Destined Dawn (The Arrow Hart Academy #5)

Chapter 17

17

S tone

The mist is suffocating, pressing on my lungs, sinking into my throat, blindfolding the light from my eyes.

But I can hear. Fuck, can I hear. All the voices from long ago. Friends I lost as a kid on the street. Comrades who died in battles at the front. People who’ve passed from my life. Their voices whirl in the mist, rising and falling like some sick chorus.

And buried among them, a deep voice, a voice that stirs forgotten memories from long ago. A man’s voice. One that sounds just like my own.

My dad’s.

“Pops?” I stutter.

But my own voice is drowned out in the swell of voices. I swing my head around, searching for him. I don’t care if this is a chimera. I don’t care if it’s all an illusion .

I want to see him. I want to see him one last time.

The voices gurgle and I know they’re right there, waiting for me below the surface. I grip the side of the boat, lean right over until my face hits the cold water, and it floods into my nose and my mouth.

It’s my chance. My one chance. To say all the things I’ve always wanted to say to him. To ask him all the questions I’ve always wanted to ask him. To tell him that I’m trying to be a man that would make him proud.

I tip further into the water, the voices welcoming me towards them. And then a large hand claps down onto my shoulder and drags me back into the boat.

Azlan.