Slay Alive

Chapter 29

twenty-nine

When I wake up, I’m blinded by light. “Oh gods,” I moan and raise a hand to shield my eyes from the light that shines so bright I can see it even though I’ve got my eyes squeezed shut. Where am I? The thought comes to me, silences everything else because I have no idea where the fuck I am.

That confusion lasts for a half second more before everything comes rushing back to me.

“Cade!” I scream and sit up. I’m wearing the flannel pajamas I put on the night I got sucked into the game. The hunter leather and the harness is gone. Nothing but pillows and blankets hit my hands when I reach for my soulmate.

“No, no,” I whisper. The cathedral is gone. Everything is gone now. I’m in my room.

I’m in my fucking room alone.

“Cade! No!” I get twisted up in my sheets trying to move and send my console controller flying off my bed. It hits the floor and slides across the floor. The Fangs Are Forever opening menu plays on my television.

START NEW GAME?

The option blinks on screen and I burst into tears at seeing it. “Cade, no. No.” I try to stand up but my legs give out and I hit the floor with a thud. I’m still sobbing when the door flies open.

“Bonnie-bear?” Gio comes running. He kneels in front of me and hugs me. “Bonnie, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“He’s gone. I love him so much.”

“I know you had a lot to drink last night but it’s going to be okay. Here, drink some water. Let’s try and sober you up, Bonnie-bear.”

“I need him, Gio.” I hiccup and swallow a sip of water from the glass Gio presses to my lips. “I can’t live without him. I love him.”

“Fuck. You’re still drunk.” Gio brushes my hair back from my head. “How about we get back in bed, yeah? Sleep off whatever the fuck this is because you don’t need Preston. Fuck that guy. Dude is a shithead not worthy of licking your stilettos.”

“Preston?” I shake my head. “I don’t-no, not him. I need Cade. I love Cade and now he’s gone.”

Gio pulls back with wide eyes. “Cade? Who the fuck is Cade?”

“My soulmate,” I wail.

“You have a one night stand before you came home last night, Bonnie-bear and get dickmatized?” Gio helps me up with a knowing look.

I hug him tight. “I’m glad you’re safe. I missed you. I was so worried about you.”

“Yeah, you’re totally drunk.”

There’s a crash from the living room. Donnie shouts a second later. “Who are you? What are you doing in my house?! You are not seeing her.”

My heart does a flip. “Oh my gods, it’s him.”

“Bonnie, wait. It’s not safe out there! Some fucking crazy person just showed up this morning and-”

“Cade!” I push away from Gio and run down the hallway. “Cade, I’m coming!” I burst into the living room right as Donnie gets knocked to the side and I get a clear view of the morning intruder.

“Tamsin?”

My friend smiles at me. “Hey,” she says and looks around the apartment. “Really cute place. Sorry about the vase.” She points at a broken vase on the floor next to Donnie.

“Sorry about the vase? You hit me with it!” Donnie grabs part of the vase and chucks it at Tamsin. She kicks it aside with the kind of reflexes I’d expect from a hunter. Makes sense. She’s dressed normally in her leathers and weapons.

“What are you doing here? What happened? I-Cade, we were in the cathedral and we had to use the Orb of Thespia on the Ascendents.”

“I know. You saved us. You saved all of us. That’s why Rhiannon gave me a pass to come see you.”

Gio wags a finger at her. “I’m calling the fucking police, you crazy lady. You picked the wrong fiance to hit a vase with when you picked mine!”

“Don’t call the police. Please,” I look back at Gio and then Donnie. “Look, I know this is weird but she’s my friend and I just need to talk to her. It won’t be long. I promise.”

Gio and Donnie look at me like I’ve lost my mind. They’re right. I did lose my mind along with my heart. Both of them are back in Briarwood Hollow.

“Bonnie…what’s going on?” Donnie asks. Gio helps Donnie to his feet while I grab Tamsin’s hand and pull her with me to my bedroom.

“Even if I explained it you wouldn’t believe me,” I tell my friends. “I’ll try, though. I promise. Right after I talk to Tamsin.”

Donnie looks like he’s going to protest but Gio nods. “Okay, talk to her. But if you don’t come out in five minutes I’m going in after you and I’m gonna throw little miss cat burglar out the window and into oncoming traffic.”

I salute Gio. “Deal.”

“Little miss what?” Tamsin asks while I drag her after me to my room. When we’re alone, I sag against the door and start crying again.

“What happened?” I whisper.

“Where do you want me to start?”

I want to ask about Cade but I’m scared of what she’ll say, so I don’t. “What happened after we dropped the orb? To everyone in the cathedral?”

“All the Ascendents got wiped out, you saved the humans. Adrian got demoted for demonstrating an absence of valor. Marigold made Nightwarden leader,” Tamsin fires off with quick precision.

I lean back against the door and look up at the ceiling. “We saved everyone? Really?”

“You did. They erected a statue to you in front of Hunter’s Watch. You look fucking amazing.”

I smile, keeping my eyes on the ceiling and watch the shadows play above me. “Is it cast in gold?”

“Silver.”

I hum. “That’s okay, I guess.”

“Bonnie…about Cade.”

I close my eyes and press the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Yeah?”

“He’s alive.”