to squeeze my hand. “There’ll be more.”
Derek got out and came around to my side, opening the door and grabbing my hand to help me out. “But what about—”
Derek put his finger to my lips and shushed me. “Let’s just be glad that we’re together, out here. Can we not think about the future, just for a little while? I don’t want anything to ruin this. Not yet, at least.”
I sighed. “I know. I’m sorry,” I confessed. I leaned my head against his chest and ran my hands around his trim waist.
I thought about my life now and how much it had changed in a few short months. I had always wanted to be normal, but I’d also always wanted to be significant somehow, too. What I never realized is that the two can’t peacefully coexist. Obviously, I will never be normal. But I could be significant, my life (or death as it were) could be significant.
For the first time, I thought of the future and the man in my arms with hope. I would focus on the good I could do, on the unique opportunity I had been given to help save people’s souls by keeping them from Grey. I mean, how much more significant could life get than that?
So, with a smile back on my lips, I determined right then that the world and all its troubles could wait, for a few days anyway. I was going to take time to enjoy the nearest thing I’d ever have to normal—love.
EPILOGUE
Once we were inside, I opted for a shower before our talk. As crazy as it sounds, I was more anxious to scrub away the last twenty-four hours than I was to be in Derek’s arms. And that was pretty darn anxious.
After I’d wet my hair, I closed my eyes and turned my face toward the spray. All at once, a barrage of imagery flashed behind my lids—blood and teeth, black eyes and pale faces, unimaginable pain—followed by a series of screams that sounded strikingly similar to my own.
Startled, I turned my head and opened my eyes. I was relieved to find that I was still in my shower (alone), but a nagging sense of dread and urgency plagued me after that. It pretty much ruined my languorous shower experience so I set to work scrubbing and then got out to towel off.
Steam had fogged the mirror so I took my towel, as I’d done a thousand times in the past, and wiped it clean. When I lowered my arm, I froze, confused by what I saw. My reflection moved when I did, wrinkled its brow when I did, but it didn’t look like I’d expected it to.
The hair was jet black and the eyes were darker, black even, as if the pupils were dilated. The skin was chalky white and the lips ruby red. I leaned closer, as did my reflection. I reached up to touch my hair. My reflection did the same. I pulled a lock around in front of my face. What I saw was my hair, my blonde hair. Though it was nearly a white blonde, I still recognized it as my own.
With a gasp I looked back into the mirror. My reflection was smiling. And I was not.
I squeezed my eyes shut, counted to ten and then opened them again. My reflection hadn’t changed. She was still raven-haired and smiling at me, only wider now. She looked on the verge of laughter.
And then she spoke.
“What’s the matter, Sis? Cat got your tongue?”
“What the—”
“Didn’t you think there would be consequences?”
“Consequences? For what?”
“For playing Fahl. That’s a big no-no. It’s something that’s just not done.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, and I genuinely didn’t. But whatever it was, it didn’t sound good.
“Well, you can play dumb if you want, but it won’t change anything. What’s done is done.”
“What’s done? What are you talking about?”
Grey’s smile turned cruel and cold. “For one, thanks to you, we’re stuck with each other, linked through mirrors. You know, opposites and all that. We’re kind of like the fair and balanced way to reap. Each of us has a chance, neither of us gets a head start.” She sneered and leaned in closer to the mirror. “Now you can never escape me. Never outrun me. You can’t hide inside your pathetic little life anymore.” Her bark of laughter was harsh and without humor. “You can try to stop me, Sis.” She hurled the term like an obscenity. “But