Witch and Wizard_ The Fire - James Patterson [55]
“Sort of. It was a little more complicated than that, but … it doesn’t matter now.” She puts her hand on my lips and smiles that gorgeous, sweet smile that lights up her whole face. “I mean, aren’t you going to say it’s good to see me?”
I look into her teasing eyes, put my hands around her face. “Celia, it is so, so good to see you.” I’m melting into her eyes.
“I’m sorry I had to abandon you earlier, Whit —”
“Forget it. I know there’s a reason for everything in this insane world, even if I don’t understand it. All that matters is that I’m — I’m feeling you again.”
Sasha comes up behind me and yells, “Awwww!” in his sappiest, most obnoxious voice. He jabs me in the ribs. Emmet joins us, looking embarrassed, but wiggles his eyebrows approvingly anyway.
Janine appears behind them, smiling, but not with her eyes.
I look around at the camp — the bonfire remnants and animal bones and menacing forest beyond. The scene still appears eerie in the red mist of the Underworld sky, but the glow from all of the Half-lights moving around and making sure the kids are all right makes everything seem almost … safe. Like finding out the monster in the room is just your imagination when you switch on the light.
Almost like we’re not in the land of the dead.
Chapter 58
Whit
UNDER THE PRETENSE of scouting out a trail, Celia and I walk hand in hand away from the group. With her next to me now, I can almost forget about finding my parents, about Wisty risking her life to take down The One, about nearly being roasted alive, about Janine. I can convince myself that there’s just us, two carefree teenagers in love, walking into the wilderness.
We stop at the edge of the forest, and Celia peers up at me, her eyes swimming. There’s so much I have to tell her, but she’s looking at me like she already knows everything I’m feeling, everything I’ve been through, so for now I just want to savor this moment.
Celia lifts her chin up and I inhale her scent, dizzy with love and need. I put my lips against hers so tenderly, but I can’t feel her at all; she’s only air. And then Celia leans into me and we do something I’ve been thinking about, dreaming about, since the last time I saw her — we merge into one soul, one being.
And it takes my breath away. I’ve never felt so close to anyone, so whole, and it’s as if my heart is expanding and being crushed at once.
I feel her.
Everywhere.
Chapter 59
Whit
I WANT TO stay like this forever, enveloped in Celia’s warmth and safe in her cocoon of light, but it’s only a few seconds before I feel her slipping away from me again, our cells realigning in our separate bodies.
“Oh man, that’s … just … incredible,” I breathe into Celia’s wild hair as we finally break apart.
“Best thing ever,” she agrees. “The living are really missing out.” She laughs but then catches herself; it’s less funny when she remembers which side of the divide I’m on. “Do you think maybe …” Her eyes search mine, uncertain. “Don’t you think it might be time to move on?”
“Where are we moving on to?” I ask, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. “Celia, you can’t leave here, right? I don’t want to go back again without you. I want to be with you … forever.”
As I say it, I notice Janine, watching us walking back, her jaw set and eyes clear with understanding.
Celia tenses and intertwines her fingers with mine. She doesn’t say anything for a moment, and I know she’s considering the possibilities. I squeeze her hand as best I can, but then she breaks away and turns on me. “Don’t you think I want that, too? It’s not something I can just decide, Whit. You can’t survive here!”
“But you can destroy the Lost Ones, right?” I plead. “We can live here safely. Together.”
Celia shakes her head. “That’s not how it works, baby. Without their darkness, the Shadowland is out of balance. The good doesn’t come without the bad … all of it passes through here. Without them, the passages between worlds begin to close. They’re already closing.”
“Celes, you’re not making any sense, I swear —”
“Think of it like this,