Romance

  Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  The low, steady rumble of the engine was the only comforting thing left in the world. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel, my eyes fixed on the grey interstate stretching ahead. In the rearview mirror, the ruins shrank rapidly, finally vanishing behind the rolling horizon.
  It was over.
  For us, at least. The monster in Brett&#39;s skin, its bloody accounts with the witches, the Hunters, and every other scavenger drawn to the stink… they could sort it out themselves. I didn&#39;t give a damn anymore. We had our answer—the cold, brutal truth. That was enough. Digging any deeper wouldn&#39;t bring anything back except maybe getting Celena or both of us killed.
  Now, it was time to go home. My and Celena&#39;s home. A place with a door we could lock, shutting out the whole fucked-up world for a while.
  The blue line on the GPS crept steadily forward,

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  The beech and spruce trees flashing past the car window grew more and more familiar. So did the unique scent in the air—pine needles, damp earth. We were almost home.
  Jacob drove with focused intensity, though the dappled afternoon light softened the hard lines of his profile. His hands were steady on the wheel, but his eyes would flick to me every so often, checking. That look held worry, care, and a bone-deep, relieved exhaustion. He thought the worst was over. We had our answer, we’d escaped, and we were on our way home. Now came the long, slow work of healing. Wrapping the wound in time and the fabric of a familiar life.
  He’d done enough. More than enough. So much it made my heart ache.
  I couldn&#39;t… I couldn&#39;t keep going on like this.
  But I’d decided. One last effort. For Brett.
  No, I hadn’t really wanted a new dress. That was just an exc

  Celena&#39;s Perspective
  “…He’s dead.”
  That voice—using Brett’s vocal cords to form utterly alien, icy syllables—kept echoing in my skull. It was like a rusted manacle, tightening with every reverberation, crushing my lungs, squeezing my heart until it felt ready to burst.
  Some part of me had known. From the very beginning… a corner of my mind, the most rational and coldest corner, had whispered it, over and over: *He’s not coming back.*
  But knowing was one thing. Hearing it confirmed, in that flat, cruel tone, from that familiar face… that was another.
  Brett. The person who had grown up beside me.
  He was gone.
  Erased. As if he’d never been.
  A candle snuffed by the wind. That’s what the monster had said.
  I stood rooted to the cold, damp concrete, surrounded by scattered bodies and a clotting reek of blood. But I couldn’t feel the cold, couldn’t smell the rot. The worl

Jacob&#39;s Perspective
  The low, steady rumble of the engine was the only comforting thing left in the world. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel, my eyes fixed on the grey interstate stretching ahead. In the rearview mirror, the ruins shrank rapidly, finally vanishing behind the rolling horizon.
  It was over.
  For us, at least. The monster in Brett&#39;s skin, its bloody accounts with the witches, the Hunters, and every other scavenger drawn to the stink… they could sort it out themselves. I didn&#39;t give a damn anymore. We had our answer—the cold, brutal truth. That was enough. Digging any deeper wouldn&#39;t bring anything back except maybe getting Celena or both of us killed.
  Now, it was time to go home. My and Celena&#39;s home. A place with a door we could lock, shutting out the whole fucked-up world for a while.
  The blue line on the GPS crept steadily forward, the miles-to-home ticking down. But most of my attention was on the passenger seat.
  Celena ha

Chapter 241