“If I have to die, I want to die like this.” Rune took his hand and wrapped it around the pistol as she pressed the barrel against her heart. “Right here. With you.”
Gideon stared down in horror at the gun. At his finger on the trigger.
“No,” he said, trying to step away. “Rune.You can’t ask me—”
“Youmust.” She grabbed a fistful of his shirt, keeping him with her. Her throat heated. Tears trailed down her cheeks. “It’s the only way now. You know what will happen if you don’t.”
He looked away in disgust, his grip limp on the gun in her hand, pointed at her chest.
“If you don’t do it, she will.” Rune glanced over his shoulder, to see Cressida grinning. Like something out of a nightmare. So close. Almost here. About to rip them away from each other forever. “There’s no third option. She’ll kill me and use my death to bring about a much bigger nightmare.”
When she looked back into his face, his eyes shone with tears.
“It’s either you or her,” she said. “Don’t let it be her. If you love me, you won’t let it be her. Gideon,please.”
Her voice broke on that plea.
His grip on the gun tightened, so Rune let go. Taking his face in her hands, she pushed up on her toes and kissed him.
Hot tears spilled down both their cheeks.
“It’s been an honor, Captain,” she whispered against his lips.
Gideon let out a soft cry, but he didn’t fail her.
Pulling the trigger, he sent a bullet straight into her heart.
SEVENTY-FIVERUNE
THEBANGDEAFENED HER.
Gunpowder burned in her nose. Pain and heat flooded her chest. Just before Rune’s legs gave out, Cressida’s enraged scream shattered the air.
Gideon’s arms encircled Rune as he caught her, lowering them both to the ground. The strength of him was everywhere, surrounding her like a comforting blanket as the blood gushed from the cavity in her chest.
It surprised her, even now, how both gentleness and strength could be bound up together in one man. She was in his lap, some part of her realized, and the warmth against her cold cheek was his chest, the steady beat beneath, his heart.
I’m going miss the sound of your heart,she thought.
“What have I done,” Gideon cried, his entire body trembling.“What have I done?”
“You spared me,” Rune whispered, touching her blood-soaked fingers to both of his cheeks, drawing a mark on each one. Gideon was so consumed by grief, he didn’t notice. “You spared all of us.”
Cressida needed Rune’s life to resurrect their sisters, and Gideon had stolen it from her.
The cold started in her fingers and toes, the chill spreading inward slowly, to her core, until Rune knew she’d never be warm again.
She closed her eyes, saying a silent goodbye to him and tothe life they might have had together. Saying goodbye to those three joyful children she’d never get to meet.
In mere steps, Cressida would be upon them. Rune smiled, remembering the last symbol she’d drawn on the floor of Larkmont, after the whipping, as she collapsed in a pool of her own blood.
I didn’t just break your curse,she wanted to tell him.I reversed it. Forever. Cressida can’t touch you.
But she was fading too quickly, and the words wouldn’t come.
Sensing Cressida’s proximity, Gideon’s arms tightened on Rune. His tears splashed onto her face.
“I love you,” he whispered into her hair. “I should have told you so much sooner.I love you, Rune Winters.”
