Page 50 of Oracle
Morgan.
Lux.
My hopes for the world to flourish.
A single tear rolled down my cheek as I realized this was the end when he stopped fighting, as if my words finally made it through his warped mind.
It was apparent; the relief that crashed through him as he must have realized he was going to die now and be reunited with her. I kept my light within his stomach and my hand wrapped around his heart as I squeezed, willing my power into every crack of his stone heart.
A part of me had expected him to fight more. To thrash around. To grip my wrist and yank it out of him, but he didn’t. He simply sat back on his calves in his kneeled position and glanced to the ceiling before closing his eyes.
“You’re right,” he whispered weakly, confirming my thoughts. “She would be so angry with me if she knew all I’d killed in her name. The woman who couldn’t hurt an animal. Do you think she can forgive me?”
I couldn’t help but feel like deep down, he wanted this death now. It was as if he would never admit defeat in battle, like it would be betraying his lost love. He would never halt the war in her name, so, someone had to release him from it with his death.
“Love forgives all,” I answered softly, truly believing that.
Just like with the Daimona, his skin began to crack, the thin white lines spreading like a spiderweb before the flesh began to break off and turn to white ash. It was a slow death, but it was his death nonetheless and in that, I found solace for multiple reasons.
“Lilly, I’m coming,” he whispered as a tear fell from his face and onto the stone floor.
At his sentiment, I let my emotions flow freely now. I felt the sting of tears and the heat as they trailed down my face and dripped onto my lap.
Fuck, this was such a tragic love story and death. I should have been joyous in his death. I should have smiled in his face as he died at my hand, but I couldn’t.
I hadn’t expected to feel so much empathy for this villain who threatened my entire species’ existence. Not to mention the fact that I likely would have never had to give up my life to become a prophetess and oracle, leading me to leaving my loved ones behind. He had taken so much from me. From our kind.
His hand was crumbling away into dust but he raised it as if to touch my cheek. As his eyes opened once more, he rasped out, “The most painful tears are not the ones that fall from your eyes, but the ones that fall from your soul, staining it with your sorrow and suffering forever.”
Was this his final justification for his actions, like he was begging for someone to understand?
He was talking about this pain he had lived with, enduring centuries without his love after her death. It was fucking tragic, how much my own scenario paralleled his own. My men would be left alone after I was called away, and I knew they would be living with this same pain forever.
Would they do the unspeakable and become villains, threatening whoever they blamed for my death just like he had?
Love was a powerful weapon.
It could turn someone into a nightmare you never imagined they could become, given the motive of a broken heart.
It could topple empires and bring the most powerful of men to their knees.
In this realization, I closed my eyes as the last pieces of Satan blew away and whispered, “I forgive you. I hope you are at peace now with her in the afterlife.”
It was time to go home and say my own goodbyes.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
MILO
“It’s fucking hopeless!” Caleb snapped, “We’ve been searching for signs of Daimona and her for days and not one damn clue has appeared. They fucking took her right from under our nose. We failed her.”
Anger simmered under my skin at his pessimistic attitude that had been raging over the entirety of our time scouring these mountains. It had been pure fucking bliss when we were in wolf form because I didn’t have to hear him.
There was only so much grace I could give him for the traumatic experience with his brother, but I knew he was carrying so much blame for this due to the betrayal. However, the rest of us were already in dire spirits in our own minds, we didn’t need him dragging us even lower.
The only one who had managed to try to bolster spirits had been Tian who tried to counteract Caleb with his encouraging words, repeating over and over that he had faith our efforts would pay off and that we’d find Kira. Honestly, his unwavering certainty was like the lifeline I think we all needed to keep going as our frustrations and pain grew as each day passed without her.
“Caleb, stop talking!” Wes hissed, shocking everyone, our heads snapping to him as he pushed up from his seat but stayed slightly crouched as he crept towards the exit of our cave we’d tucked into for a brief break. He poked his head out slightly before immediately snapping it back in and whisper-yelling, “Put out the fire and shift! Daimona spotted.”
