Chapter 1: The body on the pavement
I reached for him.
My ringed, left hand touched his pillow, and I slowly opened my eyes. The pillow had a dent in , where his head had rested, and the covers were moved to the side. It was in the middle of the night. Had he gotten up to drink water? But, as I ran my hand down his side of the bed, I realized the sheets were cold, which meant he had been up for a while.
“Ryker?” I sat upright in our big bed, swung my bare legs out from under the sheets, and went to the door. Sirens were wailing outside, but this was no cause for alarm since New Peace was a busy city. I heard sirens almost every night. My silk nightgown swayed as I entered the living room and went past my violin, which I had left on the counter after returning home late from my show at Serenity Stadium. I passed shelves filled with precious stones; even the tables and kitchen counters were made of them – proof of Ryker’s lapidary hobby. A cold breeze entered our apartment as I neared the balcony, where the curtains were billowed wildly.
Why was the door open in the middle of the night? I expected Ryker sitting at the table outside, pondering his job and his life. I’d give him a kiss and tell him to come back to bed. But once I was outside, the balcony was empty. Strange.
Below me, the sirens keened like a screaming kid. From the forty-seventh floor of this building, I had an amazing view of the city lights. It was one of the most expensive apartments in the city and one I certainly wouldn’t have been able to afford without Ryker’s money. Or should I say, his mother’s money?
I placed my hands on the low, steel railing and admired down at the ring on my left ring finger. It was made of a white silver and had a single black stone instead of a diamond. It was certainly not the most expensive ring, but I didn’t mind. I was going to marry for love, not money. Besides, fae did not give each other rings. I appreciated Ryker for respecting me enough to stick to human traditions. We had stood right here, on this balcony, two days ago when he had sunk down on one knee to ask me to marry him. I smiled at the memory then smiled even wider when I realized that tomorrow we’d be leaving for our wedding and honeymoon.
I looked past my ring, down at the street where several blue lights and grey wings were visible. The Sky Watch was here, but for what reason? Had someone been mugged in this crime-filled city? Although Ryker was not an angel, he worked closely with the Sky Watch, and that made me think that he was down there, in the middle of all the action.
I returned to my room and put on a white gown that fastened around my waist. Barefoot, I left the apartment and rode down in the elevator. The elevator pinged when I reached the ground floor, and the doors opened. I headed toward the big, glass doors of the skyscraper so that I could see what the commotion was about.
Four angels stood in a circle, and I couldn’t see what they were looking at. I recognized Ryker’s best friend from his broad shoulders, grey wings, and brown hair. He was not wearing his white Sky Watch uniform, like the other three.
“Ace?” I said.
Ace turned around, and he paled, and I gained a strange feeling that I shouldn’t be there. “Natka…”
If he said something after my name, I didn’t hear him. My gaze slid past him to where Ryker lay splattered on the pavement. His head was cracked open, and he sprawled in a pool of his own blood, with his pointy, fae ears coated in red. The light in his eyes had gone out, and he was staring into nothing.
I wanted to scream, but my voice caught in my throat. For a moment I stood frozen in shock. Ace reached for me, but I stepped around him. He was bigger, stronger than me, and had fast, angelic reflexes. He could easily have stopped me, but evidently chose not to. I sank to my knees next to my fiancé, and the first tears slid down my cheeks. Seconds later, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I placed my head on his chest and let my tears fall on him, as if they could wash away his wounds. Ryker was the only male who’d ever seen me cry. The only one who had gotten close enough for me to open my heart. Never again would he hold me. Never again would he wipe away my tears.
How had this happened? I threw my head back and let out a night-shattering scream. In my agony, I looked up – to where our apartment balcony was. He had jumped. Oh, Ayana, Goddess of the Elves, he had jumped.
I was sobbing so much I could hardly breathe. Ace placed a supporting hand on my shoulder, but I refused to leave Ryker. He’d left me. A day before our wedding. Two days after proposing. He’d left me.
Ryker was my world. He gave me reason to smile and wake in the mornings. He motivated me to work hard and be better. He was my passion and my pleasure. The world of Testatha would never be the same without him. I would never be the same without him.
“We have to move the body.” Ace gently pulled me away.
“Why did he leave me?” I had no idea where I found the words to speak.
Ace’s sad eyes met mine, and I knew he was broken on the inside. But, as captain of the Sky Watch, he could not allow himself to cry. I watched as the angels covered Ryker’s broken body in plastic before they placed him on a stretcher and carried him to their van.
Fae were immortal, thus I had never expected Ryker to die. I had thought he would be by my side, until I was old and grey. I was human – which meant I had ninety years at most; twenty-five of those years had already been used up. Although I was still breathing, a part of me had died with him.
oh that was so sad 😭