“Shit.” Ig dropped to his knees on the other side of Gray. “This isn’t good. We should take it out.”
“No! We can’t remove it. He might bleed out.”
“It’s coated in oleander, Quentin. He’s been poisoned. His blood is tainted. It makes no difference now.”
Against my instincts, I took hold of the handle of the knife and looked down at Gray, whose eyes had glassed over. “I’m going to take it out, Gray. It might hurt. I’m sorry.”
As I pulled the weapon out of him, he groaned in pain. I stopped momentarily when he heaved and nausea rolled through me as well. We were inextricably linked. With another tug, I pulled it out the rest of the way. The silver of the blade was coated in black and gold. More black than gold. More chaos than God. The wound continued to bleed, and I pressed my hands tight against it, willing the bleeding to stop.
“You need to stay with us, okay?” I said to Gray, glancing up as the world around us was growing thick with green and silver. “Are you listening to me?”
“Quentin, I don’t think this is going to work,” Ig stated slowly. His focus remained on Gray’s face.
“It will!”
Gray moved slowly. His breaths were becoming shallow, but he pulled something from his pocket. Pinched between his fingers was my engagement ring. The one I told him to keep a few hours ago.
“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “For everything.”
“Shh. We’re not talking about that now, remember?”
“Marry me.”
I moved my left hand to take it and manoeuvred it onto my finger with some struggle. “Done. I’ll marry you, but you need to survive. That’s the deal.”
Or I’d never know how to continue the rest of eternity.
With what looked like effort, Gray lifted his arm and his fingers moved to sign the numbers one, four, and three.
“Gray?” I glanced at him. “Gray!”
His eyes closed and his breaths became faint. I looked at Ig again, who let a single tear fall down his cheek before searching for Erik.
Beyond us, the God of love had bound his brother along with Archer. Larkin looked terrifying with her aura surrounding her. She was ice and fire. She was vengeance in human form. Hunter lashed out, but her strength shot out at him, pushing him to the edge of the cliffs. In the blink of an eye, she was on top of him, forcing something to his mouth. I watched in abject horror as she smashed the vial against his teeth and it poured down the sides of his face, melting the skin as he choked on the contents. Larkin leaned in close, her lips moving, but whatever she said was meant for them. A parting gift.
The electric blue that had helped light up the sky retreated and my hands slipped from the wound on Gray’s side. I collapsed on top of him, covering his body with mine.
“Please, no.” I heard Erik. “Oh, Gray.”
“I’m going to lose him,” I whispered.
Archer scrabbled next to me, grabbing the knife that was coated in Gray’s blood before running off towards Larkin.
“Take him to the pool,” Ig said, and I looked up at him. “We need to get him to the pool, now.”
He offered no explanation as orange blinded my view and we left the clifftop to be transported to the shores of the pool. The surface of the water was as chaotic as the rest of the heavens. Disturbed by all the rain that was hitting it. It no longer looked clear and inviting, but another danger to avoid.
“I don’t know if it’ll work, but take him in there. It’s gifted us once. I don’t know what else it can do, but we need to hurry.”
Time was critical. With Erik’s help, we dragged Gray into the waters. His body had grown heavy as life ebbed away from him. I could feel it in myself, the way our bond was weakening. The fatigue that was slowing my muscles. Gray was slipping away, and I wasn’t just seeing it, but experiencing it.
We held him up, waiting for the waters to do something, but they remained in their chaotic state and hope faded away from me.
“Submerge him!” Ig called from the shore. “Put him under the water.”
“Erik,” I whispered, unsure if I could keep going.
“Let’s try it,” he replied.
