TheFallenStarBookSeries1 (50 page)

The prickle traced up the back of my neck, releasing an overwhelming sense of pain. And I’m not talking about the pain throbbing in my leg. Nope. This was a whole new level of pain. The kind of pain that grips at your heart and rips it apart. The pain that comes when someone betrays you.

Stephan walked up to me, the rock smoking madly in the palm of his hand. “It’s time.”

With tears streaming down my cheeks, blooding dripping down my leg, and my heart breaking, I shook my head. This was it. This was the end of my life. As short and sad lived as it was, I didn’t want it to come to an end.

Stephan held the rock in front of my face. For a split second, I thought I felt my skin glow warmly beneath where the locket was touching. But it happened so quickly that it was probably just my imagination. The sparks of electricity were going insanely wild, after all. They were probably heating up the metal.

“It’s time.” Stephan repeated.

I took one last look at Alex. His bright green eyes seemed to have lost a little of their shine. When I turned back to Stephan, a rush of warmth swept through my body. Funny, I would have guessed it would be cold.

Stephan grinned as I let out a painful gasp. I clutched onto the edge of the couch as my head started to hum. I was slipping away. I could feel it—the life leaving my body. I tried to think of my mom, her bright blue iris, her warm smile.

I tried to picture the life I’d never know.

The humming in my head rang louder and louder until I couldn’t think anymore—couldn’t feel. The last thing I saw was Alex’s horrified expression before my eyes slipped shut. He had no right to be horrified. He let this happen.

I thought I heard a loud crash, but my eyelids were too heavy to open. Everything shifted black, and then…

I was gone.

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Jessica Sorensen
lives with her husband and three kids in the snowy mountains of Wyoming, where she spends most of her time reading, writing, and hanging out with her family.