I’m knee-deep in writing a paper when my phone rings and I nearly fall out of my chair trying to grab and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Saige Beaumont,” Cash says, his normal chipper self. I wonder if he’s ever sad. If he’s ever not so upbeat.

“What do you want?” My fuse is beyond short tonight.

“I just wanted to let you know I’m with him. We just arrived in Texas and he’s just getting a rental car.” So he took Cash with him, but not me. Cash, who hid the fact his father is alive from him.

“Okay,” I say.

“I wanted to tell him, but I knew that if I did, this is where we’d end up. I’m not going to talk him out of it, because I’d rather not end up in the hospital. I might be stronger than he is, but he fights dirtier. And I know where his head is at. I understand it.”

Cash’s story is a sad one, even more tragic than Sylas’.

“He promised me he wouldn’t go without me. And then broke that promise a few hours later.” I know I sound like a jealous girlfriend, but I don’t care. I’m pissed at him for lying to me. For making me think I could trust him.

“I’m sorry, Saige, but you know why he has to do this, right? He thinks he can’t move on with you until he gets this part of his past behind him.”

“I know, I know,” I say, and I’m fighting a losing battle.

“Okay, he’s coming back so I’m going to go. I’ll keep you updated.” The call ends before I can say anything else.

I look down at my phone and I want to smash it on the floor. But then I’d still be pissed and I’d have a broken phone.

I lay my head down on top of my laptop. I want to sleep. I want to sleep for a week. I give myself one moment of wallowing before I sit up and go back to my paper.

Four cups of coffee and several thousand words later, I’m done with my paper. I move on to my study guides and check the clock. It’s nearly three in the morning. I might as well stay up all night at this rate. The caffeine in my system isn’t going to let me sleep, anyway. I power through and just before it’s time for me to get up, I get another text from Sylas.

Miss you.

That’s it? That’s all I get?

Are you safe? I send back.

Yes. Will call you later.

I let out a scream and Leo bolts through the house. I set my phone down and go to take a shower to get myself ready for the day.

I could follow him. I could book a plane ticket right now and leave. I could send my professors emails and say I have a family emergency and go to him. I could.

Chewing on my lip, I turn on the hot water as Leo comes into the bathroom to sit on the sink to watch. I thought cats hated water, but he’s obsessed with the shower.

So distracted, I realize I’ve put my body wash on my hair instead of conditioner. I rinse it out and try to get my shit together. I’m going to have to rush to get to campus, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, although that caffeine drip would really be a blessing right now.

There are no messages from Sylas on my phone, and I’m going with the statement that “no news is good news.”

I arrive on campus with still-wet hair and a gloomy mood. I struggle through my classwork and end up falling asleep on my desk in both my afternoon classes. Fortunately I’m not the only one, what with everyone pulling all-nighters studying. My professors take it with a grain of salt and I mumble apologies.

Still no word from Sylas when I get home and I’m about ready to lose my mind. I fire up my laptop and start looking at plane tickets. Just to see. They’re not cheap, but there’s a flight leaving in three hours. I could totally make it if I drove to the airport now.

Leo hops up on my lap and meows, rubbing his head against my chest.

“I know, I know. I wish I were a cat. Life would be so much easier. I’d only have to worry about food and water and sleeping sixteen hours a day.” He blinks sleepily up at me.

“What should I do?” He starts kneading my skin and I yelp.

My phone goes off and I grab it.

“Hello? Sylas?”

“Saige?” It’s Cash and he’s sounding… panicked. I’ve never heard Cash so panicked, so it must be bad.

“What’s wrong?” A million and one things tumble through my brain, including the possibility that Sylas is dead. He can’t be dead, he can’t be dead, he can’t be dead. A wave of nausea overtakes me.

“He’s not doing very well.” He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive. My Sylas is alive.

“What the fuck does that mean, Cash?” I nearly scream. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely hold the phone up to my ear. It’s a good thing I’m sitting down.

“He’s catatonic. I can’t get him to move or speak. He’s completely withdrawn and short of taking him to a hospital, which might cause them to lock him up in a psych ward, I don’t know what to do.”

“Can you put me on speaker?” I say.

“Sure. Okay, go ahead.”

“Sylas?” I say, hoping my voice can do something. “Sylas, are you listening to me?” I hear what sounds like a whimpering.

“It’s Saige, Sylas. She’s on the phone,” Cash says.

“Sylas?” I say.

“He’s not doing anything. I’ve tried everything. I don’t know what to do. I can’t get him on a plane like this.” Fuck.

“Where are you?” I ask and he gives me the name of a hotel in Dallas. I quickly type it into my laptop and figure out how far it is from the airport. Only fifteen minutes. The earliest I could get there would be two in the morning. Ideally, I’d get there, help Sylas, get him on a plane and be back in time for class tomorrow.

I haven’t had more than a nap in the last day, but here I am, buying a plane ticket.

“I’ll be there in a few hours,” I say.

“You’re coming here?” Cash says.

“Well, what else am I supposed to do?” He swears a string of curses that would make a sailor proud.

“I knew this was a bad fucking idea. I knew it. Mother fucking cocksucking fucker.”

“Cash?” I need to get his attention. I’m up and running around my apartment, throwing clothes and a toothbrush into a bag. I pour a mound of food into Leo’s bowl and dump a bunch of water in another bowl. He’ll be fine.

“I’m on my way,” I say.

“Okay. Let me know when you get here.”

I end the call and then I’m out the door.

Sixteen

I’ve never experienced so much airport rage in my life. I’m about ready to murder everyone who takes too long in the security line, everyone who tries to cut me to get on the flight and everyone who takes too long to put their enormous suitcases in the overhead. I bit the bullet and got a first class ticket purely for the reason I’ll be off the plane first.

I check in with Cash one last time before the flight attendant tells us to turn off the cell service on our phones. Sylas is still the same.

It would just figure that I’d get on this flight, get there and he’d be back to normal and I would have come for nothing.

No, not nothing. I should have gone in the first place. I knew it. He’s not ready for this.

I spend the entire flight pretending to sleep so no one will try to talk to me.

It feels like it takes a million years to get there. I probably should have tried to sleep for real, but I’m too wired up. When we finally touch down, I want to cry tears of relief. The minute the door opens, I’m ready to go, and I even push past a few people to get off. I’m sure they think I’m a bitch, but I don’t give a fuck what. I race as fast as I can outside and wave for a cab. It’s so late I don’t have to fight anyone for it.

I tell the guy the name of the hotel and tell him to hurry as fast as he can. He assures me he will and I say that if he does, there’s a very generous tip in it for him. He nods and I’m grateful the traffic isn’t near what it could be during the day.