Page 457 of Bitten By the Fae
They all pulsed back to life, their voices clearing more in my head.
Aflora,Zakkai warned.
I ignored him, shoving more vitality and power into their cords as the darkness around me began to shiver and retreat.
When I stopped, it crept forward again, yanking on my mates and weakening their bonds.
But when I pulsed outward once more… it stilled.
Constantine’s presence seemed to pause around me, his confusion a tangible brush to my senses.
And I smiled.
“I will not choose,” I said for a third time.
Then I released all my power and vitality into my mates, blasting them with every ounce of my strength and life, giving them my entire heart… and soul.
They shouted in my mind, demanding I stop.
But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
This was my sacrifice.
Wind whipped around me, the dark source accepting my path.
My veins began to throb, the energy spilling from me through four strands, invigorating my mates as my own soul began to weep.
They begged me to stop.
Kols demanded I listen.
Zakkai’s power wrapped around me as he tried to control my efforts, but I snapped his spell with one of my own, my heart breaking a little in the process at his resounding agony.I love you,I breathed to him.
I love you all,I said, whispering through their minds with my final words as I fell to my knees on an exhausted wheeze.
I was wrong before. Constantine wanted me to choose. I refused. Until now.
“I choose to sacrifice myself.”
My palms met the black floor.
And I unleashed every last drop of my being into their vines, their cries of pain at my loss… following me down… down… down…
This isn’t happening.
Eight lifetimes.
Seven of which I’d watched her nearly die. I’d always changed time. I’d always brought her back. I’d always started over. I’d alwaysfixedher.
But there was no coming back this time.
I had no Paradox Fae. I had no sword. I had no power to stop this.
“Aflora,” I whispered, looking down at her bluing skin. The obsidian power lining her veins was gone. No more dark source. No more ascension. No more…life.Just like Kols. Only worse.
Because it matched a fate I thought I’d altered.
I’d done everything right this time, had finally taken us down the path meant for eternity.
