Chapter 54

***Potent rays shine down on me. I peel my eyes open, golden light recede to drench the farthest corners. I wake to a rapture-blue sky. On a bed of flowers, I lift myself up to sit upright. I rise to my feet. Waves of scintillating beams immerse the meadow in sheets of golden flame. The grass becomes wonderland-green. Squillions of glinting dewdrops are sprinkled in the meadow like stardust, a magical sight that salves both spirit and soul.

**I meander through the meadow, serenaded by the sound of buzzing midges and the whispering of the wind and an unearthly melody like the murmuration of fairies. I explore the ethereal plain, guided by sunlight. The end of the virgin-white garb trails after me. Whatever this is, if I wish I could remain here forever.... I come to the brink of a cliff.
**
I observe the glimmering glass surface of the sea, still and serene.

**My gaze sinks to a standalone pier outstretching from the shore like an artificial limb of the land. I squint at the brooding figure posted at the very end. Curiosity nudges me down the steep slope, and to the unworldly figure. But the closer I get, the more the light wanes. I look up at the sky and darkness devours the light, the mystic sunlight dimming with every step.
**
By the time I reach the bottom. Darkness shrouds the sky like the cover of night, opening the vault of the heavens to release the jewels of shimmering stars. I step up onto the pier, an elongated stretch of wood interspaced between me and the herculean figure. An upsurge of emotions rise against me—running parallel to when I had to cross the bridge to the boat with Torin. But instead of being overcome. I steel my resolve, bracing against the current.

**The figure remains still, enveloped in black garments.

**"Magnificent, isn't it?" His voice rumbles forth, jagged and rough, seamed with an ominous growl.

**"What is?"

**"The moon."

**A silver spectral moon appears like a silvery claw in the starry sky like his words manifested its emergence. Thin like a luminous smile.

"**And so, the moon will die a thousand deaths just so its sun can rise once again."

**He turns around.
**
I flinch back a step. "Orian..."
**
"Why do you run from something you can't escape?"**
**
**"I'll do what I have to, if it means getting away from you."**

**His head cocks to one side menacingly. "Anything? Are you willing to pay the price?"
**
"What price?

**He flashes to me with supernatural speed, before me in a nanosecond. "Let me show you."**

**Suddenly I'm at the cusp of the pier, overlooking the eerie ocean. It begins to transform; the waters turn translucent, then it solidifies into a glassy surface like a mirror. In it, I see a vision of death. A grave of corpses—my mom, Calum and his entire family, even James and Detective Harlow. Those I know and those I love.
**
"My God..." I rotate around, still teetering on the brink. "You would slaughter everyone I care about just to punish me?"

**"No," he says calmly. "I didn't kill them. You did. It's the cost of your own ignorance. Your disobedience."

**"Because your brother saved me from a soulless monster?"**

**"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE WHAT YOU ARE BOUND TO." Each word he utters is like the booming crackles of thunder, ricocheting around me like a surround-sound system at its maximum volume. My hands clap over my ears. "YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME."

**He launches his hand at my chest—a bone-jarring crunch. His hand disappears inside my chest and he yanks out my beating heart, still thumping in his grasp, blood gushing from his fingers.

**"This belongs to me."
**
I fall backwards, the waves capture me—another bang of thunder.**
***
My eyes snap open and I bolt upright, taking in a sharp breath.

My body coated in a cold sweat. I turn my gaze from the blackened scenery and up to the gallery of windows of the master suite bedroom. I instantly spot the brand-new web of cracks that shatter across the one tall pane. A distant holler echoes from the room. I fling off the random blanket and I dash to the staircase, skipping steps, spiralling up until I reach the catwalk and I hurry to the wide-open bedroom.

I poke my head through, tiptoeing inside. "Torin?"

He paces feverishly with his hands gripping fistfuls of his own hair. "It's gone. All of it is fucking gone."

"What is?"

"My money! The cunt drained it all."

"Who did?"

He looks like he's about to explode from the mounting rage. "Who the fuck do you think?" he barks.

"I thought you said you had your own money separate from Zenith?"

"I did. But somehow, he found about it and got a techie to liquidate my share of fucking billions. I still have an untapped offshore account with a few short millions, but that's fucking pennies compared to what I need long-term."

He grabs another device and hurls it across the room. I jerk aside—the current skims past my head and it fractures a new pane.

"Whoa, watch it!"

"I don't want to hear your fucking mouth."

Joint anger sweeps over me. "Don't take your shit out on me. I didn't tell you to go to war with him."

"That's not the fucking problem. You are. I had a plan. I had fucking timeline, and I was going to bury him before he even realized it was me. But not that he fucking knows—he's on a warpath because of you."

Anger throbs in every beating of my heart. "If I'm such a burden, you should've just let Orian kill me the first time."

"It's a shame I don't have a fucking time machine."

It enrages me that his words hurt me more than it should. "Wow..." I lift my two fingers to double tap my forehead. "Never too late to correct your mistake."

I whip around, marching to the exit until a glimpse causes me to decelerate. Two of Torin's men tousle in a captive with a black bag over his head. Torin sees this too, curses and makes his way out as well. I aim for my bedroom, not wanting any part of that. He and separate on the catwalk.

They exchange a series of foreign words as Torin approaches them on ground level.

I nearly round a corner until I see a burst of gold. I double take and shock inundates me from top to bottom. He thrashes futilely against their unrelenting siege, but he falls deadly still when his eyes find mine.

We say each other's names in unison.

Still blinded by rage, Torin makes a silent gesture for the gun.

"No!" I screech like a banshee out of hell.

I race back down stairs, sprinting to them. I sprout in between them with my hand outstretched to Torin to stop him.

"If you touch him, I'll fucking kill you."

Torin already has the gun in his hand. He looks at us both with astounding coldness and lowers the gun to his side, signalling from them to release him. And they do. He and I stare each other for an infinitely fleeting moment before we merge, engulfing each other in a bone-crushing embrace—desperate and unquenchable, sunshine flooding my soul.

"I thought I lost you forever, princess," Calum whispers brokenly.