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“Forty seconds.”
The vampire sniffled. “Ah, that’s one way to look at it. No doubt you are right, the afterlife will certainly be ours to have.” Octavius kissed him on the forehead.
Turney’s gaze drifted to the dead Knight. He frowned. “Octavius…is that…glitter?”
The vampire let out a pained laugh. “My plan to surprise Godric ended up being just what I needed to turn the tables on Dayan… We were sadly evenly matched.”
A chuckle slipped free, despite the dire situation. “You are by far the most ridiculous, yet also the most amazing man I have ever met. I’m sorry I didn’t let you buy all the glitter you wanted.” He pulled Octavius closer.
“Thirty seconds.”
Octavius laughed. “It’s pretty useful in a fight.”
“Apparently… Well, this is a shitty way to end things. But…ward or no ward, we wouldn’t have been able to leave anyway. Not without the others,” Turney said with a soft sigh. “We could never leave them behind. Not while we know they are alive. And I can hear them, even now. Their heartbeats…though some are weaker than others.”
The laugh Octavius let out this time was half a sob. “Our strong crew survived… I knew they would. I wish…” The vampire swallowed hard, tears spilling over. “If I had only vetted the letter more…the case. I jumped in without planning…I…”
“Twenty seconds.”
Turney cupped Octavius’ face, and stared into his water-stained ocean blue eyes. “Shh, none of that.” He kissed away each tear. “This is not your fault. You hear me. None of this is your fault. You trusted the words of a friend. You had no reason to think anything was wrong.”
The fact that none of the people who knew Godric noticed anything off in the video, made Turney think that perhaps the case had been real at one point, but Dayan had gotten here first.
Octavius’ bottom lip trembled but he nodded, even as his tears continued to fall. “I want you to know that I was…happy. You made me so happy, Turney. Each day, I woke up happy to be undead. Happy that there would be a tomorrow. For the first time, in waking up as a vampire, I was happy that I was able to live as long as I had, because it meant I got to meet you. So…” Octavius’ voice broke. “So, while we…may not have forever, what we had meant the world to me. You were worth waiting thousands of years for.”
Turney smiled, even as his heart was shattering to pieces. “Not going to lie, it’s been a crazy ride. But dammit, it was worth it, Octavius. It was worth living for. Worth coming back for. Even if it was short.”
“I love you, with all my heart. In this life, and in the next.”
“I love you too, in this life and in every one after.”
“Turney!” Octavius sobbed, clinging hard to him.
He held him tight, his eyes closing.
“Ten.”
* * *
“Nine.”
Min-ji stared at her coworkers and her lover, her mind going completely blank. Henry sat in the corner holding onto an injured Theo and Cormac. Theo was still awake but drained. Scarlett was slashing at one of the metal doors in vain. She left claw marks behind… but also blood. Not that it mattered.
The doors wouldn’t open once closed. They were bespelled in some way. And even if they managed to break one of the doors down, the ward beyond them would be in the way. There was no time to break through.
“Eight.”
She shook her head. No…this…there had to be something she could do. She grasped the sides of her head, hands digging into her hair.Think,she desperately screamed inside.THINK!
“Seven.”
But…she was tapped out…nothing left. Min-ji wasn’t even sure how she was still standing. However, it couldn’t end like this! It couldn’t! This wasn’t how it was meant to be.
“Six.”
She let out a barely audible laugh as the solution came to her, hands falling to her side.
“Five.”
