Chapter 2

Ethan' s words echoed. "Not worth my notice."

He was right about one thing, my dramatics wouldn't work.

But my death would.

He hadn't saved me, he'd just delayed my exit.

I saw him again near the edge of campus, by the main gate.

He had my meager bags, the few things I owned in this world.

He threw them onto the sidewalk, outside the university grounds.

"Get out," Ethan said, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"And if you're so determined to die, do it far away from here. Don't stain the campus, don't upset Seraphina."

He wanted me to die.

An opportunity.

The bridge over the campus river was just a short walk away.

I didn't even look back at my belongings.

I walked to the bridge, the cold November air biting at my face.

The river below was dark and fast.

I climbed onto the railing.

And jumped.

The shock of the icy water stole my breath.

It pulled me down, the current strong.

This was it. This had to be it.

Then hands grabbed me, strong, furious.

Ethan. Again.

He dragged me to the riverbank, sputtering and coughing.

He was soaked, shivering, his face a mixture of fury and something else I couldn't name.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled, his voice raw.

"Are you trying to make Seraphina feel guilty? Is that your game now?"

I was too weak to stand, waterlogged and freezing.

I looked up at him.

"Death," I managed to choke out. "It's what you wanted for me."

A flicker. Just a tiny flicker in his eyes.

The Ethan from before, the one who remembered I saved him from his own kind of drowning.

It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

He was just angry.

But I saw it.

He left me there, shivering on the bank, and stalked off.

I wouldn't give him a third chance to "save" me.

My brother Alex.

He lived off-campus. He was a medical resident at the university hospital.

He once said he' d do anything to protect me.

Maybe he' d be the one. Maybe he' d help me end this. Or at least, not stop me.