by Carli Castle
She nodded. “I agree.”
“Thank you for stopping by,” he continued. “But, you should probably go now.”
She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but she didn’t say anything else.
“Maybe we can be friends in the future,” he finished, hating every word coming out of his mouth. He was sick.
Friends? How could they ever dream of being friends?
She stepped back and took a breath, folding her arms in front of her, as someone would do to fight a chill.
He fought the urge to tell her the truth, because that was what he wanted to do. Tell her he was being a jerk, that he loved her, and he needed her more than ever. Then, memories of the previous night where he could have gotten his entire family killed, flooded his brain, and he knew this was the right thing to do.
She wasn’t sure if it was showing on her face or not, as she’d never been good at concealing her emotions. She was falling apart.
She’d come here hoping to knock some sense into him, to talk about everything, and find out if what he had said before was the truth and nothing but. She had taken a risk, since her father and sister were both in the healing house at that moment, and she was banned from stepping foot in it. Unless she needed it. And she didn’t need it. At least not from anything physical. If healers had a cure for broken hearts, she would be the first in line to get it.
She looked at him a while longer, taking in the stubble on his cheeks, which were hallow, like he hadn’t been eating enough. His hair had become shaggy, as well, falling over his forehead. She wanted to find it terribly unappealing, but there was nothing unattractive about Lucas Ferrin with his gorgeous dark hair and turquoise eyes.
She was sick. It was as though, deep down, she enjoyed the pain of being around him when he wanted nothing to do with her.
“You should leave before someone sees you here,” he mumbled, not looking straight at her.
She stepped back.
She didn’t dare open herself to what he was feeling. She didn’t want to know just how much he didn’t want her, how much he wanted to stay away from her.
She held the tears back, ruthlessly, as if her life depended on it.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, pleased when her voice didn’t shake.
He inclined his head once, still not looking at her.
She turned to leave, but turned back to him. He was still looking at the opposite wall, waiting for her to walk out.
“I know you can do this, Lucas,” she added, standing by the door. She knew she should have gone already, but her need to make him see the man she saw was too strong to just walk away. “You are stronger than you know, and smarter than you think. You can figure this out.”
“Thanks,” he simply said and closed his eyes, shutting her out.
Then, and only then, did she let the tears flow. She looked at him until his image wavered, and she turned and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
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Thank you for reading my book! If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to leave a review, or just simply rate it at your favorite retailer.
Thank you!
Carli
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such a wonderful amount of supportive people.
First, to my husband for his patience in this entire process. Thank you for accepting this is what I want to do, and for being such a rock for me. You truly are a saint.
To my friends for being such a joyful source of inspiration. I especially want to thank my very first beta reader, Erin Miller. You’re awesome for reading so many bad chapters and sticking with it!
To the wonderful Michael H. Roberts for helping me with the final edit. Your help has been invaluable to me.
Of course, none of this had been possible without the undying support of my family. Mom, dad, stepmom, brothers, sisters… thank you for letting me be who I want to be. I love you.
~Carli
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carli Castle is a passionate writer, reader, makeup enthusiast, dancer, mother, wife, daughter, and friend. She loves spending time with her family and friends, and having ‘Friends’ playing in the background as she writes. She lives in Utah with her wonderful husband and daughter, and Darkness Within is her first novel.
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Stay tuned for Heart of Fire, coming soon!
