Come back, Lucas. It’s dangerous out there.
Muted voices call from behind me, but I ignore them. Ava is out there…somewhere. I have to find her.
The sky splits open and water pelts down, drenching me instantly. The temperature is freezing, and my teeth chatter. The old injuries seem to harden, the muscles knotting and gnarling painfully.
Still, I have to find Ava. I can’t go back to safety without her.
There.
I see her standing at the edge of the cliff. Her platinum tresses and all-too-slim body are unmistakable. The hair is stringy with rain, and the flimsy white sundress sticks to her like wet tissue.
“Ava!” I bellow.
She looks at the dark horizon beyond the sea. I force my legs to move, even though the wind is unbearably strong now. How is she able to just stand there, her back as straight as a steel rod?
“Ava!” I call out again.
This time she turns. Her face is pale with cold, except for the eyes. They’re electric, so hot and bright they appear like tunnels of blue fire through the rain.
Her lips move. She isn’t speaking loudly, but somehow I can hear her clearly over the raging wind and rain.
“You’re despicable.”
“Ava…”
“Why did you ever think you’d be good enough?”
Crippling fear surges within me, but I clench my legs and extend a hand. “It’s dangerous out there. Come with me. Please.”
“No.” She turns to the ocean. “I’d rather be there than with you.”
“Ava.”
I push forward, using every drop of strength in my body. But the distance between us seems to grow wider.
>
Fuck.
Suddenly she turns, facing me again. “You can’t have me, Lucas. You never deserved me.” She steps backward, beyond the cliff, her dress and hair fluttering like streamers as she vanishes over the edge.
“Ava!”
Panic slams into me, and I jump forward only to crash against an invisible wall. Sharp pain slices through me.
“No!”
Breathing hard, I jackknife into a sitting position. Sweat covers my skin, and my heart is hammering against my ribs with such force that my chest throbs.
I run a hand over my face. Jesus. What the fuck was that?
Just a dream…with fragments of Grandpa’s Landscape of Tuscany tossed in. It doesn’t mean anything. I reach for my phone, ready to dial Ava’s number, but the screen shows it’s after three a.m. I toss it on the sheet and bury my face in my hands. It’s good that it’s too late for me to call. What would I say?
I lie back, but sleep doesn’t come.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ava