Between Worlds (Pendant Series Book 3) by Cynthia Austin Page B

the cellophane pack open with his teeth, spit the wrapper on the ground, and pulled a cancer stick out of the box.
    While waiting for me, he cupped his hands around it and lit his cigarette. He inhaled and slowly released the toxic poisons from his mouth just as I finally caught up to him. They crossed through the air directly toward me, causing me to cough as I felt the damn smoke violate my nose. He was slowly killing me with his bad habits.
    Then, he turned serious. “I need to talk to you about last night.”
    He was not going to let this go.
    Exhausted and out of breath, I plopped down on the dirt next to his feet. Staring straight ahead, unable to look at him, I blurted out, “Last night was a mistake.”
    I didn’t look up to see his reaction. I couldn’t face him.
    After a few agonizing seconds of silence, I heard his feet pound against the earth as he headed toward his family’s crypt. I slowly picked myself off the ground and followed him, intentionally keeping my distance.
    As we descended the steps, I realized why Adrian had thought of this place. The note mentioned taking Ray underground and this crypt was hidden beneath the earth. The missive made perfect sense. I just hoped we weren’t too late.
    When we finally made it to the masoleum, I was flooded with dissappointment. It was empty. “Where could they be?” I cried, panic beginning to set in.
    But Adrian no longer chose to humor me, he had some issues of his own he still wanted to resolve. “We lit this fire, Sidney. Nobody else helped us. It was us. Now you’re standing in front of me saying it was a mistake? ”
    I stood there with my arms crossed, completely confused. At this point, I didn’t know if I was making the right decision or not. Every second spent with Adrian seemed right. But now with Lilly in the picture, and those dreams, things were getting too weird.
    Besides, how could I just throw away the last two and a half years with Ray? How could I work so hard at something I wanted so badly and when I finally got it, walk away?
    He had proposed to me. I couldn’t abandon what Ray and I had now. Furthermore, I couldn’t abandon Ray. He was in danger and I had to find him.
    “Ray’s not here. We should go,” I suggested.
    “Just answer me truthfully, Sidney. Was it really a mistake?”
    We stood on the cold brick floor staring at each other. Adrian was determined, waiting for an answer to his question, but I couldn’t say it. The minutes crept by and soon the sun disappeared from the sky. Eventually, we had to light a sconce to see inside the dreary tomb. Even then, I couldn’t deliver the answer Adrian wanted from me.
    “I love you, Sidney. And you said you loved me too. Do you even understand what that word means because so far in your life, everyone that tells you they love you has left you. Your mom, your dad, and Ray.”
    His words hurt, even if it was the truth.
    “I’ve stayed in this town for you, Sidney. I would trade everything to stay with you. Can’t you see that?”
    I carefully tried to soften my words in a way that would hurt Adrian as little as possible. But this wasn’t going to be easy.
    I quickly learned there was no painless way to tell him, and I watched his face as each one of my words hit him like an emotional fist. “Everything you’re saying about me is the exact same way I feel about Ray.”
    He lifted his hands up to his head and began running them through his long black hair in frustration. Taking one last long drag on his cigarette, he flicked it on the ground and stomped the ember out.
    “I warned you, Sidney. I warned you before we even got involved to be sure that you knew what you wanted. I told you I don’t play games. I play for keeps. I thought you understood that.”
    “I thought that was what I wanted too. But that was before…”
    I stopped talking. I had said too much.
    Adrian had no idea about Ray’s proposal and at the moment, he didn’t seem stable enough to hear it. He was