---- Chapter 24 Jeremy Glass POV: | woke up in a hospital bed, my leg in a cast, the smell of antiseptic a mocking reminder of where | was. Haylie was in this same building, just a few floors up. So close, yet a universe away. They told me the antidote had worked. She was stable. She was going to live. The relief was so profound it was painful. | wept, for the first time since | was a child, raw, gut-wrenching sobs of gratitude and self-loathing. | had almost killed her. | tried to get to her room, but Elliot had posted guards. | was a prisoner in my own hospital, left to pace the confines of my room like a caged animal. One night, | couldn' t take it anymore. | slipped out of the hospital, hailed a cab, and went to the only place | could think of. The temple in the mountains. | did what Joselin had lied about me doing. | walked up the thousand stone steps on my bare, bleeding feet. With every step, | whispered her name. Haylie. Forgive me. ---- At the top, the ancient monk looked at my battered form, his eyes full of a deep, sorrowful wisdom. He handed me a string of sandalwood prayer beads. "You carry a heavy burden, my son," he said. "| need her to live," | whispered, my voice raw. "| need her to be happy." "Then you must let her go," he said simply. | returned to the hospital, the beads clutched in my hand. Her door was unguarded. | pushed it open. She was awake. Pale, weak, but her eyes were open. Elliot was sleeping in the chair beside her. | tiptoed to her bedside, my heart pounding in my ears. | held out the prayer beads, a desperate, pathetic offering. "| went for you," | whispered. "This time, it was really for you." Her eyes, cool and distant, flickered from the beads to my face. Asmall, bitter smile touched her lips. "The last time you brought me a gift from God, Jeremy," she said, her voice a fragile whisper, "it was a lie meant for your mistress." She closed her eyes, dismissing me. The prayer beads fell from my numb fingers, scattering across the sterile white floor.