Page 292 of When Sisters Collide
He obeyed, but barely. His breaths came shallow, uneven. His focus wavered, drifting past her.
“Stay with me.” Her breath hitched on every ragged inhale. “Just hold on.Please.”
He managed a faint, broken smile. “I’m sorry, love… I couldn’t keep our promise.”
We live to fight another day.
“You’re not breaking it.” She shook her head, knotting the makeshift bandage tighter.
But the linen was already darkening, blood pulsing through her hands. Panic shot through her, wild and sharp. Her gaze darted to the circle’s edge—should she run? Call for help?
But if she left… if she came back to only his body?—
No. No, he was still breathing. If the knife had struck a vital organ, he’d already be gone. Wouldn’t he?
The agony of indecision tore at her. Stay. Go. Stay?—
Cool fingertips brushed her cheek, stilling her. She turned.
Leukos was watching her, his features carved from shadow and moonlight: high cheekbones, sharp jawline, dark hair plastered to his brow by rain and sweat. Despite the pain, his eyes held hers, steady.
As if memorising her.
Alena couldn’t look away. Even broken and bleeding, he was still beautiful.
“After you left, I was always thinking of you,” he breathed. “Morning… day… night. I wished for Nik’s Gift—just once—so I could find you… I would’ve made a pact with Laran himself… if it meant reaching you.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving warm trails over her cold skin.
This wasn’t happening.
She was the Omega, chosen by the gods. What was the point of having all these Gifts if she couldn’t save her soulmate?
Why hadn’t she been selfish for once and taken a healer’s Gift?
She leaned in, resting her forehead against his, words breaking apart. “You said you’d fight for me until the end… This isn’t the end. Do you hear me? I’m going to get help. I’ll find a healer. You just… you just have to hold on.”
“No…” The sound barely stirred from his lips. “You need to hide…”
“I don’t care about hiding,” she choked out. “Not if it means losing you. I can’t do this alone. Please don’t ask me to.” She kissed him—soft, desperate—like she could breathe strength back into his broken body. “I love you,” she whispered. “Always.”
For a heartbeat, she clung to him—hand cradling his cheek, their faces pressed together.
Then, with a strangled sob, she pulled away and forced herself upright. The world lurched; black spots swam at the edges of her vision. Pain flared where her wounds pulled, but she drove herself forward, refusing to yield.
She ran. Staggered a few steps when movement flickered at the edge of her vision. Instinct stopped her cold.
“Well, isn’t this quite the tragedy?”
A figure emerged from between the standing stones. The Rasennan officer’s leather cuirass hugged his frame, but the cloak billowing behind him wasn’t red—it was imperial purple.His stare pinned her in place. For a disorienting heartbeat, her breath caught.
The resemblance was unmistakable. High cheekbones. The set of his jaw. The shape of his mouth.
He could’ve been Leukos’ reflection.
But it wasn’t him.
It was Galen—Leukos’ brother.
