Sacrifice (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

I spoke.
    ‘Stop it, David. There’s nothing left. I’m not even sure there was anything there to begin with. We were high school kids. But I’ve grown up—I’m not a kid anymore.’
    He stared into my eyes, and I thought that maybe my words had finally hit home.
    ‘Look; I snapped—one time. And you’ve punished me for it, well and truly. And I suppose I deserved it. But how about dropping this superior than thou act, and let’s just move on with our lives,’ he said, all the amusement gone from his voice.
    ‘Bloody hell, are you deaf or what? You’re not listening to me. It’s over. I’m not the same person I was before I left, and I won’t ever be that person again.’
    He threw his head back and laughed. It wasn’t the reaction I’d expected, and I felt my jaw clench in response. He was laughing at me—and yet I’d said nothing even remotely funny.
    ‘What’s with the Aussie talk, Lili? “Bloody hell”—when’d you start talking like that?’
    ‘Oh, shut up. I told you—I’m not the same girl I was before.’
    ‘Yes you are. You’re just mad at me. That’s all this is. You’re mad at me, and the crazy thing is, it wasn’t even my fault … I mean, you made me … I mean,’ he seemed to be struggling with his words, so I cut him off.
    ‘I made you? I made you what, hit me? So, what … it was my fault?’
    ‘Yeah, well, no, I mean yeah, you made me crazy—all your talk of going overseas, and not answering me when I asked you to marry me.’
    ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I’m listening to this. And you wonder why it’s over? David, do you listen to yourself when you talk? Do you hear what you’re saying?’
    ‘What? Alright, you obviously need more time. I can see that. I’ll leave you alone for a while—let you get used to being back in “bloody” San Mateo. I’ve already been invited to Raye’s Halloween party. I’ll see you there, and maybe by then you’ll be ready to come back to me, assuming I still want you, that is.’
    ‘Argh! I can’t believe you,’ I said, shaking my head.
    He grinned, and I wondered if he’d heard a single word I’d said. But at least he seemed to accept that he wasn’t getting his way today. He walked to his car, got in, and waved as he pulled out of the parking lot.
    ~~***~~
    I couldn’t fall asleep that night. Images of David flashed through my mind as I tossed and turned, and snippets of memories tried to make their way to the surface. I forced myself to replace them with memories of Sam—our last day at the beach together; the way it felt when he kissed me; the warmth in his eyes when he looked at me. But it was getting harder to see Sam’s face when I closed my eyes, and knowing he was thousands of miles away didn’t help.
    I grabbed my phone and wrote a text, but stopped short of sending it. I’d already sent Sam a text earlier today. Then I thought about ringing him. I could say that I couldn’t sleep and needed to hear his voice. What time would it be there? Did that matter? I went round and round with it, wanting to speak to him but suspecting that if I rang now he’d be able to tell by my voice that something was wrong, and I didn’t want to explain.
    So instead, I just tossed and turned and did my best to force David’s face out of my mind, until sometime just before dawn when I finally fell asleep.
    ~~***~~
    The following days seemed to pass more slowly. I tried to keep myself busy, and between classes, homework, running and my job the days were pretty well filled. But as busy as I kept during the day, at night I always thought about Sam.
    Each night was the same. I asked myself the same questions over and over. Was our love strong enough to overcome the challenges we faced? I mean, it was such a strange world he lived in, would I be able to make it my world too? Was waiting until Christmas the right thing to do? After all, that was still months away. Shouldn’t I just go back now, like I’d originally