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Willow crouches across from me while tears stream down her cheeks and sobs rack her body.
Allison is pale and covered in blood. I check for a pulse but can't feel anything. My hand trembles as I lay my palm on her cheek. She can't be dead. We haven't come this far and stopped the alchemy of worlds together for everything to end this way.
Sefton starts laughing.
I turn my head toward him slowly, my fingers curling into my palms while my pulse surges in my ears.
He keeps laughing. He points a quivering finger at Allison. "You lose again."
My focus telescopes down to Sefton alone as a cold rage infiltrates every cell of my body and the certainty of what I must erases everything else. I see only him, hear only his manic laughter. As I rise and walk toward him, he still won't shut up. By the time I reach him, standing inches away, his eyes are watering and his cheeks are red from the strength of his laughter. He's begun to wheeze, but I spare not one millisecond of thought for his condition.
"Shut up," I say, my tone deceptively calm, "or I will silence you permanently."
My brother stops laughing, but he still wears a look of manic glee. "I took the thing you wanted most. I won."
"You murdered Allison."
Laughter splutters out of him. "Of course I did."
I take hold of his arms and lift him off the floor until his face is directly in front of mine. "You murdered her."
"Keep saying that. I love hearing it."
"Why, Sefton? Why did you do any of this? You had a good life, but you threw it away to become a monster. Our parents didn't raise you to be like that."
He huffs. "They only cared about you, the golden boy."
I stare at him while cold certainty solidifies in my gut. "You know I have to kill you now."
"Do it. Prove you are the monster I turned you into."
I shake him hard. "You are the monster, not me."
He sneers and cackles. Then something past my shoulder catches his attention. His eyes widen, and his sneer disintegrates. He struggles to get free of my grip, almost whimpering in his desperation. "No! You can't do that."
I swivel my head and…drop Sefton.
Willow crouches beside Allison with a palm flat on Allison's chest, over her heart, and her other hand inside a box that lies on the floor beside her. Silvery light emanates from Willow's palms and spreads outward to encompass Allison's body.
Sefton and I both stand paralyzed, our gazes locked on whatever the girl is doing. I sense energy crackling through me, drawing from the magics my brother had instilled in me, growing every second until, with a rush that sucks the air out of my lungs, the energy reels back into…Allison. I feel that's what happens.
And I feel it when her heart thuds back to life.
"No!" Sefton wails. "I'm meant to win, not you."
He rushes for the cutlass, but I snare him around the waist and haul him backward into me. Shackled by my arm, he can't escape. I lay a hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry, Sefton, but you cannot be allowed to live."
I yank my hand, snapping his neck.
Allison's chest rises on a deep breath, and Willow grins at her even while tears pour down the girl's cheeks.
I drop my brother's body and kneel beside Allison, cupping her face in one hand. "Wake up, love, we need you. I need you."
Her lids flutter open, and her shimmering eyes focus on me. Her lips curl into a soft, sweet smile. "Can't get rid of me that easily."
"Don't want to be rid of you." I touch my forehead to hers. "I love you, Ally."
"I love you too."
