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I would. But I wouldn’t choose to lose him. But I can’t say that.What can I say?
He doesn’t give me the chance to figure it out. “Tell Ann I love her,” his mouth says. Before I can stop him, he yanks out the shard, blood spurting from his chest as he does so.
His eyes widen. His express goes blank, and he looks at the massive shard in his hand for a second before it tumbles from his hand and he collapses. Eyes blank, body dead. Soul gone.
My lips move. Maybe I’m screaming. I don’t know. But my sword slips from my fingers, and I stare and stare. Phantom. Rayne. The king.
Dead. They’re dead.
Everything… has changed.
Is this over? This fight? Is there any chance Rayne is still alive?The horror on Dusk’s face says no.
I don’t know what to do. I’m lost. Drowning. Surrounded by dead people I love. I need… I don’t know what, but I’m about to completely lose all control.
Dusk’s head snaps to look in one direction. I do too, although I’m not sure what I’m looking for. In this dark world, I thought nothing good was left. Nothing of love and light. But I was wrong. Ann rides up on a skeleton horse with–I can’t believe what I’m seeing, what I’m saying–with Shenra.
Ann pulls up to us so quickly that the horse nearly slams into us, but she yanks back on the lead and the horse rears. We spring back. The horse settles back onto all fours, and Ann slides off of the horse, rushes toward us, and freezes. Her gaze snaps from the Shadow King to Phantom.
I don’t need to hear her scream to know that’s what she’s doing, and I wish like hell that I could have saved her mates. Saved the men I cared for. Protected her from this.
But as tears flow down her cheeks, I know I failed. Maybe we won the war, but nothing about this feels like winning.
SIXTEEN
Ann
I rush around the dead Shadow King and collapse beside Phantom. My hand goes to his chest and I hold my breath, waiting to feel his heartbeat… and feel nothing.
“I’m sorry, Ann,” Dusk whispers behind me. “We were too late.”
Ignoring him, I call for my powers. I beg them to save this man who I love so much. Instantly, my hand begins to glow, and then my golden light spreads over Phantom, lighting him almost from the inside out. I watch him with bated breath, pouring more and more of my magic into him.
But nothing happens.
I keep going, pushing myself as hard as I can. Crying. Begging for my magic to save him.
But his heart remains silent.
“Ann.” I hear my name coming from Dusk’s lips, and I try to block him out, but can’t. “Rayne was inside the Shadow King when he died. He pulled the shard out of his heart. He saved us all, but…”
My hand shifts off of Phantom, and I feel blinded by pain and loss. I crawl to the Shadow King’s body, and I place my hand over his chest, even though I belatedly realize it’s covered in Phantom’s blood.
“Don’t!” I hear Shenra shout. “You’ll save the king too.”
She tries to pull me away, but Dusk grabs her and pulls her away. I turn away from them as she continues to fight him, and focus my golden light on the man in front of me. Knowing that the second Rayne is free, I’ll kill him myself.
But nothing happens.
My light doesn’t bring him back. Doesn’t heal him.
“Maybe your magic doesn’t work that way,” Dusk says gently behind me, his voice filled with heartbreak. “Maybe once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
I pull my hand away and scream and scream. “What the fuck is this?” I shout to the dark world. “You said I was prophesied to save the world! How can I save anything if I can’t save them?” But I’m not done, I keep screaming into the silence. Demanding answers, even though it feels pointless.
And then that voice, the one I feel weaved with my magic says, “Use the shards. The shards are power.” It’s a soft whisper in my mind, like the wind. It makes no sense, and yet, I have nothing else. No other options.
Dusk brings Phantom, laying him down beside the Shadow King. I think he intends to make it easier to mourn, but instead, I focus on the two bloody shards on the ground, broken into pieces. I lift my hand and call my magic to me, and to my shock, the shards fly from the ground, then stop just inches from my hand.
