The note was on the floor of the car when I woke up. I didn't have to read the signature to know who it was from; I knew Finn's slanted handwriting. But I didn't want to read it.
Finn's betrayal burned through me. I barely made it out of the shed before collapsing. Giovanni had carried me the rest of the way. I was asleep before getting in the car.
My hand apparently didn't agree with my mind about the note; it reached out and grabbed the paper. Unfolded, the word Cora jumped out at me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to get past the images rushing by. Finn in the greenhouse's light. The redwoods. Kissing him. Finding him in Ireland on the stage. Running about Dublin with him. Loving him.
But the good memories mixed with the bad. His aura turning pure white. Clancy tossing me underground. Watching my dad die. Leaving Finn.
Cora,
I never wanted to leave you this way. I can't help what I am. I'm sorry, but know that I love you. Ní bheidh mé ag stopadh grámhara tú.
Tell Giovanni to stop the car at the gas station we passed on the way to your house; I'll be waiting.
-Finn
I crumpled up the paper and stifled a sob, but Giovanni still heard. "Cora? What's wrong?" I watched the silver of his aura reach for me. He was trying to help.
"Nothing, sorry. I was just—just remembering." He knew what it was like to lose his parents; he'd understand. "Hey, can we stop at that gas station up here? I don't feel well."
He grimaced and looked at my mother laying in the backseat next to me. "Of course. I'll wait out here with her." He eased the Doyle's car into the station and I scrambled out. I hadn't been sure that I wanted to see Finn until I asked to stop. I guess I needed answers.
I walked inside and asked for the toilet. Outside around back. Perfect. Of course, not when I walked out there. The small toilet was backed up against the woods, dark and forboding at this time of night. Then I saw a blinding white light as Finn stepped out from behind a tree.
"Cora," he whispered, but I heard. I loved the way my name sounded in his thick Irish accent. Even now.
"You need to be quick, Finn." I stopped, surprised at my snapped response. I hadn't thought I was this angry. He motioned for me to duck behind the trees and I did.
"Cora, I didn't know this would happen." His aura hurt to look at, yet I couldn't peel my eyes away. "Mum didn't tell me that I was—that I was—what I am. She just said I couldn't date."
"You can't expect me to believe that. You led your uncle straight to me. And I only thought we were falling in love," I scoffed.
He sucked in a breath and I focused on his face. His gorgeous green eyes looked pained and his hair was ruffled. But he looked healthy; he was fully awake for the first time in a while.
Because of me.
Finn reached up and put his hand on my arm, drawing me closer. "I thought that, too. I promise. You have to believe me, luv, I-"
"Don't." I twisted away from his reach, my heart instantly yearning for it. For him. "Don't touch me. I don't want you to hand me over again. Never again."
He took a step toward me, but I backed farther away. "Cora, please, just-"
We both froze when a car door slammed. "Cora?" Giovanni.
"Just a second," I called without thinking. But he heard anyway. And he knew I wasn't in the toilet.
Within seconds, he started walking into the woods, his silver aura leading the way. "Cora, what are you—" he broke off, noticing Finn's white aura lighting up the area. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.
Finn stepped in front of me, but I pushed him aside. Whatever anger I had been feeling toward Finn dissipated. Instead, I needed to protect him from G. "He was just trying to explain what happened."
Giovanni didn't look convinced. "Oh, I'm sure. And then he was going to finish the job? Get the prize for killing a Scintilla?"
"I would never hurt her," Finn said.
He realized his mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He tried to fix it, but Giovanni was already pulling me away.
"G, please! He wasn't going to do anything tonight. I just wanted to know why he did earlier." I stumbled over a root, but the Italian didn't slow. Finn kept grabbing at my arm, trying to help me escape, but his efforts did nothing, either.
"I really don't care why you were out here, but I'm not losing another of my kind. I won't lose you, Cora."
We broke out of the woods and Finn stopped following. I used my last bit of energy to snatch my sleeve from Giovanni. "Cora!" he shouted, but I ran and I tumbled into Finn's arms, one last time.
His kiss was salty with his tears. I'm sure mine added to it, too. It was a kiss of sorrow, of apology, of broken promises. It was a kiss of goodbye. A kiss that ended everything.
I pulled away first. His green eyes made me forget the white of his aura, if only momentarily.
Finn smiled sadly as I turned away and walked back to where Giovanni stood, glowering.
But I heard his whisper behind me. Ní bheidh mé ag stopadh grámhara tú.