Chapter 104

OPHELIA The pain is excruciating. I can’t breathe from the weight of it crushing my chest. But I must fix this. I will not lose them. I will find a way to bring him back. “Do you really think …” Malachi’s voice cracks. “No.” Xavier shakes his head vehemently. “No fucking way. He can’t be. He’s Alexandros fucking Drakos.” We’re still huddled together on the kitchen floor. A bundle of arms and legs, refusing to untangle. “C-can you feel him? Even a little?” I frantically search my own mind for any sign of him and find nothing but his absence. Like a deep, gaping chasm of … nothing. “I can’t,” Axl says solemnly, his voice little more than a whisper. “Me neither,” Malachi answers. Xavier’s deep-blue eyes swim with tears. “That doesn’t mean he’s gone.” I place a hand on his cheek and swipe away the lone tear with the pad of my thumb. One thing I am sure of is that they need me to be strong. There will be time to hurt and to heal, but it’s not now. Not when we don’t know for sure whether he’