Neptune

Chapter 40 | The Kiss

L U K E

Seven years ago

Abruptly, I brought Cassie inside the house and closed the door, blocking the storm. I shook her body again, trying to make her stay.

"Cassie!" I shouted, my voice shaking due to the panic engulfing me.

Cassie's eyes were still shut, but her brows furrowed. A frown touched her lips. "Luke..." she whispered, her voice very weak.

Maybe I should have called the hospital, but I didn't know whether they would be able to come in time or not, especially during a storm like this. We were in another country, and I wasn't even familiar with how the procedures worked around here.

For now, the first survival instinct I could think of was to keep Cassie warm.

"Why the fuck did you stay outside?" I hollered, pulling her body even closer to me.

She was cold as ice, and I felt like I was about to explode.

"God, Cassie, have you lost your fucking mind?" I snapped.

It wasn't the right time to yell, but I was just so worried about her. So very worried.

Cassie winced. "Your brother's...coat," she rasped. "I...forgot."

I stared at her in disbelief. She was still wearing Victor's coat—I hadn't even remembered about that. She must have thought that Victor's belonging was so important to me.

Goddammit. Now I regretted telling her that I'd lost my brother, being fucking melancholic about coming here to escape.

"Are you stupid?" I barked. "You came all the way here during the storm just to give it back to me? Why the fuck didn't you just put it outside my house? Why the hell did you wait for me?"

Fuck. This coat could rot in hell for all I cared. I'd postponed my flight, and she hadn't known about it. She must have waited for me while I fucking fell asleep.

"What if someone else took it?" she insisted, her voice barely a whisper.

I could care less about our argument. Fear built up inside me as my mind tried to figure out how to make her warm as fast as I could.

My heart thumped wildly inside my chest. I couldn't let her condition get worse.

I carried her in my arms, rushing toward the warmest room in the house—Victor's bedroom. My jaw tightened as I placed her on the bed.

Cassie still couldn't open her eyes, her lips still trembling and her body shivering. That sight pained me to the core.

Just when I was about to leave the bed to find something that could warm her, Cassie's voice made me halt. "Luke."

I snapped my head toward her and found her looking at me with fear skating all over her face.

"Don't leave me," she stuttered. "Please, stay." Her voice broke. She looked so frightened, as though she could die while I was away. "S-stay with me." She was using all the power she had to speak, but what came out was only a broken whisper.

I immediately returned to her side, pulling her into my arms as I lay on the bed. Cassie's entire body was shaking uncontrollably.

She let out a soft cry. "It's so cold."

I tightened my hold on her, muttering a silent curse in my head. My mind was a complete mess. I was trying to find a way to make her pain go away, to save her. Her clothes were so damp with snow that they wouldn't keep her from freezing to death.