"He had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise."
IN WHICH two neighbors meet only to be thrown into a world that was the opposite of their own and forced to battle for their lives every night alongside...
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0032. REVERSE THE IRREVERSIBLE
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AIDEN WAS PARALYZED, his gaze empty as he stared vacantly at the car door, hanging ajar as they raced down the street, distancing themselves more and more from where Kaia and Tyler remained. He was rendered motionless, engulfed in numbness while Ben clutched him and Taylor in his arms. Unlike Taylor, who was struggling with all her might against Ben's grip to reach her brother, Aiden was immobile.
Kaia was still alive, she wasn't dead.
There was no way she had died. The thought of Kaia being dead was inconceivable; she couldn't have left him so abruptly, could she? He was certain she was alive, no matter where she ended up. It was impossible for Kaia to be dead; she was the strongest person he knew, and strong people don't just die, they can't.
The possibility of truly losing her had never fully dawned on him. Of course, there had been fleeting thoughts and moments of fear, but nothing like this. Aiden had never visualized her death; he had been afraid of her getting injured, but the actual fear of her dying had never struck him because it had never seemed possible that she could die.
Kaia was strong, much stronger than anyone had credited her for, stronger than all of them. She had endured so much already and survived; why would this be any different? In his mind, Kaia was a deity, placed upon a pedestal of immortality, and the thought that she could be toppled from it never crossed his mind. He never imagined he would see her fall from grace.
