Page 148 of Bite Marks & Broken Hearts

But every heartbeat felt wrong now, too fast, too hard, like my heart might explode from the pressure building inside it. I tried to say Seb’s name, but my throat seized, the word dissolving into a strangled gasp.

Seb’s eyes widened, panic creasing his brow. “Flynn? Flynn, stay with me.” His voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel, fading in and out.

I clutched at his arms, fingernails digging into his sleeves as another wave of agony swept through me. This one felt different—sharper, more insistent. Like the darkness was no longer content to simply leech away at my life, but was instead tearing into me with vicious intent.

“Seb—” I gasped out his name. My heart jackhammered erratically in my chest, each beat slower than the last. “I… I don’t think…”

“No.” The single word was a growl, his arms tightening around me in a grip of iron. “Don’t you dare, Flynn Carter. Don’t you dare leave me.”

I tried to speak again, to tell him how much he meant to me, but a fresh spasm of pain stole my breath. Tears burned my eyes as the darkness closed in, blotting out everything but the sound of my faltering heartbeat.

This was it, then. The end of my story.

An unexpected wave of regret washed over me, quickly followed by anger. It wasn’t fair—not after finally having the courage to escape Braymore. To start living my life. Not after the gift of Seb’s love, brief though it had been. To have it all snatched away like this…

No. I refused to accept it. Digging deep, I pulled together every last scrap of strength and forced my eyes open, twisting my head.

Seb’s face swam into view, his expression a mask of anguish. Those fathomless dark eyes I loved so much were awash with unshed tears, his lips pressed into a tight line as if bracing himself.

For what? My death?

The thought ignited a spark of defiance deep within me. With trembling fingers, I reached up and traced the sharp line of his jaw, drawing his gaze to mine. At the look of raw desolation in Seb’s eyes, I finally understood the depth of his suffering, the centuries of loneliness and self-denial that had brought him to this point.

“Promise me…” Each word felt like shards of glass in my throat, but I persisted. “Promise you won’t go back to how you were before. Alone. Refusing to let anyone in.”

“Flynn, I—”

“Promise me,” I rasped again, fighting against the rising tide of darkness. “You’ve suffered enough, Seb. Let yourself find happiness, whatever that means for you. Don’t… Don’t shut yourself away again. Do it for me.”

Bending down, he pressed his forehead to mine, his arms flexing around me in an embrace so tight it drove the breath from my weakened lungs.

“I promise,” he whispered, the words containing a torrent of anguish. “Whatever you need of me, I swear it. But stay with me, Flynn. Don’t leave me. I… Flynn, I love you. I’ve existed through five hundred years of darkness, convinced that love was a luxury I didn’t deserve. But you… You’ve brought light into every shadow. I love you with a ferocity that terrifies me, Flynn, and I cannot—will not—imagine continuing this endless existence without you in it.”

But even as the words left his lips, I could feel myself slipping away. The pain was fading, the darkness no longer something to fight against, but a soft embrace drawing me down into blessed oblivion.

I let my eyes drift shut, savoring the feel of Seb surrounding me. With the last of my strength, I brushed away the tear that lingered on his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, the words little more than a whisper on the night breeze. “I’ll find you again some day, Sebastián.”

The darkness claimed me, sweeping me away into its endless void.

32

El Perdón de la Hereje

He was dead.

The sight of my brother, crumpled over the lifeless form of the boy, stirred something deep within my ancient, weary bones. Over five hundred years had passed since I’d seen Sebastián weep—truly weep—as he did now. His shoulders shook with the force of his grief as he clutched his lover to his chest.

A wolf’s mournful howl pierced the night air, a chorus of anguish that matched my brother’s pain. How fascinating, that these creatures showed such loyalty to him. Beyond our circle of power, the sounds of battle still raged—snarls and screams as vampire and wolf tore at each other in the darkness.

Flynn Carter lay limp in his arms, pale as marble, those blue eyes that had blazed with such defiance now glazed and empty. What a waste of potential. His power had been extraordinary, the way he’d commanded the water, pure and untainted.

“Hermano mío,” I whispered. “Still so weak for love.”

Sebastián didn’t look up, his fingers threading through Flynn’s matted blond hair. After he’d condemned me to burn on the pyre, my darling brother hadn’t come to watch. I’d suffered alone. Simply me, and the crucifix.

I clutched the crucifix tighter, feeling its corrupted power pulse through my veins. The sacrifice was almost complete. My thirteenth soul, claimed by Lilith’s darkness. Soon, I would be free of her chains.

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