“For fucks sake. Of courses it is,” Lennox swore.
“Is there any other way to kill her?” Lennox’s voice was quiet. “Any loophole?”
Hecate shook her head. “I’m afraid not, the only way to sever the spell is if Luka’s heart stops.”
Dread settled low in my stomach. Where did we go from here? We couldn’t kill Keziq—not until I died. Killing Adreona was all a part of the plan, sothat wouldn’t change anything, but to stop Keziq from reversing the spell on vampires—I needed to die.
“So is it even worth it? Going forward with this war if it will all end in death?” Kara’s voice was tentative. “Why continue fighting it we have no way to change the end result.”
“We will not stop fighting on account of my life.”
“Luka—” Lennox finally turned her attention to me.
“No—you’ve put your life on the line countless times, Lennox, it’s my turn. The way I see it, the only way we win is if I die. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
I didn’t want to die—not when I had so much more life to live. So many plans left unseen, but I’d do it if that’s what it took to save the vampire population. To save Lethenia. To win this war…
“I won’t let you do this, Luka. I won’t let you die for this.”
“Why not? It is one life for the lives of countless others.”
“Yes, but that one life is your life.” Her eyes flashed with determination. “And it might as well be my life, I’ve already lost my parents—I don’t think I could survive losing you.”
“But you would. It would be hard, but you’re Lennox Adair, you can survive anything.”
“Losing you might be the one thing I can’t survive.” Her voice cracked and her bottom lip trembled—making me question if I could in fact sacrifice myself and leave her behind?—
“Enough with the dramatics, you two.” Luce’s voice reminded me that we were not alone.
“As nice as that speech was Luka, I have an idea, one that won’t kill you—not permanently at least.”
“What do you mean?”
Luce met Hecate’s red eyed stare. “She said the only way to sever the spell is if Luka’s heartstops—” The left corner of Luce's mouth curved up. “So all we need to do to sever the spell is to temporarily stop Luka’s heart.”
“No. No fucking way are you stopping his heart.” Lennox’s face was set in a firm line. “Absolutely not.”
“Would that work, would that actually work?” Hecate dipped her chin. “Luce, you could do it?”
“I’d have to study the spell—make sure I know how to do it exactly, but yes, I think I should be able to do it.”
“I can help you, it’s a delicate spell, but if done correctly, it should go off without a hitch,” Hecate added.
“No, you’re not doing this. You’re not stopping my mate’s fucking heart,” Lennox all but growled.
“It’s this or I die for real, Sweetheart. You need to pick the lesser of two evils.”
“I’m not picking when the choices are you dying permanently and you dying temporarily!”
“Him dying temporarily is clearly the to-go choice here, L.”
“This is not the time for jokes, Nico!”
Lennox looked around the room, her eyes wild. “All of you are okay with this? You’re all okay with her stopping his heart?”
No one said a thing, the silence was damning enough for Lennox.
“Fine, you guys go ahead. But I want no part in this.”
