Chapter24
Oakley
Iscooted myself closer, pulling Atlas into my lap, his head resting on the layers of my tulle skirt. A dark puddle expanded across his black shirt faster than his fumbling fingers could staunch it. I tried to ignore its iron stench. “This can’t be happening,” I whimpered.
“We knew this was coming,” he rasped, voice cracking above a whisper.
“N-no, it’s not.” My gaze flicked up to Saros and Lynx, pleading. “He needs more time.”
Lynx scrambled to his knees and ripped off his shirt, using it to put pressure on the wound, trying to stop the bleed. Crimson seeped through the material, spreading much too quickly.
It wasn’t enough.
Atlas shushed me, slowly moving his hand toward mine. “It’s okay.” He squeezed, so weak. “There never would have been enough time.”
“B-but it was supposed to be on our wedding day,” I sputtered, tears streaking my cheeks, falling onto Atlas and my dress below. “Not in this terrible place.”
“The only thing I see is you… That’s all that matters.” He gave a rueful smile. “That you’re here.”
Using his borrowed gift, I waved my hand over myself. The tattered, blood-soaked dress was replaced by a beautiful purple gown. I held his hand and refashioned the onyx gemstone ring along with the runes. Ones we’d never get to wear.
He smiled, bringing my knuckles to his lips and pressing a kiss to them. “More beautiful…than I could have imagined.”
His eyes began to flutter, the grip of his hand slipping away from mine. I clutched it harder, tethering it in my grasp. Wishing I could somehow tether him.
“P-please don’t go.” My entire body shook as I leaned down and kissed him, his lips barely returning it. Resting my wet cheek against his and slipping my hand over his heart, I whispered, “Aspen needs you. I need you… I love you, Atlas.”
And I did. Maybe I’d thought I could exist keeping my distance from him, but that was when I believed he’d be somewhere living. Thriving.
Not this.
Not a lifetimewithout.
“You have to let me go.” If I hadn’t been so close I would have missed his words.
“No.” I refused. Begged. “Stay.”
“My love for you will last far beyond death.” The rattled rise and fall of his chest slowed with each frail pull of air, grains of time slipping away far too quickly. What I wouldn’t give to halt him within the hourglass, stopping him from meeting this fate. “Promise to hold our son close. Make sure he grows up knowing…all the good times.”
The corner of his lip flicked upward, the ghost of a smile.
“I promise,” I rasped. It was all I could manage to get out.
He’d accepted his fate. Embraced it long before today. And somehow, despite the shadow of his hex, he’d always fought for a brighter world for those around him.
The world needed that light.
Tears streaked my cheeks, watching it flicker out.
He choked out a gasp and released my hand, eyes becoming vacant and glazed over, two glassy marbles. The tan in his complexion was gone, his pallor matching the chill of his skin. I scanned over him, Lynx’s entire shirt saturated in crimson, his hands still shaking as he held the shirt in place.
Our illusions had vanished, Atlas’s gift dying with him.
“No!” I screamed, banging my fists into his chest, trying to jolt him awake. Grabbing his shoulders, I shook him. “Please. I can’t lose you.”
No. He couldn’t be gone.
Not like this.
