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“It doesn’t matter what you see and what you think. Once this is all over, there won’t be anything left of you, and your Good Samaritan run will be over.”
Power collected all around me. The magic thickened, and Cyrene prepared to strike Hazel down.
As my magic grew, Hazel summoned her own power. Her skin started to glow, her eyes changed, like a whole galaxy lived in them.
The light that poured out of her touched me, and I wanted to bathe in it.
It only angered Cyrene.
“You’re no match for me,” I snarled.
“You think that darkness is all there is, so you don’t know what power the light has. You’ve been absent from the light for so long, you’ve forgotten what power it has. Cyrene,” she addressed the Dark Goddess instead of me, “You’ve had him long enough.”
“We’ll see about that,” Cyrene said, and the power she summoned was so great, it felt like it would come undone at the seams. The darkness became so thick, I couldn’t see much. I was aware of Hazel and where she was, but I couldn’t see her face, her eyes. I couldn’t reach her at all.
This was where we ended, where I lost Hazel, and I wouldn’t even be able to look at her one last time.
My heart cracked, splitting down the middle as I thought about losing her once and for all. Not being with her was one thing, but killing her…
The anguish was too much to bear. I didn’t want to see it.
“You’re going to watch as I kill her,” Cyrene said to me.
A part of me I didn’t know was still there snapped. Instead of giving in, turning my face away, and letting Cyrene take over as I had until now, I dug my heels in and forced my own power—even if it was just willpower—to the surface.
No!I cried out.You’re not using me to take her!
Cyrene tried to unleash her magic, but I stopped her. It was hard to hold her, and I wouldn’t be able to do it for long.
Hazel, run!I shouted, but she couldn’t hear me, and despite knowing that I would strike her down, she stayed put. Oh, I’d always loved her stubbornness, her sheer force of will and determination. Now, I hated it. Why wouldn’t she just let me go?
“You won’t stop me!” I screamed, my voice bellowing, bouncing off the stone walls around us and coming back at me.
I sounded harsh and merciless and nothing like the man I’d become. I sounded like the Erol I used to be when I’d done Falx’s bidding—and so, Cyrene’s—without question.
I’m not letting you do this!
“Then I’ll destroy you along with her,” Cyrene sneered at me.
I don’t care!If she killed me, she couldn’t use me to do evil anymore. I didn’t want to die, but if it meant Hazel could live, I would give it all up in a heartbeat. I would rather be dead than have a future without her in it.
The power built inside me as Cyrene struggled against me, and I fought it. I threw everything I had into it. I screamed in my head, the magic started to pull me apart. My body ached, my flesh tore, and the power took over. I wouldn’t last very long. I could already feel my energy running out as if I was a vase that had cracked. As long as my power didn’t seep out and Cyrene regained control, I didn’t care.
I looked at Hazel, who stared at me with eyes filled with horror and pain.
She could see what it was doing to me.
I wished she wouldn’t.
I love you, I told her, although she couldn’t hear me.You were my hope, you were my future.
I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come.
31
HAZEL
Iwatched Erol as he talked to himself. It was as if he’d gone crazy, his attention turning away from me and inward toward something I couldn’t see.
