NovelStartChapter 251
Chapter 251
-Grayson'’s POV-
“What the hell are you doing here?”
| said the moment | pulled away but | didn’t let go. | couldn't let go. My grip on her wrist was tight, almost
desperate, my fingers pressing into her skin as if making sure she was real. Because if | did-if | loosened my hold
even a fraction-I was sure she would vanish, swallowed by the mist, taken by the wind just like | almost had
been.
But Ava didn’t answer right away. She just stared at me, her wide, disbelieving eyes reflecting the swirling gray
of this cursed place. Her lips parted, but no sound cout, her breath shuddering, breaking apart in a way that
made something insidetighten.
And then-her voice, barely above a whisper, yet so full of emotion it knocked the air from my lungs.
“You died.”
Her free hand pressed against her mouth like she couldn’t believe the words had actually left her. Like saying
them made them real all over again.
“I know,” | wanted to say. | know I did.
But | couldn't. Because right now, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that she was here—and she shouldn't be.
She took a shaky step closer, her entire body trembling.
“I—" She inhaled sharply, eyes darting over my face, as if trying to memorize me, as if terrified | would
disappear in the next second, “I can’t believe it is actually true. That you are actually here.
Her hands suddenly reached for me, grasping at my torn shirt, my arms-anywhere, everywhere-like she was
trying to ground herself in this impossible reality. Her breaths cfast and uneven, her chest rising and falling
too quickly.
“Grayson, |-” Her voice broke. “I'm so sorry.”
Her face twisted in pain, her fingers tightening in the fabric of my shirt, “This is all my fault.”
Then the dam broke.
Her body wracked with sobs as she collapsed against me, grippinglike | was the only thing keeping her
upright. My arms instinctively wrapped around her, holding her close as her tears soaked into my shirt.
| clenched my jaw, pressing my chin against her hair, breathing her in.
The weight of her. The warmth.
Goddess, | had thought | would never feel this again.
| swallowed against the tightness in my throat, my own emotions clawing atfrom the inside.
“Ava-"
She shook her head against me, her sobs muffled but relentless. “No, Grayson-if | had just-if | hadn’t-" She
hiccupped, her fingers fisting into my shirt even tighter, “You wouldn't have died.”
| exhaled sharply, my hand coming up to cradle the back of her head. “Ava, stop. You didn’t-
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“I did! I-” She pulled back suddenly, her eyes red, her face wet with grief. “I should have not gone back, | should
have done
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Chapter 251
something to stop her, | should’ve-
B
| gripped her face in my hands, my fingers pressing into her damp skin, “Stop it.” My voice was firm, but not
unkind. “I am still here. That's what matters and | am not going anywhere”
Her lower lip trembled, her breath still shaking and then-something flickered across her face. A realization.
Her hands flew to her stomach.
| stilled. A heavy silence fell between us, thick and suffocating and then, withouteven having to say a word,
she whispered. “They're okay.”
I sucked in a breath.
She gave a shaky nod, eyes glossing over again. “I don’t know how, but | can feel it. They're okay?
My gaze dropped to her stomach, to where her hands clutched protectively over the tiny lives growing inside her.
My children.
Something inside me-something | thought had died with me-stirred. | let out a slow exhale, pressing my palm
over hers, feeling the warmth of her, the reality of this moment. She was here. They were here and | had to get
them out. Get
| pulled away suddenly, my jaw clenching as | forced myself to snap back into focus.
Ava wiped at her face, sniffing before looking up at me, “Grayson, what was that thing?”
| turned my head, scanning the shifting mist, listening to the distant, hungry howling. “It’s the wind,” | said
darkly. “But not just any wind.” | met her gaze. “It’s what pushes people into the afterlife.”
Her breath hitched, her hands gripping her stomach again, like she was trying to shield herself from even the
idea of it. | exhaled sharply and reached for her, pulling her up beside me, “We need to keep moving.”
She nodded, her grip tightening around my arm.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Her voice was steadier now, but | could still hear the thread of fear
beneath it
| glanced at her, then back at the mist, where the howling wind prowled like a beast waiting to strike.
“I have a plan,” | said grimly.
A plan that had formed the moment | realized Jonah toldwhy he didn’t get taken by the wind before pushing
Ava’s grip on my hand tightened, “What's the plan?”
| kept my eyes on the swirling mist, the endless gray stretching beyond us. The wind carried whispers-hungry,
insidious, waiting. Ava’s hand was tight in mine, her knuckles white. | could still feel the warmth of her skin
through my fingers, a stark contrast to the icy weight of where we were.
She was waiting forto explain.
| exhaled sharply. “There’s someone here. Someone who's been here for a while.” My voice cout low, edged
with something dark. “His nis Jonah.”
Ava frowned. “What do you mean ‘been here for a while“? | thought-" She hesitated, glancing around at the
shifting mist, “I thought people didn’t stay in this place.”
“They don’t. That's the thing.” My jaw clenched, my grip on her hand tightening. “The wind takes them. It drags
them into
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Chapter 251
the afterlife, and no one fights it. No one can fight it?
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Ava shivered beside me, her free hand will protectively over her stomach, “Then why is thrill keyer
A humorless chuckle escaped me, bitter and charp. Because he made a dext. He doesn’t get taken because he
helps the wind
take other
Ava stiffened, horror dawning in her eyes, “He what?
| turned my head to meet her gaze, my expression grim. “He plays the right cards. He finds the ones who don’t
want to go. the ones who try to fight. He pretends to want them to say just like him—but in the end, he pushes
them in My lips curled in disgust “That's how he stays. The wind lets him because he feeds it var rifices others to
save himself and that’s exactly what he tried to do to me”
Ava let out a sound but | didn’t let her speak, “We are going to use him, Jonah has a connection to the wind. A
twisted, unnatural link that lets him stay here. But if we can break that connection-if we can twist it can use it
against him
Her brows furrowed, “How?”
1 gestured to the shifting, restless wind that had tried to claim me. “It has a rhythm. A pattern. It doesn’t jou
potl-it pontes When it takes someone, it creates a force in the opposite direction” I looked back at her. “If we can
make Jonah the target, we can use that force against it?
Realization flickered across her face.
“You're saying...” she trailed off, breath hitching
“We make the wind take him instead,” | said grimly, “And when it does, we ride the force it creates and push
ourselves back to the other side. Back to the realm of the living”
“Well that sounds like a nerve wracking plan but even if we were to make it that far, how do we get the wind to
take him when it doesn't?”
| exhaled. “Jonah’s connection is based on control. He tricks the wind into believing he’s a part of it, that he’s
useful. If we make him look weak-if we put him in a position where he’s struggling-the wind will turn on him.
| met her gaze, my expression cold. “We make him panic. We make him fight”
For a long moment, she was silent. Processing
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm| took a deep breath before continuing, “We get back in his line of sight and he will without a doubt try to make it
take us and when he makes his move, when he tries to push one of us in, we turn it around on him.”
Ava swallowed, “You mean we push him instead
“Exactly. But it has to be him who panics first. If the wind senses that he’s losing control, it'll act on instinct. It'll
see him as dead weight-useless” 1 exhaled, “And then, it'll take him instead”
Ava shivered, her eyes flickering to the mist around us then, to my surprise-she laughed.
| frowned, glancing down at her, “What's so funny?”
She shook her head, a tired smile pulling at her lips, “Even in here, you are still trying to make someone pay.”
Despite everything-despite the weight of this hellish place, despite the looming danger-I found myself smiling. It
was small, barely there, but real.
We kept walking, side by side, our hands still clasped together.
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Chapter 251
But then-I stopped.
Ava nearly stumbled, “Did you hear something?”
| turned to her, something heavy in my chest. “I'm sorry.”
She blinked, “What?”
| swallowed hard, “I'm really sorry. For everything.”
Her expression softened and then-she smiled. “I know,” She squeezed my hand. “Now let's find that slimy
bastard and get the hell out of here.”
AD
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