But I couldn’t move, all I could feel was pain all over my body. The priest kept reciting the verses and my vision turned blurry. Purple light erupted around us and the shield that Somnaris had put up shattered.
Theo laid me down on the ground and tried to extract his hand from mine, but it was too late. My grip on him was final, not something he could undo.
I could hear myself screaming in pain, bones breaking and the very essence of life being pulled out of me. Theo was panting, shouting something to the people around us, but there was nothing left to do.
One last time, I told myself.
One last time I could make him feel my love and so I thought of every moment I had shared with him. Every touch, every look, every word merged into one as I sent it all over to him with a last push of my energy.
He screamed out then, a blast of light erupting around us, knocking back everyone nearby.
The pain came swiftly and disappeared just as fast.
Everything went still around me.
There was no more pain, no noise, no fear.
I saw Theo, gleaming with unbridled power, his sword raised, cutting through Nytheris as if this creature was nothing more than a bad dream.
Ignara’s eyes widened in understanding. “You bitch! You will pay for this!”
She raced towards me with her sword, but all I could think to do was laugh, because I was dead. There was nothing more she could do to me. Before she could reach me, Lydia stepped in front of me and halted her advance, plunging hersword deep into Ignara’s stomach.
I turned my head away towards the night sky.
That’s when I heard it again.
The whispers, the voices that had echoed through my mind at the Citadel.
“Sela ti’oré ana.”
I was slipping away, slowly and gently. I could feel a warmth starting at my toes, spreading through my limbs, encompassing me like a gentle blanket. I thought of the night on the terrace when Theo had conjured a blanket for me and the way he had looked at me with his beautiful eyes.
And somehow, I wasn’t scared anymore.
Theo had fulfilled his prophecy, he was free.
The battle would be over soon, and I could finally sleep. I smiled then.
The fight around me calmed down and I heard Theo kneeling down beside me.
“Maelis, stay with me. We will get you some help, just hang on a little longer.”
My eyes were so heavy, but I willed them open one last time. There he was, my beautiful God of Wisdom, his eyes overflowing with a purple glow that was stronger than I had ever seen. I smiled at him and shook my head.
“Don’t give up, Molly Mae. Help will be here soon, the healer is on her way as we speak. You just need to hold on a little longer.”
But there was nothing left to do. There was no fear, just happiness in my heart. And I understood now what the Fates had been whispering to me all this time.
With my last words, I repeated their chant:“Sela ti’oré ana.”
I love you.
Chapter 39
Theo
Shewas gone.
