own mind, all alone, and when I open my eyes, we’re there.
Alex glances around, his forehead creasing. “Where are we?”
I pull a “whoops” face. “Um, yeah, so I think I accidently took us into my dad’s mind.”
Alex blinks down at me, his arm still lingering on my waist, making me feel safe. “You took us into your dad’s mind?”
I nod, glancing around the area, which has changed since my last visit. The ocean still remains in the distance, but the beach is rockier and the air chiller, as if winter is approaching. The sky is cloudy and grumbles with thunder. Ocean waves crash into the shore, bringing the storm in.
“Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s where we are.” I look up at him. “It’s kind of weird, right? I mean, it’s the first time you’re going to meet my dad, and we’re inside his head.”
Alex snorts a laugh. “You’re cute.”
“What’d I say?” I ask, lost.
He shrugs, tracing his finger down the brim of my nose. “It’s nothing. You’re just cute. That’s all.”
Feeling a little squirmy and exposed, I change the subject. “I wonder where he is.” I start up the beach as thunder booms above and waves roll over our shoes.
Alex’s gaze remains trained on the ocean as he follows right behind me. “So out of all the places to go that could be safe, this is the first place you thought of?”
I shrug. “I don’t do very well under pressure, and FYI, you usually don’t give me a choice of where we’re going, so it threw me off.”
“Sorry.” He cups my cheek, staring at me with the strangest look on his face. Ever since he showed up at the house, he’s been looking at me more intensely than when he left, as if he’s fighting his emotions a little more, which makes me feel both afraid and excited.
Clearing his throat, he pulls his hand away. “So where would he be?”
“My dad?” I shrug. “I’m not sure. He usually just shows up.”
The corners of his mouth quirk. “Well, we’re in his head, so he’s got to be around.”
I roll my eyes, but a soft laugh eases from my lips, startling us both since I barely laugh. Shaking the weird feeling of elation off, I hike farther down the beach, and he moves with me.
“Where did you go?” I ask, kicking at the sand. “When you left?”
“To figure stuff out.” He stares up at the sky.
“But you’re staying now, right? You won’t leave me again.” I sound so needy, but I don’t care. Now that he’s here, the thought of leaving again is brutally painful, especially with the secret I’m carrying inside me. I know I need to tell him, but I have no idea what to say or how he’ll take the news.
“I don’t know . . .” He shuts his eyes, inhaling deeply. “ I think I should.” He opens his eyes. “But I don’t want to.”
I carry his gaze, my heart beating deafeningly inside my chest. “Then don’t.”
We stare each other down, our hearts pounding faster, electricity radiating more powerfully than the lightning. Time drifts away, and I start to feel so tired.
He breaks the trance, stepping back then shucking off his jacket. He slips it on me then zips it up. “Your dad might get really worried with all the blood on your neck and shirt.”
I tuck my hands into the sleeves and pull the fabric over my nose, breathing in the scent of his cologne. “Did you find out anything helpful why you were gone?” I ask, more to distract my thoughts from his scent, from him.
We head farther down the beach. “Not much. What about you? Did you find out anything that might help our situation?”
“Maybe,” I say, and he stares at me in astonishment. “What do you know about the Afterlife?”
He slams to an abrupt stop. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because that’s where my mom said I had to go to stop us from dying.” The wind gusts through my hair. “She said that I need to visit a woman named Helena.”
He promptly shakes his head. “There’s no way you’re going there. It’s the Afterlife, as in the place where lost souls go after they pass from an unnecessary death, which means you’d have to die that way to go there.”
“But if it can fix everything, then it’s worth it, right?”
His features harden as he glowers at me. “So you’re okay with dying? And me, too, since we’re supposed to be a package deal?”