In one fluid, merciless motion, he wrenched the blade from myhand—and drove it deep into my chest.
Agony exploded through me.
I crumpled to the pavement, the breath torn from my lungs, blood blooming warm and fast beneath my fingertips. The world tilted, the sky spinning overhead as pain dragged me under.
Everything blurred.
Everythingfloated.
It was like falling into a dream—a weightless descent. My consciousness slipped, detached from my body, as if I were no longer tethered to this life.
Balthazar’s voice drifted through the haze, low and broken. “I loved you. With all my heart.”
Then—his lips.
Soft. Warm.
They brushed mine in a gentle kiss that made the wound ache worse. His body hovered over me, shielding me from the wind that swept through the street.
Why was everything so fuzzy?
Pain stabbed through my chest I heard someone screaming—raw, desperate.
Olivia?
Don’t be scared.
Jack’s voice broke through, shouting my name. His hands shook my shoulders. People circled, voices shouting, overlapping.
“BP is 90 over 50!”
“Pulse is erratic—sats are crashing!”
“She’s going down!”
I was slipping.
Thread by thread, my grip on life unraveled, fraying against the pull of oblivion.
It would’ve been so easy to surrender. To stop fighting. To let the shadows take me.
I’d run from my destiny for so long.
But destiny didn’t chase forever.
Itwaited. And when it struck, it never missed.
“Attach the AED—now!” someone barked. “Start compressions!”
Hands slammed into my chest. Pain exploded through my ribcage as bones cracked beneath each thrust.
“Stop CPR. Do not touch the patient. Analyzing,” the AED’s robotic voice droned.
“Shock advised.”
“Clear!”
A jolt of electricity surged through me—violent, searing. My body arched off the ground, every nerve screaming. It felt like lightning had struck my soul, shattering whatever pieces were left.
