“But I . . . didn’t do enough,” I argued. “In the beginning . . . I didn’t even want to. I didn’t know . . . how much I loved you . . . until . . .
My words never reached her. She was gone.
I leaned my head back against the wall. My chest was going to burst.
“Sweetheart, it’s ok.”
“Yes, it’s going to be all right.”
Those voices jolted my body. “Mom? Dad?”
They were there, farther away than the others had been. I started to crawl toward them, but collapsed before I could reach them completely.
“Don’t strain yourself, honey,” Dad scolded gently.
My eyes burned dryly. “You’re . . . here. You’re actually . . . here,” I sobbed.
“We’re here.”
“Why couldn’t it . . . have been me? Why did you have to die?”
“You’re stronger than us. You were able to survive our deaths. Had we been the ones to lose you, it would have killed us.”
“But I needed . . . you. Grandma . . . needed you. Mom . . . Dad . . . I was horrible to you . . . before you left. . . . And I didn’t do well enough. . . . I even love the one who . . .”
I shook my head, explosions stabbing at my brain with each movement. My next words were pure anguish. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t . . . the daughter you both . . . deserved. . . .”
“You are perfect. You are our Kara. We wouldn’t change you for anything,” Mom said.
“Besides, we’ll be together again soon. Just the blink of an eye, Kara,” Dad said.
“Don’t listen to him. You better not be giving up.”
The change shocked me. Dad was not there anymore. In his place was Thomas, and Inola stood where Mom had been.
“Thomas! Inola! You . . . are both alive!” My eyes burned even further, but still no tears came.
Thomas snorted. “I take offense to that statement.”
Inola’s smile was gentle and calming. “Of course we are still alive, child. Don’t worry for us.”
“I’m . . . so glad . . . to see you. I’m sorry that . . .”
Thomas waved a hand. “I don’t want to hear any of that; you’ve said enough apologies. You’ve got way too much guilt, Red.”
“Kara, you must concentrate on how to get out of here,” Inola said.
“Can’t you . . . just help me?” I asked.
As if that hadn’t even occurred to them, they looked at one another, bemused. My eyes closed for too long, and I whimpered when I opened them again. They were gone, too.
But then I saw him.
Even farther away than all the others had been, he stood there, his eyes glowing fiercely.
“Gabriel!” I breathed.
It took all of my energy, but seeing him lit a fire inside of me. I pulled myself to my feet and walked toward him. Soon I couldn’t walk anymore; something was holding me back.
I fell forward, but I knew he would catch me. He did, his arms wrapping around me.
“Oh, Gabriel!” I rasped. A single tear managed to form and fall.
He didn’t speak; he only stared down at me. I didn’t care—I was too happy to see him.
“Everything is . . . ok now,” I said.
And somehow it was. I vaguely knew he should have been helping me, that I was hurt and somewhere I shouldn’t be, that it was Elias who had taken me.
But everything faded in the light of seeing him again.
“I love you. . . . You know that, right? I know . . . I shouldn’t . . . but I do. . . . And yes . . . I am still angry . . . but it’s going away. . . . It’s almost gone. . . .”
He continued to hold me silently.
“I’m sorry . . . I hurt you,” I said.
Moments passed. He wasn’t fading like the others. I gazed up at him in wonder, greedily drinking in the sight of him. Briefly, his eyes changed from green to silver, reminding me once again about Elias.
“Gabriel . . . I know this . . . might sound strange . . . but don’t go after . . . Elias. I don’t want . . . you to get hurt. You can’t . . . kill him anyway. It’s not worth it because . . . you don’t hate Elias. Elias is . . . gone. He was gone . . . the moment Lucy died. Just like . . . a part of you went away. You only hate . . . the monster Elias became. And I think . . . one day he can still be saved . . . that there is still light in him.”
Finally, Gabriel spoke. “Why would you think that?”
My breathing was extremely labored, and my heart faltered and throbbed. I shuddered, my vision tilting.
He shook me slightly. “Kara, answer me.”
“There is . . . light in him . . . because if . . . his light was gone . . . he wouldn’t . . . care . . . that Lucy . . . is . . . dead.”
Gabriel stared down at me in almost horror. I reached up and touched his cold cheek, my eyes closing.
Through half-lids, I saw that it was no longer Gabriel who held me.
It was Elias.
Chapter 3 Alien Blood
Elias stared down at the girl in his arms, more torn than he had ever been in his entire life.
Gabriel’s love, the one Elias had been waiting for all these years, was finally here. She’d loved Gabriel back, and although it had taken only months for her to acknowledge her feelings for Gabriel, it had felt like centuries to Elias.
A long time ago, Elias had held high hopes for Emma, but it had been painfully
