Page 132 of Requiem
My stomach drops so hard I could vomit. “Adriana,” I say slowly.
No answer. But the headlights grow larger, brighter, faster.
“Is that you?”
Adela suddenly twists around toward the windshield, horror spreading across her face as realization slams into her, too. “Oh, my god.”
Rafe’s head snaps upward despite the blood loss.
“Hey!” I bark. “Don’t do this.”
Her breathing catches softly through the phone. “Death’s been demanding my soul for years now, Jude.”
Ice floods my veins.
“You need to save Micah. Don’t youdarelet him die, okay?” She’s sobbing now, each word breaking apart. “You may not realize it, but you two kept me alive longer than I deserved. I wish I could take it all back. Every horrible thing I did to you. Every time I hurt you because I was hurting.” A strangled sound leaves her throat. “God, Jude, I’m so sorry.”
The approaching headlights are almost on us now, flying down the snowy road with terrifying speed while the SUVs behind us continue pursuing, too focused on our vehicle to understand what’s happening.
“She’s going to hit them,” Adela whispers.
Tears are audible in Adriana’s voice. “When this is over, I need you to keep living, okay?” she says. “Not surviving.Living.”
My chest tightens.
“I mean it. I need you to wake up next to Emma every morning and tell her how much she means to you. I need you to make music again. I need you to have the life they tried to beat out of you.”
The words tear straight through me. “Stop the fucking car!”
“Just—listento me.” Her voice cracks completely. “When you look at her, don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you deserve her after everything you’ve done.”
I can’t breathe.
“Because youdo.”
Silence hangs between us for a fraction of a second. Then she laughs through her tears. It’s a broken, exhausted sound.
“And, Jude? I just...” Her voice breaks apart entirely. “I just wanted you to know that I—”
She cuts herself off, like she can’t bear to finish the sentence.
But I know.
Fuck.
I knowexactlywhat she almost said.
My throat constricts as her headlights explode toward us. Then her SUV barrels past mine.
“Adriana!” The scream rips out of me just as the world detonates behind us. The impact is catastrophic. Metal shrieks so loudly it feels deafening as her SUV collides head-on with the first pursuing vehicle at full speed. The explosion of force launches both SUVs sideways across the icy road, while the second vehicle slams directly into the wreckage a heartbeat later.
Fire erupts instantly. Orange flames burst upward into the darkness, swallowing twisted metal while debris scatters across the snow in burning fragments.
Adela gasps in horror.
Rafe goes dead silent.
Behind me, Micah stops making noise altogether.
