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A woman stood near the bar with her drink suspended halfway to her mouth. A couple beside the staircase remained perfectly still, while several other guests simply faced forward wearing blank, distant expressions.

“What the hell?”

Willow shifted closer to me. “Lakelyn…” She motioned toward the crowd. “Why is everybody all of a sudden mute?”

That was when I realized nearly the entire party seemed disconnected from whatever was happening around us. They were still standing and breathing, but their expressions had gone vacant, as though their minds had been pulled somewhere else entirely.

Only Willow, Chalis, his three friends, and I seemed aware of what was happening.

My heart started pounding all over again.

Then one light came on… at the top of the staircase.

I slowly raised my head, and there he was.

Caspian.

My Caspian.

He stood at the top of the stairs in a perfectly tailored black pinstripe suit with a crisp white shirt and black tie beneath it. His silver watch rested against his wrist, his chain lay against his chest, and his hair was cut exactly the way I remembered.

His attention traveled across the room until it settled on Chalis. Then that familiar smile appeared. “Still a lying-ass nigga, I see.”

My knees almost gave out. “Oh, my God.”

Willow grabbed my arm. “Lakelyn…”

I couldn’t answer her.

Caspian started down the staircase, taking his time with every step while Chalis backed away.

“What…” His eyes widened. “What the fuck?!”

Caspian smiled. “What’s wrong, my nigga?”

Chalis shook his head. “Nah…”

Caspian kept coming. “Don’t tell me you forgot what I look like.”

Chalis backed straight into one of his friends.

“How…” He pointed toward Caspian. “You’re supposed to be dead!”

Caspian reached the final step and stopped.

“Yeah, I’m dead, nigga.” His expression hardened as he added, “Thanks to you.”

My heart twisted.

Dead.

Even though I had already figured it out, even though I had heard his voice in my bedroom days earlier, hearing him say it out loud still hurt in a completely different way.

“But I guess you can say I’m one of God’s favorites.” Caspian smiled. “Even He wasn’t ready for me to cross over.”

Willow made a strange sound beside me, something between a laugh, a sob, and an attempt to breathe.

Chalis searched for the exit again before facing Caspian. “Nah. This shit ain’t real.”