We hurt her. Over and over.
We don’t deserve her, but I can’t find it in me to walk away. I will keep fighting for her. As long as there is water in the oceans.
“MEI!” Leaf howls again. He’s only been back for minutes, but his hope vanishing as his dragon form bursts through. He plunges into the ocean, disappearing from view, but I know he’s not going to find her. She’s going to be as far away from the ocean as she can get.
“She hates us,” Brio whispers. “I don’t blame her.”
Lirin punches him in the arm. “She doesn’t hate us. She didn’t mean it. It's not over!” he shouts frantically.
Canto is sitting in the sand, and as I watch, a tear slides down his cheek. He’s crying? I have never seen him cry before these last couple of days.
My own throat thickens painfully, and I have to turn away from him before I, too, succumb to the despair that’s been dogging me day and night.
I scrub my hand through my hair, yanking on it, hoping the pain will bring clarity. She’s in heat. Again. The scent is still lingering. She’s choosing pain over us.
She left us.
We’ll be gone at sunset. We only have today. Just a few more hours left.
The things she said, the rage and emotions in her. How could we have ever thought she was just an animal? Perhaps we should have been honest up front, perhaps we should have told her sooner. It never seemed like the right time.
Diablos and Stix are talking, and the sounds of them are annoying me.
I slam a wave into them and wash them away from us.
Reed alone is standing emotionless, rigid.
“Reed?”
“Don’t you see what she’s doing?” he snarls.
We all turn to him, studying his bleak expression.
“She heard us. She heard us talking. All of it, she had to have. She knows about the deal we made with Deux. Mei knows about the deal we made with Diablos. She won’t forgive us. I wouldn’t.”
The fear deepens, opening up a pit inside me.
She’s gone.
“She loves us,” I growl. “She will forgive us.”
“WHY?” he roars. “Why would she?”
I have no answer, just a hope that I cling to. She is gone.
“No!” I whisper in a rush. “She’s not gone. We have time.”
“She’s gone, Ronit!” Lirin screams. “She’s our mate. I told you.”
I stare at him. “Yes, I know.” And I do. All the denials in the world won’t change the truth now.
Lirin screams and rushes me, shoving me hard in the chest. “She’s. Our. Mate. We were wrong.”
I clutch the back of his neck, bringing our foreheads together. “I know. Hush, Lirin. I know.”
“Did you feed her?” Stix asks loudly.
I turn on the Nightmare King.
