Crossing the thin veil that separated them felt like being dragged over a floor of sharp daggers. It hurt, more than anything he’d ever experienced, but he kept pushing his essence forward. Every spasm of agony was worth it if only he could touch her. She stepped closer, and the smell of her shampoo, vanilla and strawberry, enveloped him.
Lightning struck when Quinn’s eyes found his, and his roaming spirit solidified with the power of their connection. A connection so strong, Aaron felt the warm longing of her heartbeat. Hope surged through him, and he reached out for her.
“Quinn,” Aaron begged.
She called his name and stretched a hand to him. All he wanted to do was fall into her arms and breathe her in, to feel her touch, to be alive, to be home, but a force stronger than anything he’d known before tethered him to the black hole. Even now, he could feel a cold suction at his back; he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Nearly there, a few more millimeters, and her skin would brush his.
“Quinn!” Too late. Every atom inside him split apart as the force of the vortex dragged him back through the veil. The red door slammed in his face, separating him from his realm forever.
Hate writhed in the pit of his stomach as he fell, fast and heavy. The pain of his skin ripping to shreds was nothing compared to the ache of being so near Quinn, yet dimensions away. Trapped in a vacuum, the pressure pulled him deeper and deeper into darkness, and Aaron had no power to stop it. Now he was nothing but a stone cast from heaven to burn up in the fire of his descent, and he wondered if he would ever hit bottom.