to see Jonathan’s face.

Ten years ago, when I woke up in the hospital and saw his face instead of Alicia’s, I became black. But now, it’s the complete opposite. He’s not bearing bad news this time, he’s come to help us.

He stops at the threshold of the basement with Ethan by his side.

I can almost imagine what they’re seeing.

I’m half-naked, my left shoulder drooping to one side. Elsa’s head lies on the floor as she mumbles gibberish.

“She needs a doctor,” I order. “Now.”

39

Elsa

Eli smiles down at me.

His face is as clear as glass. He has dark hair, a shade darker than Dad’s and his eyes are the same as our father’s, too.

He always said he’s Dad’s favourite and I went crying to Dad so he’d tell me that I’m his favourite, too.

Dust of freckles cover his cheek, adding a boyish charm to his face.

Eli is so pretty.

The only difference is he’s small. I am not.

I’m wearing my RES’s uniform as I stand with him in our back garden with all the tall trees and the wires.

“Why did you leave, Eli?” I whisper.

“Come on, crybaby.” He holds out his hand for me. “We’re going to have fun.”

“Fun?”

“We’ll go to a place where we’ll be free.”

Free.

Eli and I. Free.

“Hurry, crybaby.”

I’m about to place my hand in his when voices slam into my head. Firm lips press a kiss after a kiss against my dry ones.

“Stay with me, Elsa. Don’t you dare fucking leave me.”

That voice.

That touch.

“Crybaby?” Eli’s eyes water with tears. I hate it when my brother cries.

“Stay with me, Elsa.” The voice...

“Please, crybaby. Don’t leave me alone.”

“Elsa!”

“Eli and Elsa together forever, right?”

The onslaught of both voices hits me over and over again. Tentacles of pain wrap around my heart. I can’t breathe.