I ran forward, grabbing the sword that was embedded into the ground. My brother was already getting up, but Vesper was there, wrapping her arms around him and immobilizing him.
“The heart,” she yelled. “Go for the heart!”
But I hesitated. Because she was standing right behind him, and I was afraid that if I plunged it into his chest, she would be the one who would take the brunt of the attack.
That moment of hesitation cost me everything.
He smirked, seeing my dilemma, and pushed Vesper off right before he came at me and knocked the sword away like it was a silly little toy. Then his clawed hand was there, his target right in my chest.
My heart.
He was moving faster than I'd ever seen him, but time still slowed for me.
I'm going to die here.
I knew it was a possibility, but nothing could prepare me for it. Or for the anguish I felt knowing I would leave Vesper and Cedar in this world alone.
What will happen to them?
Will they try to attack him? Will he kill them too?
I looked at Vesper. Realizing her heartbroken gaze would be the last thing I saw only made it that much more unbearable.
The only ones who could do something to stop this were standing around us. The people who looked at me as I stood up to my brother and just watched. The same people who refused to intervene now.
If anyone truly cared about my brother taking the kingdom and ruining it—ruiningeverything—they would do something.
But these people were simply going to let him.
I failed.
In the end, the vampire world had turned its back on me. It was a devastating realization.
There is no one else.
But then the bond flared to life just as a body appeared right in front of me, red hair flashing in my vision.
The blow never came. Hot witch blood sprayed across my face and chest instead.
Everything froze. I wasn’t dead.But the person in front of me would be soon.
Cedar.
Adrian’s claws tore through her chest, his angry growl filling the air. As quickly as he struck her, he pulled his hand back, leaving a hole there.
I felt her pain as if it were mine. It was like being ripped in half.
I grabbed her as she collapsed on me.
“No, no, Cedar!” My scream was hoarse, my throat thick as the unimaginable started to happen right in front of my eyes.
Cedar, with her lovely green eyes and freckled face, was looking up at me with a smile. Blood started falling from her lips as Vesper moved to her other side, taking her hand and helping me steady her.
“Hold on,” Vesper said, her voice barely audible. “Please. Let me bite you.”
“Wait,” Cedar said feebly, already fading away. The blood loss was too much. He might have missed her heart, but there was still a wound to the chest that wasn't easy for anyone to recover from. “I need to tell you?—”
“Later!”
