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I blink again.
My eyes open, and I see Slade unleashing all the power he has, his eyes very literally glowing as that colorful prison gets turned into white hot energy.
Leah’s head tips back as she screams, and I blink, listening to the heartbeats, hearing them evaporating all around me, saving me the trouble of killing those heartbeats myself.
The lighter thuds are theirs. Their hearts don’t beat as hard or as heavy. It helps to have that guiding knowledge.
My vision clears on the next blink, and I see Morgana standing at last. See her throw Gavin away from her as she runs straight toward Leah, feral rage in her eyes just as power flies forth.
But I send my own shot of power behind Slade, guarding his back, as Gavin works on defending Morgana’s, unable to steal her and disappear the way I’m sure the psychotic man would like.
But just as we predicted, that beautiful, lethal, primal instinct works no matter how broken the mind is, because Hannah has spent centuries making Morgana powerful while she used her to grow stronger herself.
Hannah’s ex-vessel hosts more power than all of the others combined as that instinct demands revenge. Demands to kill the one thing that has left it captive. Demands blood on the hands and freedom of the soul.
My vision dims as the blinding light from Leah explodes, and her body limply falls to the ground. She jolts awake when I blink again, resuming the heartbeat listening as my own instinct takes over, and I let it.
I blink again, finding Mom and Dad on either side of me as a monstrous Zee unleashes hell on the world. Barely do I notice Leah being helped to her feet, and my heart beats faster, praying it’s worked, but too scared to look around.
Blinking again, I resume focusing on the heartbeats, hearing one so familiar that I know even the primal being in control of my body is crying right now, and I’m desperate to open my eyes as that heartbeat grows faster.
With every ounce of strength I have, I force myself back into control, and my eyes land on Slade’s briefly just before we’re both flying to the ground. Dirt slings up all around us, and I glance over in time to see Zee has just hit us in the crosshairs, sending my ears ringing.
Slade lifts me, throwing us out of the way of the next blast of power as it cuts through the line of Hannah’s loyal dark users, the last of the ones standing.
My breathing catches as ashes fall all around us, and Leah launches herself at Zee, stopping him from blowing us the rest of the way to hell, before they disappear from sight.
Dragon shadows soar over us, passing by as they leave behind a finished battle.
I blink again, but it’s just a simple blink, as my breaths and my heart slowly calms down. The tears run from my eyes as two arms wrap around my middle, hauling me up Slade’s body.
Because…he’s still alive.
I’m still alive.
We survived.
My eyes lock onto his, and I feel my tears streaking down as I laugh and hiccup out a sob at the same time, but he just looks so…lost. Panic tries to seize me, because of that look.
“It worked. Did it work?” I ask, still not fully in control when I feel myself slipping, and barely managing to force my vision back when it tries to dim.
His hands seem to absently cup my face, his eyes so blank, as if he’s in shock. Suddenly, he’s throwing me to the ground and covering my body as sounds of celebration start in the background. I hear the sound of mindless drones dropping, the demon queen’s influence over her hive now gone.
Short-circuiting minds cause bodies to drop, even as the stragglers get picked off by the fires blazing all around us. I don’t have to see it to know. I can hear all the sounds right now. Not just the heartbeats.
I kiss Slade harder, and he kisses me like there’s going to be a tomorrow. It’s far better than the kiss we had when he was convinced there’d be no tomorrow.
My hands slide into his soft, thick hair, pulling him even closer, even though it’s hard, because I’ve started laughing hysterically.
He breaks the kiss and rolls off me, falling to his back to stare up at the sky. Then he starts laughing just as manically as I am, as though the hysteria is contagious.
Something tickles my neck, and I reach back, even as my body shakes from the uncontrollable laughter as I pluck the flower that’s tickling me.
The Mirenas. It’s a flower the dragonites apparently brought with them, and though it’s not the same as our daisies, it does look a hell of a lot like them.
I glance around, only distracted by how insane Slade looks as he continues to shake with the same laughter I am, and I realize we’re lying on a massive bed of these daisy-like flowers.
I guess we’ve laughed on a bed of daisies after all. Just the details changed.
