Afterlife (Purgatory Series Part Three)

Chapter Eighteen: "All I need is a miracle, all I need is you"

Chapter Eighteen: "All I need is a miracle, all I need is you"

I drug my frostbitten feet in what I assumed was the correct direction and tried not to pass out. If Delilah was certain there would be a war today, and soon, the nephilim couldn't be too far away. I wasn't sure what I hoped to accomplish: there was no way I could help them now. Maybe I just didn't want to die in the snow, miles from anyone who cared about me.

Whatever the reason, I carried on, knowing that if I stopped now I would never get back up again. And though at this point I wasn't really afraid to die, I would feel guilty if my parents never knew what happened to me. They, at the very least, deserved to know I said goodbye and I loved them.

A light in the distance drew my attention and I stumbled toward it. Maybe it was my 'light at the end of the tunnel' or maybe it was just a fire. Either way I was ready to reach it and be done. With everything.

It took at least another ten minutes to get close enough to make out the objects in the distance, but once I could see clearly enough a huge sigh of relief left my lips. The lights I had been stumbling toward were lanterns and they were hung along a wooden fence, which had sentries posted near the entrance. They weren't vampires as it was still light out, and they obviously weren't goblins because they weren't hideously ugly - or smelly. So either I was dealing with nephilim or humans and either way I was safer than I had been in weeks.

"Stop!" one of the sentries called from the fence. "State your name and business."

"My name is Thea and I'm injured. I need some food, water, and a place to rest."

"Thea? As in Alethea?"

"That's me. I'm guessing you guys are nephilim?"

Without answering my question he commanded, "Wait here."

"It's not like I have the energy to do anything else," I replied, lowering myself to sit with my back against the fence.

I was dozing in and out of consciousness when they finally returned. Honestly, it didn't matter. I was dying anyway. But having to wait so long kind of made me feel like week-old garbage set out by the curb – forgotten and discarded for better things.

"Thea?" Roran's voice called from the gate. "Oh God, Thea! It is you!"

Heavy footsteps thundered toward me and I cracked open one eyelid. I was surprised to see him looking so well. Apparently Delilah hadn't lied after all, and they really hadn't come looking for me. Some boyfriend.

Roran's eyes stared at me in surprise and fear and I wondered just how bad I looked. "Get a stretcher!" he shouted to someone behind him, a frantic tone creeping into his voice. "And hurry!"

A stretcher wasn't going to make much difference. I had been counting my heartbeats, and my pulse was slowing gradually more and more every few minutes. I figured I had maybe an hour, two tops. If I had just had blood loss or just had organ damage or just starvation, I might have survived. But having all of them together, at the same time? It would take a miracle.

"Just hang on," Roran whispered as I closed my eye again. "Stay with me, Thea."

A snort made it's way from my lungs. Like he had 'stayed' with me?

That isn't fair, Thea, my conscience chided. If he had come after you and tried to save you, he probably would have died. And then you would feel guilty. It was smart of him to leave you.

Smart, maybe, but not very loyal. And despite knowing that I honestly didn't want him coming after me and getting hurt, it still hurt to realize he hadn't tried. Not that that made any sense. But matters of the heart rarely did.