Chapter Twenty-Seven
Esme
I was maybe five feet away when time seemed to slow, and I watched as Draco grabbed a piece of rebar that had fallen from all the debris around us.
“No!” I cried out as he moved it slowly into Dorian’s chest.
Dorian’s eyes were wide with shock as he let go of Draco’s torn shirt and fell to the ground.
Red and golden blood flowed out past his lips, and I ran to him, pushing Draco out of the way.
The fighting around us stopped—every single person was still, watching the villain of Seahill struggle to breathe against the blood filling his lungs.
“No, no. Dorian!” I cradled his face while looking into his pain-filled eyes and then to his wound. He was dying. Dorian was dying. How could he die? He was immortal.
“Demigods aren’t immortal. He’s been on borrowed time for ages.” Draco stood there, watching his foe slowly head toward the darkness that beckoned him. I didn’t blame Draco for this, but I grieved that he hadn’t seen what I had in Dorian.
Dorian’s body gave away, and he collapsed on the ground with a loud thud.
His eyes were on me, blood coming out of his lips and the corners of his eyes.
“You can’t leave me, Dorian. I love you. Please, baby, don’t leave me. I have faith in our love; it’s the kind I always wished for. The love of legends. Don’t let this be the end, Dorian.” I lay on the ground next to him and cried, pleading for him to miraculously pull through.
“Esme,” he croaked and his eyes closed.
I looked to his chest to see it was still moving but barely. Dorian was on the edge of death.
“Not this time. I’m not losing another person I love when I can do something.” I gave myself a pep talk before sitting up and reaching for the bar in his chest. I pulled, and pulled hard. Red and golden blood was pouring out of his chest when I finally freed the metal from his body. I placed my hands over his chest, feeling the liquid seep through the cracks in my fingers, and began pushing my power into him. I would not let him die.
His eyes opened suddenly, and he seemed to be choking, but I wasn’t stopping.
My hands started glowing, a bright gold covering the wound in his chest. I glanced over to my vein and saw that it was losing its color fast. I realized that by healing him, I would be giving up what was left of my life, so he could live.
I should have thought about that more, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t live in a world where he wasn’t. He would survive without me, but I would not without him.
Peace settled over my mind as I accepted my fate.
His wounds began to heal, but it wasn’t enough. He needed everything I had, and I gave it to him.
“Esme, no. You’re giving him too much,” Rose shouted, and I shook my head.
“You can never give too much for love,” I said out loud, but already I was getting weak.
Dorian’s eyes never left mine, and I wished I could read his mind.
Did he feel my love healing him? Bringing him back to life with my last breath?
I could barely keep my hands up from the weight settling in my body, but I managed, lying down next to him.
“No,” he managed to croak, but I just smiled weakly at him.
My power was gone, and with them my years of life.
I could feel the cold soothing my veins.
Dorian was healed and sat up to cradle me in his arms.
“Look to the stars and find my love in the dark,” I whispered, reaching out to touch his face with my hand before it fell back against the cold ground.
Love and death surrounded me, and I was at peace. Looking up at the stars, I saw the darkness coming for me.
Then he was there.
“Eli,” I whispered to my brother and let his light surround me, taking us home.
