Dillon cursed. Frank pounded against it. And tears froze on my cheeks as I sprinted as fast as I could.
Rationality no longer existed. I didn’t care that Lucien was probably already dead. That I’d left him while he was drifting apart piece by piece.
All I knew—all I cared about—was love.
Love had brought him back before. It could do it again. I’d do whatever it took to give him a chance because...Frank was right.
Wewerekilling each other.
I fed off his energy far more than he did because he willingly sacrificed himself for me.
It wasmewho was draining him too fast.
He was stronger than me.
His fire was connected to life while I already belonged to the dead.
Without me, Lucien would be strong enough to survive.
Long enough for Frank to figure out how to help.
A soft, tragic laugh escaped as tiny flakes rose from my chest. Pretty little snowflakes that killed me. They twinkled as I ran, suspended in the air like glitter.
Soon.
You can have me soon.
But not yet.
The ice seemed to understand and accepted my surrender. It granted me more strength. Strength to get out of the lab. Strength todie without taking anyone else with me.
Minutes.
I had minutes.
Skidding into the elevator, I punched the button for the surface.
I felt power building like a nuclear detonation. Feeding on all the death and bones and history of the world, preparing to make me join them.
My skin flaked faster, leaving a fine silver dust on the floor.
Whisper whimpered as something cracked in my heart, sending me smashing against the wall. He tried to keep me upright; I gave him a weak smile. “Tell...tell Lucien I’m sorry, okay?”
He snarled and headbutted me, almost sending me to the floor. “Tell him I love him—”
The elevator doors slid open and I ran.
Ice erupted from my feet just like it had on the mountain when I’d rushed to Lucien’s side, turning the hut’s floor into an ice rink.
Last time, I’d run toward Lucien.
This time, I ran away from him.
Forever.
Apocalyptic-level power throbbed and pulsed.
With a tear and a rip, time broke again, sending me skidding from the hut and onto the ice fields. Looking toward the dark sky, I drowned in starlight and the glistening Milky Way.
