“Were you that curious that you wanted to experience it yourself?” I ask.
“I wanted to stop fearing it. To just get it over with,” she says, and I imagine how much paler her skin must’ve been, so close to death. I imagine her blood, foaming thick from her wrists.
I wonder who saved her. I wonder if she was disappointed.
“Don’t rush to it. It’s uneventful,” I tell her, not knowing how to handle seeing the harm she’s done to herself. In some ways, she’s so much like Rose.
“Have you died before, Abel?”
Every time she says my name, it’s like ice down my back. No one else has called me that in a long time. No one except Dr. Brown.
“Parts of me have.” I sigh, scrubbing my hands over my face.
“And the parts that haven’t, how are they now?” She leans forward, her brown eyes boring into me.
“They’re wondering if you’re satisfying a morbid curiosity. Why are you here, Abelia?”
“I can’t explain it,” she answers.
She leans back and I have to be careful as my past and present collide once more. I’d try to save her. I’d try to love her. I’d give up my rage for her. My ghosts, too.
I can feel the goddamn impending hope, blooming inside of me like some impious doom.
She makes me think love could be a peaceful thing, until I remember.
Once you fall madly in love, you’ll only ever love madly again.
Basherte, something like a breeze reminds me.
Abelia smiles.
“Try?” I beg.
The more of her presence I suck up like a sponge, the more I realize how starved I’ve been for this. Human interaction. Hope. Desire. Intrigue.
“You seem a little dead to me,” she says, her eyes roaming over me before stopping to meet my gaze.
“And you like that?” I ask, confused.
“I do. I think you’re beautiful.”
She smiles again, and I pray I only ever dream of brown eyes for the rest of my life.
Cynthia hates writing her own bio. In her down-time, you can find her watching movies, ranging anywhere from classic to action flicks (she has a weakness for Marvel adaptations), and reading any novel she can get her hands on.
She loves hearing from her readers! You can reach Cynthia at [email protected].
Also by Cynthia A. Rodriguez
Crashing Souls
Souls Collide (Crashing Souls #2)
The Sound of Serendipity
EVOL
Folie à Deux
Teófila’s Guide to Saving the Sun
Hate Me