by Raven Steele
I looked toward the window. “Will you take me to him?”
He knew exactly whom I was talking about. “They are shipping his body back to his father today.”
“I’d like to say goodbye.”
“Of course.”
Twenty minutes later, Liam was wheeling me down the hallway and into the elevator. I kept my eyes straight, but I could hear others being attended to inside many of the rooms.
As soon as the elevator doors closed, I said, “I could’ve walked.”
“The chair was available.” Liam didn’t say anything else until he wheeled me into a small room just off the main office on the first floor. I gasped when I saw a pine box sitting on top of a table.
“Do you want me to stay?” he asked.
I shook my head, my eyes burning with fresh tears.
“I’ll be outside.” Liam closed the door.
I stood and limped to the box. I imagined Christian inside, alive and well. His blue eyes, the color of a shimmering dragonfly’s wing, and the never-ending dimple in his cheek.
Trailing my hand across its top, I said, “I’m sorry, Christian. I failed you.”
Memories flooded my mind. I thought of the first time we met, when I’d fallen on the bleachers and he caught me. The times we trained together, laughing, sharing our deepest fears and regrets. I remembered how he taught me to use Light in ways other Auras wouldn’t dream of. I remembered his letters, our stolen kisses, and finally the night we’d spent together where we gave all that we had to each other. Our bodies. Our hearts. Our souls.
It was too much. I rested my head on the box and cried.
I stayed like that for a long time. I knew the moment I left this small room I would never be near Christian again. This thought left a hole in my heart, one that would never heal.
But I was a survivor.
I stood and wiped at my eyes. I would endure to the end, as Christian would’ve wanted, but I wasn’t going to just endure. I was going to live life, starting by taking control.
I’d come to Lucent with the desire to learn what I could and then get out. I never wanted to be a part of the Auras. Their way of life used to repulse me, but after all I’d learned, and I had learned a lot, I realized that they had been manipulated by someone they had trusted. We were the same.
No. I wasn’t going anywhere.
Lucent was my home, and I was going to fight to the death to make sure it stayed that way.
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The End
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Want to read more by Raven Steele? Click on the images below to learn more about these series!
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Raven Steele is a pen name for Rachel McClellan. Do you like Dystopian novels? Check out:
Bitter Magic
Born of Light Book 2
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A novel by
Raven Steele
www.RavenSteele.net
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This is a work of fiction. Names characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2020 by Raven Steele
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