Page 96 of The Magic of Betrayal
"She healed me in a way I didn't think was possible, or that I deserved. Not after what I've done. The blood, the screams... the fucking pain."
"Look at me, Fischer."
I can't.
"You three will fix this, okay? It will be okay. The stars will shine down and fate will guide you, but you have to be alive to do it." My heart was pounding in my chest, my throat was so tight it was hard to breathe.
"Brother," Kai whispered, tears on his cheeks, "don't."
"I think we both know that I have to, brother."
"Fischer, gods damn you. Fucking look at me!" Sloane yelled, and my heart cracked when my resolve broke and he caught me in his gaze. We just stared at each other for a beat before I smiled softly.
"I love you, Sloane," I murmured, needing him to hear the words, needing him to understand.
"Don't say goodbye to me, Fischer, I need you. I've always needed you. I barely survived the past three days, I won't survive a lifetime. Do you hear me? If you die, I'm going to chase you into the afterlife.Do you hear me?" He was desperate. Wildly so. It was devastating.
Sloane was straining to get free from his binds. The cords in his neck on full display in his fight against his restraints. Tears trekked down my cheeks as I studied him. He was so beautiful. He’d always thought he was the dark one of the two of us, but he was my light. My savior. All I’d ever hoped for him was that he would one day allow himself to feel. He screamed in frustration before stilling, his chest heaving. Those icy blues slammed into my honey oaks and the emotional exchange that happened between us in those seconds was more than we’d ever had. It was brutal honesty. Sloane accepted that he was not only capable of love, but that he was deserving of it.Gods, I am going to miss him so much.
"You saved me, Sloane. I never would've made it past twenty if I hadn't had you. And now, I'm going to save you." I looked away, trying to block out the screaming, the pleading, the begging.
"I love you, Fischer. I fucking love you, don't leave me. Fuck! FUCK!"
He loves me.
Laurie stepped back into the center of the pentagram. "You have one minute, Fischer."
Bryce lifted his hands and the yells and screams from my brothers were replaced with gasps and gurgles. They should be able to hold their breath for a minute, but just in case, I didn't hesitate.
"I love you guys. Forgive me," I begged, closing my eyes and letting my power manifest, letting it slink from my body toward the three men I loved like family. I would do this for them. I'd always known I wouldn't live a long life, not in this line of work, and not with my demons.
‘Fucking melt her brain!’Faris screamed.
‘I'm too weak to penetrate her shields,’I sighed.
The fear of drowning had lowered theirs, though. My essence slipped right into their psyches with zero resistance.
The meeting with Larson. Driving to Emerald Lakes. Meeting Saige for the first time. Her beautiful face and wild green eyes. The barbeque at the park. My magic flipped through all of those memories at a rapid pace, I didn't want to risk taking too long. When I reached this moment, I let them believe we were all doing a spell together. One that had gone wrong, very wrong. A spell that killed me.
Did it make me a coward that I didn't want them to hate me when I was gone?
You work for Montague Industries. You're going to stand up and leave with her and Bryce when she says.Those words burst from my head and slipped right into their brains, they wouldn't even be able to fight it. My shoulders slumped forward, my power was absolutely gone now. My heart already felt slower, exhausted. My eyes fluttered shut and my head bobbed.
Sharp intakes of breath and coughing rang out around me and I grinned, happy that they'd be okay.
"Let's go," Laurie commanded, her vines falling away from their bodies instantly and the three of them stood, like puppets. My heart ached, but one way or another, this would work out. Saige was safe with Bram, I don't know how I knew that, I just did.
"Goodbye, Fischer," Laurie whispered in my ear as the rest of them moved behind me through the woods and tears fell down my face. A small gust of wind brushed against my skin as she moved away from me and I stared up at the stars, wondering if it was going to hurt, but even if it did...it's fucking worth it.
Their footsteps faded to the point that I had to strain to hear them, the vines surrounding me were still holding me tight to the chair, until they weren't. Confused, I watched as they fell away and I stood quickly, looking around. Nobody was there, and I heard nothing in the forest.
I took a step outside of the pentagram and that's when it happened.
A vine snaked up my leg so fast I didn't have time to react before I was flipped in the air and slammed down onto my back, other vines converging on my body, wrapping, twisting, tighter and tighter. My pulse hammered when I felt them wrap around my neck, and my eyes watered when I was no longer able to take a breath. I would've clawed at my throat, but my hands were bound.
I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I wish we'd had more time. I wish I'd told you how much you brightened my life and that you made me feel worthy of being loved. I was drowning when we met and you grabbed me by the hair and held my face above the water. Being good was never in the cards for me, but you made me great.
Black dots exploded in my field of vision and it was getting harder and harder to cling to consciousness, but I just kept thinking of her big green eyes, and I didn't stop thinking it until oblivion claimed me.
