Page 206 of Wrath of the Fae

Portals between realms were made again. And the cycle began all over.

‘I may not be of the light. But I am not a monster. I will never let them make me a monster. And I refuse to let another Fae be enslaved.’

A single tear slides down my cheek as I ready myself. As I take my dagger and rest it at my throat.

Just as the arch before needed my blood to restart the portals, this machine that tears down shields will too.

And with the size of the shield I am to make, it will need it all.

I will become one with the machine. I can control it.

I can fix this.

Will I spend eternity in pain? Will I be a shield forever?

I don’t know.

It doesn’t matter.

Reid, Cyrus and Rhea all land in the tower and run toward me.

I face them.

They try to stop me, but they’re too slow.

They’re simply too slow.

I drag our eternity dagger clear across my throat.

Everything goes in slow motion.

Rhea screams, my blood showering her face.

Reid and Cyrus rush towards me.

No hesitation. No doubt.

They jump into the arch, resting their hands over the gaping wound. Blood spills through their fingers, and their wide eyes look deep into mine.

‘I’ll fix it!’ Reid insists. When he tries to heal me, I shake my head. ‘You will die.’

‘If it… saves… them…’

I fall. They fall with me, holding me between them.

‘I can remake… the shield…’ I struggle to say every word. ‘But not in… this form…’

A fierce pulse emanates from my body, making me jolt and convulse.

‘Go!’ I tell them, trying not to choke on my blood as it fills my mouth. ‘Return to the other side… before the shield… seals you in here…’

They both look at each other, then down to me.

And a strange calm settles on their features.

Reid sweeps my hair from my face, smiling at me.

‘No, my love,’ he says.

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