She laughs before spitting at my feet. Azalea jumps back a step, but I stay rooted in place, glaring at the old witch. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. The moment I get to best this bitch for everything she’s put me through, for everything she’s put my Wildflower through.
“It’s sad, really. No matter how many years passed you still never learned.”
I should walk out the door and leave her to her senseless rambling, but I can’t stop myself. “Never learned what?”
“I always have the upper hand.”
Before I can make sense of what she’s saying, Dianthus lifts her hand, throwing a final orb of bright lilac magic hurtling at us. No not us. At Azalea.
Before I can even react, the magic has hit its mark, and I see a rosy bloom of blood begin to stain the cream of Azalea’s slip.
66
Braxton
AgurgledgaspescapesAzalea before she drops to her knees. I’m falling to my own and catching her limp body as she falls forward into my outstretched arms.
“Braxton,” she gasps. A small line of crimson begins to leak out of the corner of her mouth.
My hand flies to the wound that continues to leak a viscous crimson along the floor. My skin immediately becomes stained with her blood. Her hand limply reaches up to cover mine, her eyes searching me for a flicker of hope, looking to see that I can fix this.
I look at Dianthus over my shoulder. “How?” I bark the question out, but all she does is laugh in response.
The only way she could have any magic left would be if she had a second tether. Not as strong as the skull, but still enough. With her being this weak, it would have to be close.
“Braxton,” Azalea rasps again. Her hand slips from mine to gently cup the side of my face. I lean into her touch, an ache prematurely filling my chest at the thought of never feeling the warmth of her skin again. “P-please. Tell me the truth… abouteverything. I…” She inhales sharply, pain creasing her face. “I don’t want to die not knowing the truth.”
“You’re not going to die.” My chest is a mixture of anguish and panic as I cradle her closer to me. “You… you can’t die. Not again. I can’t go through that again. Please.” I’ve only truly begged once before in my life, and it was to bring her back to life. “Please, hold on, Wildflower,” I choke out. The image of her blurs slightly in front of me, and I squeeze my eyes shut until the burn behind the backs of my eyelids lessens. I need to see her. I need to memorize her. Her thumb brushes along my cheek. Where it was once slick with her blood, it’s now simultaneously dry and sticky.
“Please tell me.” Her voice is growing weaker as her body sags deeper into my arms. “I want to know the truth.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat.
“You died,” I whisper this truth even though it’s the only one she already knows and should be the easiest one to admit. I’ve pushed this memory out of my mind for so long, yet it’s still haunted me every day since it happened.
“You were giving birth to our baby, but something was wrong. There were… complications. There was so much blood… Y-your blood. You were bleeding, and they couldn’t stop it.” My voice is strained as I push the words out. “I was holding you just like this, and you were so strong. You were fighting so hard.” I take a shaky breath, trying to keep the quiver out of my voice. “They finally got our baby out, and I could feel you almost instantly go limp in my arms. It was like you were holding on just enough for them. You begged me to keep them safe, and you asked me if I heard them and their beautiful cry, but…” The rest of my sentence gets caught on the sob that shakes my body.
Azalea’s features pinch with torment, as understanding takes over her. “No.” Tears fill her eyes, and my heart breaks at thereality she is now facing. At the fact that I’m the one causing her to relive this.
“The room was silent. The only sound that I listened to was you taking your last breath, and it was the most haunting sound I’ve ever heard.”
“But our baby… I heard.”
I shake my head.
“They never took their first breath. Just like me, I think they couldn’t bear to live in a world without you in it, so they stayed with you. I lost you both in a matter of minutes. My entire life went up in flames.”
Azalea lets out a pained whimper as her tears spill, falling down her cheeks. I catch them with my thumb and do my best to wipe them away, along with the pain that I tried to keep from her.
“But I heard them when you brought me back.” Azalea’s voice is fading with her strength. I can tell we don’t have much time left, and the last bit of time we do have is going to be reliving the worst day of our lives.
“I brought you both to Dianthus, and she brought you both back to me. But then…” I let out a shaky breath as I painstakingly bring the truth I’ve been hiding from her to light. “She told me I had to choose. At the same time that I could feel you come back to life in my arms, I got to hear our daughter breathe for the first time. Only then was I told that I could only keep one of you alive. And I chose you.”
Azalea squeezes her eyes shut as she processes this, her head gently swaying back and forth. Her grip on my hand tightens as a fresh sob tears through her, anguish morphing her features. I can’t believe I’m here again. I’m breaking her heart again. I’ve failed her again. And now I’m feeling her go limp in my arms again. It’s all happening again, but this time there won’t be a way to bring her back. I’m losing her, for good.
“I will choose you over and over again.” I confess bringing my lips to her knuckles. A few of my tears spill free on the back of her hand. “And I’m so sorry I failed you. I didn’t keep her safe.”
Azalea’s eyes soften as she reaches up to stroke my cheek, quite possibly for the last time. I try to memorize the feeling of her silky skin brushing mine. Her breath rattles in her lungs, and I can feel her slipping from me more and more.
