Page 262 of Volik

“Do something!” someone cries.

“It’s no longer up to me. They are in the hands of the fates now.”

My arms are too heavy.

I let myself fall back against the grass.

I keep Nix with me. Her body aligned with mine.

Chest to chest.

I rest one hand between her shoulder blades. Where her skin is exposed.

I slide the other under the bottom of her shirt, at the base of her spine.

Someone cries.

Our hearts slow, the beats too far apart now.

This is better.

Passing from the world is better like this, together.

My gravito crawls from the corners of my eyes.

Down my cheeks.

Down my neck.

The tendrils of it move over my chest.

And I can feel it. When they move into her.

When the shadowy lines of power crawl off my hands onto her back.

They slither from my chest to hers.

They weave between our ribs.

They hold us close.

My heart prepares for its next beat.

And I⁠—

Chapter 119

~

For the third time, their hearts stop.

The vampire and his mate.

The human that is not human.

The male more powerful than the fates intended.

They lie in silence.