Chapter 127: You Must Live It - Callista's POV

My mind was still in turmoil when we reached the stairs. I turned the words over repeatedly. Was I really the solution?

I glanced at Riven’s back. His demon had played us before. He’d say our mating was the key to letting him free, but turn around and say it would bind him in the next breath.

Could Ronan be doing the same?

I sucked in a breath just as Riven opened the door. There was a set of stairs heading straight down on the other side. I stopped and stared at them as Riven became motionless.

“You don’t have to do this,” he whispered.

“Yes, I do,” I breathed. “To save you, I have to.”

He turned at that, looking at me over his shoulder with a solemn expression that I didn’t see often on his face. “No, you don’t. You can run away now before the ceremony.”

“Quit trying to give me a way out. I don’t want it,” I replied sternly. “We’ve talked about this.”

“And I don’t think you’re thinking about this clearly,” he argued. “I could be your death.”

I stared into his eyes, searching for a sign of the demon, but there wasn’t one. My heart thudded painfully in my chest at the mere thought of leaving him again. I didn’t want to be away or leave. I wanted to be right here by his side.

“Even if I run, you will come for me, won’t you?” I asked, my voice soft. “We’re either going to live or die together. This is important.”

“I know, but—”

“No,” I interrupted. “You can think of every excuse to push me away, but I’m not leaving. My life is tied to yours. So if I’m saving myself, I have to save you too.”

He flinched then, looking at me with a narrowed gaze. “You must hate me.”

“Riven, I don’t even know what to say to that,” I said, my voice low. “Whatever mood you’re in, you need to stop.”

“Mood?” He shook his head. “I’m not in a mood. I’m trying to protect you as your mate.”

“And as my mate, you should have a little more faith in what we’re trying to build.”

The red-gold in his eyes appeared and turned bright. His wolf was very close to the surface. I didn’t know why he was choosing now to turn up, but it was a bit annoying. It wasn’t as if I was doing anything too dangerous.

“Callista,” he groaned, which sounded almost like a growl. “I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“You tried that once,” I murmured. “And look at what it got us. Do I need to remind you that I fought my wolf repeatedly until I’m nothing but skin and bones?”

He glanced at my stomach and grimaced. Though he was stubborn, he knew it was true. I watched his jaw work. He had something he wanted to say, but he was holding it back.

“Now, I’m going downstairs and opening this book to see what it says. Stay here,” I demanded, then walked past him.

He almost stopped me. I felt a graze of his fingertips against my arm, but he let me go.

After a few steps, I wanted to look back, but I kept going. It got darker and colder the further I went. A chill crept up my spine that I couldn’t shake.

I finally reached the bottom and was in complete darkness. At that moment, I felt something behind me. I looked back over my shoulder, half expecting Riven to be there, but he wasn’t. My eyes trailed up the stairs, finding a small dot of light at the very top, blocked by a shadow. He was still there, waiting and doing as I asked.

I blew out a breath. “Well, I’d better do this now before he changes his mind.”

I flipped the book open to a random page, squinting as I tried to read it. Though I could see in the dark, the words were so small that I had a hard time making them out. My eyes dragged over the text, trying to process what few words I could make out.

“A war…broke…and the demon rose,” I muttered, knowing I was missing a few words in between.

“Two brothers…left…”

A breeze picked up out of nowhere, blowing the pages away from what I was ready. I tried to stop it, but the breeze grew stronger and stronger. There was a roaring in my ears that didn’t sound like anything I had ever heard before.

I looked up, my heart pounding as I searched the darkness. “What is going on?”

“Callista,” a inhuman voice whispered. “You want to know?”

“Yes, I want to know,” I said, my voice trembling. “I want to know how to save him.”

“Then you must live,” it said, the voice cold. “Live it.”

“Live…it?”

My eyes grew heavy, and I looked toward the stairs. Riven’s shadow was still at the top, unmoving. I thought I heard him call my name, but I wasn’t too sure. There was too much roaring from the wind for me to hear clearly.

“Riven, I—”

My knees gave out from underneath me and I fell, hitting the floor with a thud. There was so much I wanted to say, but my mouth wouldn’t work. It moved and tried to form words, yet I could only slur my speech.

I saw his shadow coming down the steps, moving quickly.

The book slipped from my hands and landed on the floor as I fell sideways. I collapsed just as Riven caught me.

“Callista,” he said, his voice sounding as if we were underwater.

My gaze narrowed on his face. There were tears running down his cheeks. I longed to reach up and touch his face.

“Riven, the..book…”

“Don’t worry about the book right now,” he snapped. “Please stand up. Do something. I can’t lose you.”

My mouth opened as I tried to tell him that the book said for me to live it, but I couldn’t. All that came out was a groan.

And then, darkness, darker than what was in the room, crept into the edges of my vision. I blinked rapidly, fighting it and hoping that I wouldn’t black out on him. It was pointless, though. The darkness was getting closer and closer.

I looked up at his face once, shadowed by the incoming darkness.

“Callista,” he cried.

The last thing I saw was his eyes as everything went dark.