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Callum’s face was sincere, but it felt so wrong to leave them. To not say goodbye.
Mentally thanking Callum for not accusing her of already having killed innocents, she nodded.
A hand took her elbow, and she turned to face Jace, who had finally come out of his own stunned state.
“We need to go. I did the best I could for Caden, slowing the bleeding from the loss of his hand, but we can’t wait. If another battle comes, he is not in any state, mentally or physically, to fight.” Jace was hardly standing on his own himself. She wasn’t sure if his holding on to her was for her comfort or just so he didn’t eat dirt.
Bryn nodded but looked back.
“Let me say goodbye and I’ll be right behind you.”
Jace looked to Callum, who tilted his head in acquiescence.
Niamh and Jace walked away, leaving Bryn with Callum as they moved to say goodbye. She knew to make it quick, as Callum was keeping a close eye on the people who were starting to stand up and walk toward her. Not getting close, but they were not moving away in fear anymore either.
Bending, she walked to each friend, closing their eyes and praying, though it was obvious their souls were gone already.
“Bryn.” Callum’s hand landed on her shoulder, and it took everything in her not to shove him off her. “It is not the end. In a few hours—”
His words cut off when she heard a soft whine, and Bryn shot to her feet when she saw a silver wolf on its side, its breathing labored.
Kian.
“Kian...” She teared up as she crawled toward him through the bloody sand.
Her hands hovered over him as she tried to find a place to touch him that didn’t look like it would be painful. There was so much blood and nowhere she could find to embrace him.
The whine that left him broke her heart.
He moved his muzzle deeper into her hand as she cradled his face, and even though the wounds on him there were extensive, she knew he wanted her to comfort him in his final moments.
“Why can’t he speak to me anymore?” she asked Callum, running her fingers through his sticky and matted fur. The silver was now stained with his blood and the black ichor from the demon wraiths.
“The tether that kept him connected to you broke when the two parts of his soul merged. The only thing that kept him here, in this battle with you, was his loyalty.”
Closing her eyes against the onslaught of new tears, she promised herself to find out later why Callum kept this all secret until now. It could have changed her dynamic with Kian.
“I wish I had known who you were before. I...” The words stuck in her throat, but the wolf looked her in the eyes with acceptance.
“Can he change back?” she asked Callum, unable to look away from Kian.
“Not in the state he is in, Bryn. I wish I knew the extent of your magic to know what it did to him... but I do not hold that knowledge. I am sorry.”
“Please don’t die,” she whispered to Kian, choking on her tears. “I need you to stay.”
She laid her other hand on his head, his tongue licking her wrist.
Before she could think better of it, she stuck her face into his neck, her tears running off into his fur. Her fingers continued to move through the fur on his head, his breathing growing more and more labored.
“I will give you time before we leave. Danu could use my assistance since some of the humans are causing a scene.” She heard Callum walking away but kept her face in Kian’s fur.
His breathing was slowing even more, and she held him tighter, crying more when the pressure of her hold no longer made his breath hitch. He could no longer feel the pain. It may have been a blessing for him, but she knew he was leaving her.
Swallowing down her sobs, she held him tighter as his breathing stopped completely, and he went limp in her arms.
“Kian, please come back,” she begged, her voice hoarse. “Don’t leave me.”
“Bryn. . .,” Mallory whispered from behind her. Bryn’s ragged breath stung in the chilled air, but she could not let the monster that was her aunt near Kian. Alive or dead, she would protect him.
