With a broken, anguished roar, Theo lunged at Zaheera, his hands slick with Tavrik’s blood and his face streaked with tears.
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
Zaheera’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the skull.Her fingertips dug into his temples, pressing indentations into his skin.
He jerked violently, limbs thrashing, but couldn’t break free.
She was too strong.
His eyes widened in terror as they met mine.His chest heaved, lips trembling.
“Theo!”My voice broke.“Don’t do this!Please!”
I crawled toward them, reaching for him.Brushed my fingertips against his boot, just out of reach.
Zaheera’s grip tightened.The bones in his skull creaked.His body convulsed, a thin stream of blood leaking from his nose.
“Zaheera, please!”I pressed my bloodied palms to my chest.“Don’t hurt him!Take me instead!Take me!”
I lowered myself until my forehead touched the floor.Every shred of pride, every fragment of dignity—gone.I was nothing but desperation and prayer.
Her grin was triumphant as she savoured my destruction.
With a voice that shook to its very core, Theo whispered.
“I love you, Elira.”
“Don’t.”I curled in on myself, tears blurring my vision.“Please.I’ll do anything.Just let him go.”
Zaheera’s eyes lit up with wicked delight.“Too late.”
A burst of searing flames erupted from her hand, devouring him.
Theo’s screams shredded the air.His body seized and contorted, burning alive in her grasp.
“THEO!”I wailed, lunging for him, only to be thrown back by a wall of blistering heat.The smell of burning hair and cooking flesh hit me.
His features melted into something unrecognisable.His eyes… his beautiful eyes bubbled and burst.
“Stop it!”I screamed, over and over.“STOP IT!”
She didn’t stop.Not until his cries became gurgles, then silence.Not until there was nothing left but the horrifying crackle of charred remains—the ashes of the boy who had once been my everything.
I collapsed, clawing through what remained of him, my entire body wracked with soul-crushing agony.
Zaheera knelt beside me, her fiery wrath now smouldering into amusement.
Her breath was hot against my ear.
“Now you know.”
The world shattered.
A force like fire and glass tore through me, shredding me from the inside out.
Everything blurred, twisted, and collapsed in on itself.
With a violent gasp, the forest slammed into focus.
