Page 1 of Called By Fate

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THE NIGHT OF THE CHALLENGE

No matter how hard I try to stop it, the blood won’t stop flowing. There’s so much of it covering the ground, my hands, staining the rug in the foyer. It’s an endless flow. My mouth is moving but I’m not sure I’m even aware of what exactly I’m saying.

Vinson’s heart starts beating erratically, then slows. Time is running out and I can’t seem to do anything but watch. His beautiful features go slack, no longer pinched in agony before his heart stops completely. Just ceases to beat and doesn’t restart no matter how much I plead for it to. No matter how much I plead for Kaos’ magic to work. Nothing happens.

The room around me is completely silent, or hell, all hell might be breaking loose around me. I’m not sure if the Elders followed us from the garden or if I would hear anything over the roar of my own heart pounding in my ears.

My still beating heart.

I’m not sure how I know, maybe I’m borrowing one of Elian’s seemingly endless abilities, but Vin’s once bright—now completely dull—soul rises from his body and starts to fade into the ether.

Looking back down at him, I try to do something—anythingto stop him from leaving me when something black catches my eye. Anguish rips through me all over again as I stare at the black blade protruding from his chest, my black shadestone blade Reginald plunged into his chest.

My shifter.

My Vin.

Dead.

How do you come back from death? How do you come back from something so final? Something so finite that, until recently, I thought was absolutely inevitable. Weavers and shifters alike can live almost infinitely and yet, Vin’s life was torn from him way too soon.

Because of me.

Tears drip from my cheeks as I lean over him, brushing one of his brown locks out of his face. His skin is already starting to cool. Which is insane considering how hot shifters normally run.

A strong pair of arms wrap around my middle and for the first time, I realize I’m screaming. They try to pull me from my shifter, but I throw an elbow into their stomach so they’ll go away. Some distant part of my brain recognizes I’m in shock, but everything is so dull, so muted. Everything except for Vin. He can’t really be gone if I don’t let go of him, right?

The arms try to move me again and my first reaction is to elbow them again. When they don’t let up, I turn around and snarl. The anguished look on Reed’s face is enough to snap me out of it though as the sounds around me start rushing in, going from dull as if underwater, to clear as if I break the surface.

“I’m so sorry, Love, but I couldn’t bear the pain in your screams any longer,” he says, and guilt floods me alongside everything else.

“I’m sorry, Red.” My response is automatic, robotic even. It’s as if my brain is going through the motions without bearing in mind the agony that I’m in.

This time when Reed reaches for me, I allow him to pull me away, but not too far. I can’t leave Vin. Reed gets the message and sits on the ground, pulling me into his lap. He cradles my head to his shoulder and slowly rocks back and forth, trying to soothe the turmoil inside of me.

Through my tears, I find Elian still passed out, but not dead. Thank the Goddess. He may be a brooding asshole, but he’s still someone I’m also developing feelings for, despite his nature.

Gods, I can’t even imagine the power it must’ve taken to pull us through the shadows to safety, considering he said he couldn’t transport us when we were getting attacked in the car. That feels like a lifetime ago, even though it hasn’t been. Either way, I’m grateful for him getting us out of there, even if we left Ash behind. I can’t think about that now though. My mind can’t handle the betrayal.

Kaos is bent over my prickly mate, a black glow emanating from his hands while Dante assists, lending Kaos some of his strength. Now that I think about it, I can feel Elian subconsciously draining the others through their Circle bond and, in turn, me through them.

Reed kisses my temple and smooths my tangled, and probably bloody hair out of my face, distracting me. Until recently, I had no idea I felt so strongly for the sweet shifter, but something changed the night he carried me home from the party. Or maybe it was one of the times in the kitchen, his flirty smile at dinnertime, or when he didn’t leave me behind when the Elite attacked after our shopping trip. It doesn’t matter because the truth is, I do care for him. And this… well, it’s breaking something vital inside of me.

A broken whisper falls from my lips. “Please, Goddess, don’t take him from me.” My throat is raw from screaming.

I once said that some people in this world are important, you don’t always know how or why. Vin is important. He’s damned important to me and my future. I won’t accept the finality of his death. I can’t.

Just when I think the Goddess won’t appear, the same bright glow from the meadow blinds me, and she appears, floating over Vin in the middle of the foyer. She is as luminous as ever, beautiful in such an ethereal way there’s no mistaking her as anything other than distinctlyotherworldly. She looks upon the scene with sorrow etched across her delicate features.

The Goddess stares at Vin for a long time, so long it feels like an eternity before she turns those ancient eyes to me, filled to the brim with sadness. “As much as I’d like to assist you, my dear, I’m afraid I cannot interfere. To do so would break my sacred oath to allow free will.”

I scramble out of Reed’s lap and plant myself on my knees in front of her. “Please, I will do anything,anything,to get him back.”

The Goddess’ long, black hair flows all around her, floating on an unknown breeze, painting a beautiful picture of her. She motions for me to stand. “Rise, Sadie Sinclair. You need not bow before me.”

Reluctantly, I push myself up into a standing position, wiping my bloodstained fingers on my dress that I realize is also soaked in blood, stained red with his life force. My heart aches so fucking much.

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