Page 148 of Find My Way Down to You

As if, after I’m gone, he’ll forget too.

“You gave up your power for me.”

Cary shakes his head at the shock in my voice. “It is the least I would give up for you.”

My eyes flit to Lethe. “Will you take me back?”

He says the one thing I wish he wouldn’t: “I cannot.”

“Then how? I can’t do it without you.”

His fingers skim along my forearm. “You are August Clarke.” His lips lift higher. “Kind, thoughtful, strong. A pain in my ass.”

I let out an indignant noise. His smile goes tender.

“And you make me want things I could never have.”

“Hmm. I sound like a keeper.”

Cary rests his forehead against mine. “If only I could.”

For a beat, we stay like that. Our eyes locked. Breaths synchronized. My hands gripping his biceps. His hand tracing the lines of my tattoo.

“I want to be yours,” I tell him.

“I am the ferrier,” he says, voice cracking. “I only have moments.”

“Then give me those,” I half growl, half sob.

“Is that enough?”

“It is for me.” A tear slips over my grin. “One page at a time. Remember?”

Cary’s fingers still on my skin. His lips curve up again. “You are mine, Auggie.”

Questions burn inside my throat.How long will I have to wait? When will Death bring me back to you?I swallow them all down.

He’d never tell me, anyway.

“Get in the water,” Cary instructs. “Trust her. And remember to breathe.”

Reluctantly, I start to pull away.

Cary drags me back. He kisses me. Feverish and slow and with promises I can’t hear but take with my tongue.

“Do not look back, Auggie. Whatever you need will be with you.”

In the shallow waters, my feet are heavy. The coolness rises around my knees, my thighs. Lethe sighs happily the farther I wade.

I do exactly what Cary said: I trust her.

When the water’s up to my shoulders, I breathe. It’s like the first time. Like every time. She welcomes me back. One final time.

An anxious need surges through my nerves. Coils around my bones, pulsing into my muscles. Despite his demands, I look back at the shore. I can’t help myself.

Cary’s gone.

Before I can take my next breath, I sink.