"Because… I wanted to save everyone," she whispers. "It's stupid, I know. And I lied. I know. I'm sorry—"
"Save the apologies for later, sunshine," I cut in, my voice rough yet breaking. "You're going to have a lot of penance to do for this. Can I pick you up? Can you handle it?"
She gives me a weak smile. "Kayden… I can feel it—"
"No."
"It's okay…"
"I said no!" The raw yell tears out of me. I bite into my own wrist without thinking, shove it toward her mouth. "Drink."
"Vampire blood…" she murmurs, eyes flicking to my bleeding skin. "It's toxic… for me."
"That's what they told you. You don't know for sure.Try." My voice cracks on the last word. "Please."
She nods faintly, and I press my wrist to her lips. She frowns, but drinks anyway, slow and trembling.
I whip my head toward Asher. "Whatever PTSD trance you're in, snap out of it, brother. Give her your blood. Both of us should."
He swallows, eyes haunted. He doesn't believe it'll work, but he does it anyway. Opens his wrist and holds it out to her, his expression absent, like he's trapped in a nightmare he can't wake from.
Well, screw him. Screw everyone.
I'll drag her back from the gates of the afterlife myself if I have to.
She drinks. A flicker of life. Hope.
Then… her hands slide off. Her body sags in my arms, the warmth leaching away like water through fingers.
"I'm… sorry," she whispers, lips slick with our blood.
And then she goes still.
She dies in my arms.
And I can't stop it.
"Don't youdare! No!" The roar rips out of me, echoing into the gray sky above. My voice is ragged, breaking apart.
The rain starts up, soaking us all, washing her blood into the soil. Red blossoms spread under her like open wounds.
I want to tear them out. Tear the earth up with my bare hands. Destroy everything. But all I do is clutch her tighter against me, rocking her like a child, whispering the same broken plea over and over.
"Please don't die. Please don't die."
I don't know how long it lasts. Rain pouring. Time gone. My body numb except for the hollow where she should be breathing.
Finally, Asher moves. His voice is low, cracked. "We have to go."
I don't move. "She was under our protection," I rasp, staring at her face.
"I know," he says. His stone mask fractures just enough to show heartbreak underneath. "I know."
We're both bleeding. Both gutted.
But he's right.
In a daze, I rise, Sage's body in my arms. The weight of her is wrong. Heavy and light at the same time.
