The machine jolts her.
Her bodyjumps, limbs stiff and jerking before slamming back to the floor with a brutal thud.
But nothing happens. No cry. No flicker of those lashes I’ve watched flutter when she sleeps.
Jude doesn’t wait. He’s already back on her chest, counting again. “One, two, three,come on—four, five, six—don’t do this to me, Babydo—seven, eight…”
His voice cracks.
And I—I just kneel there. Watching. Helpless. Haunted.
Because this is the first time I’ve really seen it. What hedoes. What he’sdone, over and over again, while I let my obsessions run rampant, and my hunger devour her.
Without Jude…there wouldn’t be a Briella left to save.
Another cycle. Two rescue breaths. His mouth over hers, delicate and exact. I want to rip out my own teeth as I watch. Want to bleed for how little I deserve to even be in this room with her. Withthem.
I can’t feel it. But I know it. Every bone in my body, every cell in my blood knows it.
The AED sounds again.Analyzing rhythm. Do not touch the patient.
Jude pulls back, chest heaving.
Shock advised.The jolt is worse this time. Her back arches, her lashes flutter—and fall still.
But then?—
A sound. A broken, gasping,wretchedinhale. And then another. She coughs. Then more.
She’smoving.
My very soul quakes. A boulder weighs down on my chest.
Jude gently turns her on her side, clearing her airway, wiping her mouth with his sleeve. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you, Babydoll.”
Her eyes blink open. Barely. But they open. She lives. Because of him.
I almost killed him for failing her.
Now I could fall on my knees and thank him. But I still can’t give up my power. Not to him. Not to Vincent, the oldest. The only one…
Her. Briella. She is the only one. Because she’s already taken the gravity of my power. She holds my soul inside her. If she is my extension, then I am hers. Tangled. Chained. No end and no beginning. Forever.
She trembles in his arms with desperate gasps. She clings to him like he’s her only tether to earth.
He removes his jacket, wrapping it around her naked upper half. Rocking her, soothing her, Jude glances up at me then. Not a word. Just his eyes. Not cold—not smug. Just…tired. Raw. He knows what I’m thinking. He always does.
And this time, I don’t look away. I nod. The only apology I know how to give. And one more thing.
“Not sevenfold, Jude.” I lock onto his gaze. “Your debt is canceled.”
He says nothing, just holds her closer. Tighter. Like she might disappear again.
And I finally understand. I never healed her. I broke her soul, resurrected it, and enslaved her.
Jude…sets her free.
Briella jumps at the sound of the stun gun behind us.
