His landing shook the ground, but I was up and running before he had settled. The echo of Jace calling my name from our mount carried to me on the breeze, but all I could focus on was finding my aide.
“Veli!” I called, but my voice only echoed through the floral tunnels.
I raced to the garden’s center, hoping to climb its fountain and get a better look over the area, but my steps faltered the moment the stone structure came into view.
“Oh no,” I whispered, my fingertips flying to cover my lips.
“Jace, over here!” I frantically screamed as I ran toward the sorceress.
Once I reached her, I fell to my knees beside her lifeless body. My gaze shot to the sky, then whipped in every direction of the garden, searching for any sign of Azenna.
Jace caught up to me then as the sound of the others’ racing footsteps funneled into the garden. He called to them as I gently placed my hands on either side of her shoulders.
Her body was broken, as if it had been shattered as it collided with the garden’s floor. Veli’s chest didn’t move with steady breaths, and her skin was white as porcelain, icy to the touch.
My stare met Jace’s, and all I saw in his eyes was sorrow.
“She’snotdead,” I said, voice cracking.
“Lia…”
“NO!” I roared. “I didn’t accept it with you, and I will not accept it with her either.”
“Lia…she isn’t breathing.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and I shot him a look as silver lined my vision.
The others finally reached us, and Finnian rushed over, dropping to the ground. Checking Veli’s pulse, he shook his head as he sniffled and slowly stood back up, confirming the unthinkable. Avery’s hands flew to cover her mouth as tears welled in her eyes. Zaela looked…devastated. There was no other word.
I wouldn’t accept this—I refused.
“Veli. Your stupid, reckless,foolishgirl is here demanding that you come back to us. You saved us. Don’t youdarefucking die on us!” My voice rose with each word.
My jaw locked, veins bulging from my neck in anger. It wasn’t fair—nothing about this was.
Zaela fell to her knees beside me, and I lifted my stare to hers. Something rarely seen lay in her eyes—tears.
“She’s truly gone,” she whispered.
A sniffle left me, and I looked up to the sky that was falling into twilight. “You said there was an eruption?”
“Yes, but it could have been anything,” Jace answered softly.
My eyes drifted around once more and then back down to Veli’s body, halting on her hand. Gaze narrowing in on her taloned fingers, I noticed she clutched something between them—and then the sound of it carried to my ears.
“It could have been anything,” I mimicked him. “Even a witch.”
“What?” Zaela gasped, her stare boring into the side of my face as I stared down at Veli’s broken body.
I took hold of Veli’s wrist and placed her fist in my lap. Swallowing thickly, I carefully unraveled her fingers from what was held between them, and my eyes flared when they were met with a black, beating heart.
“Holy gods,” Zaela breathed. “Is that…?”
“I believe so,” I answered softly, sitting in just as much disbelief.
“Witches are immortal,” Avery whispered from behind us, forcing us all to turn.
“Well, apparently not, Avery,” Zaela snapped.
“They are,” she shot back, just as viciously. “Aside from their hearts. They can’t live without the essence of a beating heart.”
