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Aniccipere charged, their needlelike teeth coated in the flesh and blood from our allies.
Azia’s shriek caught my attention as his magic dwindled from the constant stream of spells. The aniccipere clawing their way toward him. Erianna turned, her body slamming against the ground as the creature dug its nails through her throat. I was supposed to stop this. Destroying the underworld meant killing anything attached to it, the aniccipere included. They were all supposed to die with Salenia, but I failed. She had all the power.
My magic thrummed as I fought through the dejection, shooting a spell in Erianna’s direction, lightning sizzling through the air.
The bolt was about to reach it, to fry the creature alive. Then it fizzled into nothing as one of Salenia’s sorceresses combated it with her own spell. Rain splashed around us, thickening the mud at our feet. Sebastian screamed as one of Salenia slashed through his wing with a dagger, the pain searing through the bond, forcing tears into my eyes. “No!”
Salenia’s laugh followed me as the battle wore on. I dropped to my knees, blood seeping from Sebastian’s wing. An aniccipere pinned him, as Salenia let go, her eyes focused on capturing me.
I was not to be harmed.
Not yet.
Niall charged towards Salenia, rage consuming every flicker of his expression. His muscles bulged as he leaped with the speed of a wild animal, his mouth pulling back to reveal prominent fangs. He collided into her with a deafening crunch, and she cried out in pain as her bones broke beneath his iron grip.
His hands were on her throat, her body against the ground. Then her cries turned to laughs—sickening, long laughs bubbling from her chest. She shoved him off her, and Niall charged forward again. Salenia swept to the side before he could hit her again. She pivoted, coming up behind him, grabbing his neck with one hand and lifted him off the ground with a terrifying strength. His body spun in midair and smashed into the ground, a skull crunching thud as his head hit a stone. “That is the last time you will ever touch me, Vener.”
I looked down, holding Sebastian’s hands as he looked up at me, blood covering his lips from where he’d bitten one of them. The aniccipere’s razor-sharp talons dug deep into the dirt as it pinned Sebastian to the ground.
A surge of heat ran through me as I recited a spell from the book. Flame raced from my hands to the creature and within moments, flames engulfed its gaunt frame. Flames licked the aniccipere’s body, its skin melting from its bones. Tears ran down my cheeks as I struggled to keep my concentration, unable to look away despite the unbearable heat radiating off the beast. Its cries pierced the air, growing louder until all that remained were charred bones and smoldering ash.
My power dissipated with each passing second, sweat dripping from my forehead as the stench of singed hair filled my nostrils. Sebastian’s fingers uncurled against mine as the heat overtook him, the entirety of my body weakened from the spell. “You’ll be okay,” I promised, my heart pounding. I stumbled backwards from the force of a second aniccipere appearing, pushing me away from Sebastian as Salenia commanded. The air whooshed from my lungs as I flew through the air, the aniccipere holding Sebastian down.
Sebastian tried to say something, worry reaching through our bond. He wanted me to run. The crushing pain rooted me to the spot, for a moment, but I fought through it, my legs heavy like lead as I stood. In the distance, I spotted Velda who’d joined the battle, at the end of Elizabeth's blade. Then, looked back at Sebastian and Erianna, seconds from death.
We couldn’t capture Salenia. She was too strong.
A sense of betrayal burned in me as I faced away from my husband and friends. I took a deep breath, an immense weight sliding into my chest as I looked around at the men and women dying in an unbeatable battle, against an indestructible goddess.
Salenia’s wicked smile twisted her face into a cruel mask, white hair slathered against her cheeks and neck. “Now you know how it feels,” she hissed through the darkness as the aniccipere tore into my friends. Erianna fought with all her might to save her own life, though Azia's powers faltered against the creature's wrath.
“There’s no way out of this,” she announced with a wave of her hand. “When this is over, you will never see him again,” she promised, and a steely gaze took over as I glared back at her.
“It seems like you’ve won,” I said, then stepped back.
She peered around me, at Sebastian, his wings pinned to the ground as an aniccipere held him down, his blood pooling into the dirt.
I tilted my head up towards the night sky, a kaleidoscope of stars. Rain droplets splashing against my skin, like a thousand tiny knives, slowly carving away all of my pain and sorrow as I soaked in the moment, knowing there wouldn't be another like it. Sebastian's bellowing plea behind me was drowned out by Salenia's laughing as she watched my surrender. Lowering my barrier, I allowed the walls I'd spent years building to crumble finally around my heart, wanting to feel every moment.
I didn’t say anything when she approached me. With each passing second, memories played out like a movie in my mind.; the smell of hot cocoa held my senses as I recalled all the moments with my mom, before her secret life caught up with us. The warmth of her touch, the sound of her voice, the nights watching films. Then there was Draven, always there, teaching me how to fight, making me laugh until my ribs ached. It was funny, how the grief fell away when I was about to meet their same fates.
My heart ached when the family I met after them played out, Zach and Anna's silly jokes and Zach's sarcasm finally bringing a smirk to my lips. Erianna's sharp tongue and strength I admired so much, how she made me believe I could be the same.
Most of all, I thought about Sebastian. His smell, his touch, his lips on mine and the comfort of our bond as we spent every night holding each other, finally finding a home with him. A wave of regret crashed over me as I turned.
I love you, Sebastian.
I clenched my fist against my chest, feeling the tightness of the muscle under my skin. Bracing myself for the sharp pain, I dug my nails between my breasts, and connected them with bone. A primal shriek erupted from my lips before I could stop it as I dug deeper, shattering my ribs, igniting a dizziness that forced me to my knees. My vision blurred, a numbness tingling over my entire body as if it was trying to protect me from the pain. But love was stronger—I had to protect them.
Sebastian's wails reverberated in my head, bringing with them more agony than the searing pain of ripping apart my chest. My heart thumped in my hand, racing to the touch as if it were begging for mercy.
Salenia's hands landed on my shoulders, trying to stop me. Her eyes blurred, wild with terror at what I was about to do. Our connection sparkled between us as I tugged my heart, my last exhale a terrified gasp as I yanked it from its place in my chest, a gush of warm blood spilling over my lips.
My brain remained active for a few seconds after I died, long enough that I could hear Sebastian crying, Erianna yelling and finally, Salenia as her screams followed me into the deep abyss of darkness.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Sebastian
