Every slash of his claws is one of vengeance, and despite where I am right now, I can sense his brokenness from here, the torture his heart suffers while he administers blows.
This is only the beginning of his suffering, the start of a lifelong battle in which Thane won't be able to go on without me.
I know this is his future, not just because of what he said when he begged me not to take the potion, but because of what I can feel right now, our souls bound by the etheric cord of the mate bond decreed by the Moon Goddess Herself.
“Your loveismeant for destruction…”
Those words echo now, and the Moon Goddess stares at me as if she spoke them herself, and all she does is nod knowingly. That's when I realized that it was her all along—that voice I heard in my nightmares.
But it was never a bad thing; it was never the destruction I was afraid of.
It was my love for Thane, my love for my sisters, my love for the family I found amongst those people on the battlefield that would ultimately lead to this moment.
This moment is when I save them, protect them for good, and seal the gate that leads the demons into our world.
The destruction was meant for the demons.
Mydestruction was meant to protect the people I love.
It's that fierce power of love that allows me to face this fate with dignity. Dignity I deserve, because all my life, I'd been hiding in the shadows, and rejecting how strong I could be when the time came.
If anything, I proved to myself that my choices were never the wrong ones when I faced them with courage, like when Thane was nearly killed in the woods and I saved him.
“So, child, what will it be? Do you believe in yourself enough to face what lies down there? Or would you rather stay here?”
I curl my hands into determined fists at my sides, puckering up the courage to do what must be done. “If I don't try, I'd never forgive myself for putting Thane through the torture of losing me.”
The Moon Goddess smiles. “I thought you might say that,” she says as she steps in front of me. She lifts a hand to my face, pressing a delicate finger on my forehead between my brows. I close my eyes, feeling her powers radiate from that spot to the rest of my body.
“Remember…I am always with you…”
My eyes fly open toward the sky, my body bursting with excruciating heat. It feels like I'm going to explode, but I hang on, clinging to the face of the moon above my head, vibrant and silver-white in the night sky.
My ears buzz with the heat, drowning out the sounds of the battle surrounding me. I can't move my body, can't feel my fingers or toes, and pain rips through me as if the demons are collectively clawing through my body.
Maybe I overestimated my powers, and I thought I was strong enough to see this through. But the pain escalates, and I can't hold on any longer; my breath is fiery when I try to breathe.
Only my eyes move, and I see the gaping hole at the bottom, pulsing with flickers of gold light and threatening to consume me. A shrill cry echoes from my chest, stopping the werewolves and demons mid-battle when my biggest adversary rises before my eyes.
The demon that went after Thane is floating in the air in front of me, its menacing snarl blowing at me like cold air that wants to extinguish my fire.
“This is your end, Willow Barker…the end of you and the Snehvolk pack,”the demon sneers, its voice echoing around me. “You cannot win.”
My eyes flicker to Thane staring at me from below in wolf form, eyes wide with shock, a demon clutching its vile claws around his neck. Unable to bear the pain of seeing him in pain, I look up to the sky where the full moon winks to remind me that she is always with me.
“You are wrong, demon!”I yell through my mind without moving my lips. “This isyourend!”
Golden light permeates through my entire being, shooting out from my pores and tearing at my skin with its intense heat and formidable power.
The pain is torture, like what I imagine hellfire to be, but much, much worse, and my body feels like it's ready to explode.
But I'm too far gone to stop this from happening, and I have to do this to save Thane.
Even if it means returning to the Moon Goddess and facing my soul's torture, I can't watch him die.
Chapter 25 - Thane
The world is crumbling apart around me.
