“She’s really here; I can feel her,” Mikel breathed. I glanced at him and saw the devastation I had caused all those years ago. My brother was a kind man before I betrayed him. Haden too. Haden glanced at Mikel.
“Remy?” Haden choked out.
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Haden was going to be so upset with me.
“I missed them both so much,” she cried.
The tears in my eyes blurred the words I was supposed to recite. I started saying them in a whisper.
“Della, what do you have to do to bring her back?” Thea asked as if she could sense something was not right. I ignored her. “Let us come through the barrier,” Thea demanded. “What are you doing?”
I ignored her again.
“Della?” Haden spoke as he stepped forward, smacking into my magic. His voice made me look up at him. His face was confused as he stared at me, his eyes filled with concern. “Storm, I’ve missed you; please don’t do anything stupid.”
“I love you.” I smiled at him just in case something bad happened.
“I love you more,” he whispered. “Please, I can’t lose you.”
“Are you ready?” I asked.
“You don’t have to do this. I’m already dead; I’m sure everyone has gotten used to me being gone.”
“No, they haven’t.” I looked up to her. “I killed you when you weren’t supposed to die, and I have to make this right.”
Remy stared at me and then at Haden, who was pacing on the outside of my barrier. His eyes were turning red as he stared at me. His hands were running through his hair, something that he did when he was nervous. I recited the words again from the beginning. I took a long, strained breath as my eyes read the last sentence.
“Take back the kiss you freely gave, bring back the body from the grave, blood and bones and skin and soul, bring her back and make her whole.
“Remiah Vale, I will return your soul back to the living,” I said as I set the book down. “You will be brought forth, and your soul will remain intact for eternity, and I will take your place in death.”
“Storm, stop!” Haden demanded as he tried to break through my magic again. “Please, come talk to me before you do this!” Tears were in his eyes when he saw the look on my face.
Thea’s darkness suddenly exploded out of her, slamming into the barrier, but I knew my magic would overpower hers. “My soul is yours to take.” I smiled softly at her as she looked at me in horror. Her mouth opened to speak but stopped when my soul began glowing so brightly.
“Della!” Haden charged at my shield, frost magic exploding from him as he struck it, freezing the barrier before shattering it into a million shards.You are too late, my love.
I didn’t feel the pain at first. Then it quickly seeped into every fiber of my body. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the pain took root in my bones. My chest burned so violently that a tortured sob ripped from me. I cried out when my soul began separating from my body. I watched as my silver spirit slithered its way out of me and slammed into Remiah.
We exploded.
My starlight blasted us apart in a supernova of power, lighting up the entire castle grounds. At the same time, lightning lit up the sky so much that it cast shadows on the ground, and the wind began whipping around us in an angry vortex. I landed on the ground hard, pain shooting through every part of me. Fire raced through my veins, and my arm burned as another broken star seared itself into my forearm.
What I saw as I landed, though, made me smile despite the pain. Remiah’s form had solidified back into a physical body. She was alive again.
Unable to hold my head up, I stared at the stars above me before Thea and Cassius’ faces blocked my view. Thea sobbed uncontrollably, realizing I was fading fast. My head fell to the side, and I saw Mikel hugging and kissing Remy. This is the way it was always meant to be. Haden stared at me like he wasn’t sure what just happened. Shock and horror filled his stormy eyes.
“It was an honor to love you,” I said softly. My words snapped him out of his trance, and he ran to me. Panic and desperation took over his face.
“Please, Storm, do not leave me!” he yelled as he reached his hand out for me. “Do not leave me!”
“I’m sorry.”
“I cannot live without you!” He was trying desperately to get to me.
But he was too late.
My eyes fluttered shut as the pain stopped altogether.
