Page 3 of Fated for Dawn

“I don’t care if I stay in the afterlife,” he declared. “As long as it means you get to live.”

“I care! What will I do without you?” I asked, my voice shaking as tears threatened to spill. I placed my hand on my chest, noticing that the sword was still embedded in my body.

“I love you, little Phoenix. Always.”

The finality of the word ‘always’ shattered me.

Pain rippled through me.Always. It echoed in the silence, heavy with the weight of goodbye.

This can’t be happening.

We’d fought so hard and come so far. It was supposed to be over. We were supposed to have won.

Goddess Hecate’s hand rested on my shoulder. “You must not fail, Evelyn. Eris must be stopped. The blessing began with your ancestors; as you are the last of your line, only you can end it.” Her voice softened, but her words cut no less deeply. “I’ve delayed her as long as I could. With you gone, the balance has crumbled, and magic has become unstable.”

“I’m not sure I understand. Are the others okay?” I questioned, my worries spilling out all at once.

“By keeping you in the Shadow Realm, I disrupted the flow of magic just enough to stall her plans. But Eris’s chaos mustbe contained, or it will consume everything. The weight of this burden falls to you alone,” she stated.

Frustration flared in me. “Why not get involved yourself? This is your fault!”

Her expression hardened, the flicker of softness gone. “It was decided that the gods would not intervene.”

“Intervene?” I said loudly, the sound tearing from my throat. “A goddess took over Morgana’s body! I call that intervening!”

Before I could argue further, Goddess Hecate’s hand moved to the sword’s hilt. “And that’s the reason you will be revived.”

“No,” I begged, my voice breaking. “Please, don’t. Alister—”

“I’ll be okay, little Phoenix. You have to finish this. You’re the only one who can.”

Goddess Hecate hesitated, her hand resting on the hilt of my sword. Her gaze locked onto mine, steady and unyielding. “Unless you stop Eris, his sacrifice—and the lives of all those you love—will mean nothing.”

Her words struck, their weight crushing my chest. The people I cared about, my chosen family—Chad, Rafe, Ryker, and my friends, Lucien, Adrien, and the others—were all in danger. But what about Alister?

“I can’t leave you,” I said, my voice trembling. “I can’t do this without you.”

“You can,” Alister said softly, his voice steady in a way that shattered me. “And you must. This is the only way.”

Hot tears slipped down my cheeks. “I’m the one who failed. I should be the one to stay.”

“My love, you need to live. To fight. To win. This is the only way to make sure everyone has a future. Thatyouhave a future.”

Goddess Hecate’s voice cut through the thick fog of emotion, sharp and commanding. “Without Eris’s defeat, chaos will reign, and the world will be destroyed.” Her tone softened, but the urgency in her words did not waver. “Remember, child, thebalance must be restored. What was split in two must become whole again.”

In one swift motion, she pulled the sword from my chest. As the sword came out, another painful wave washed over me. Blood flowed from my injury; I gasped, struggling as the Shadow Realm released its hold.

Once again, gravity pushed me down, and darkness covered my vision like a veil until I hit the ground hard, the impact so jarring that the landing knocked the wind out of me.

Stunned, I lay there momentarily until I took a steadying breath. No longer choking on blood, no longer in pain, I pushed myself to a sitting position, looking down at my wound. It was completely healed, and my sword rested beside me.

I was alive and back on the field where Alister and I had disappeared.

It was desolate.

Empty.

I was alone.

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