Can’t Win Me Back

Jasper felt a pain unlike any he had ever known.

It wasn't a physical agony like having flesh torn away, but a slow, excruciating torture akin to being slowly sliced by a blunt blade.

It was a hundred times worse than dying instantly.

His mind raced through a chaotic sequence of images, like a black- and-white movie playing backward.

He saw people retreating and leaving —Javier, Anne, Newton, Landon, Lauren, Jonah, Axel...

He reached out desperately, trying to grasp any of them, but they were slipping away, one by one.

Finally, the image settled on Alyssa's radiant face.

"Lyse...

Don't go..." Tears streaming down his face, he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her.

But she dissolved into golden dust, vanishing into the frigid air.

"No! iy A beep sounded in his ear as if everything had been reset.

him, and

there was

staring at

dead, but deep down,

footsteps approaching from

turned to see Remy

emotionless look on his face, Remy picked Alyssa

Without even a glance

is leaving you

you have no

motionless, his

like a man who had

all his worth—now thrown away like

the statue of the goddess closed

laughing at

has been

deafening

hovered above, casting its shadow over the

crash, and with that, the seemingly indestructible glass

rained down, cutting Jameson's neck, cheeks, and