Page 105 of Blood and Reign

I hear Luka once more, but he sounds further away. I try to turn to him, but I can no longer move, my body consumed with its task to give back what it took.

Black dots appear across my vision as the room tilts and sways. I blink, forcing myself to stay awake long enough to fix this.

Suddenly, the destruction in the room slows down to a stop as everything freezes. I glance at the core and watch as it slowly starts to mend itself, my power closing the large cracks until they’re nothing but small fractures.

I start to relax, thinking it’s working when the pull turns to a sharp yank and it grows, pulling everything from me.

No…

I try to pull back, to cut the connection, but it grips on tighter, clawing at every nerve and pulling every ounce of energy from me as if it’s been starved.

“Kiarra… No! Kiarra, stop!” Luka’s voice drifts around me as the core continues to replace what was taken.

WhatIhad taken from it.

It pulls more and more power from me until I start to feel weightless. Until the room spins and starts to grow dark.

Too much. It’s too much… I need to pull back.

“Stop Kiarra. Stop, baby.Please.” Familiar voices float around me as more and more of my powers are drained from me. More dark spots enter my vision as I realize my body is crossing a line it won’t be able to return from.

I try again to break away from the core, but it’s like pulling against a steel tonne. I try again and again, but instead of stopping it, it speeds up, pulling more and more from me until my body turns numb. Until it slowly starts to shut down.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop it.

Familiar voices shout around me, begging me to stop as I continue to grow weaker.

But Ican’tstop…

Tears flow freely down my cheeks as the realization of what’s about to happen fully hits me.

I drop to the ground, not feeling my body hit it as everything turns cold and numb. The only thing I can feel is my heart as it cracks and rips open.

This isn’t what I wanted…

My mates’ faces float in and out of my vision as the world around me slows down, turning silent. That’s when I realize… that this is it. This is the end for us.

After everything we’ve been through…thisis our end together.

I try to open my mouth, but my lips no longer work, my energy too depleted as the world around me slowly fades into a black haze.

I’m sorry.I try telling them with my eyes, but it doesn’t feel like it’s enough.

And it never will be.

I drift away into the darkness, my last thoughts of the five men who own my heart, and how cruel our ending turned out to be.

After all,death is no more an escape than it is a curse…

CHAPTER 23

But love…love is endless. Becoming an infinite place where hope is born, and life begins once more…

* * *

A luminescent lightwraps around me, encasing me in its warmth. It fills me up making me feel safe. Whole. Loved.

I drift off for a second, or what feels like it. When I wake, the light above glows bright, so bright it glares down on me, taking me a minute to fully open my eyes.

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