Page 110 of Shadow & Stars
Rather than argue with him, I asked a question. “Where is Butterfly?”
He grinned, his teeth stained with black blood. “Oh, Xavier.”
“Well?”
He slowly got to his feet, holding another piece of rock in his bleeding hand, his broken arm dangled uselessly at his other side. “I will have this world. I will rule…” He trailed off, the blue flames around the parade dissipating. “What… What did you do?”
I sunk into a sea of relief and anxiety. The loss of icy fire meant Andri was incapacitated. Or dead. But what about Roman? Was he free and alive, or dead under the fallen sky?
My stomach roiled, my love for him rejecting any notions of loss.
“Andri…” Ismael said. “He has only just begun transforming this world.”
“It’s over,” I returned. “Tell me where Butterfly is.”
He spat more blood, his scowl hot and furious. “So you can live happily ever after while I sleep in the lake?” His nostrils flared, his grip visibly tightening on that rock. “Never. I would rather the world end than allow you happiness!”
Ismael launched himself at me, swinging the rock. I was finally done with him, his madness stopping me from getting to Roman,thatpart of himself died again. I stopped his swing, the impact inches away from cracking my jaw.
He might be fast, but I was stronger.
I snapped his wrist. He howled, the rock falling free. He spat in my face, kicking my shins.
“You—”
I snapped his neck.
Time slowed, everything falling under a heavy silence for me to observe my action. My necessary action.
Ismael’s body went limp in my arms. I held him, his head drooping to the side. His dead eyes stared up at me, so vacant and cold.
My own eyes filled with tears, my hearts tightening with a sorrow I could never deny.
“I did love you,” I whispered. “But you… You can’t be here. You can’t be awake anymore.”
The first of my tears broke free, splashing his cheek like ink dripping from the tip of a leaky pen.
“When time is fixed, you can sleep again,” I told him, lowering his body to the ground. “Be at peace.” I kissed my fingers, holding them out to him, meaning every word.
“Xavier!”
I blinked at the corpse of my lost love. “Did you?—”
“Xavier!” Roman yelled again.
My feet burst into action.
37
ROMAN
If things weren’t crazy enough, a bubble of golden lights shielded me from the dust cloud. It buzzed like an electric fence, the glitter popping like fireworks.
Is this you?I asked my minions.
Yes,they answered together in their final act.
Is this really final?
