Chapter 171: Chapter One Hundred And Seventy One

Lucian's Pov

The seconds ticked in slow motion as I saw Naomi’s delicate form move towards me. The whole scenario seemed dreamlike, a nightmare I couldn’t awaken from. And then, in a matter of a split second, her form collapsed onto the ground.

Everything else melted, my eyes refocusing onto Naomi's dying form at my feet. My heart thudded savagely in my chest, a thudding beat drowning out everything else.

"No… Naomi…" I faltered, dropping onto my knees at her side, my shaking hands extending out towards her. “No, no, no. This can't happen.”

I touched her face, and her face was dispiritedly cool to my fingertips. Something deep and suffocating took over, its talons closing in my heart. Her eyes shut, her mouth a little apart, but no sign of life moved in them.

My voice died in my mouth, taken over with horror.

"How far are you willing to go, Deluna?"

A faint echo of laughter sounded over my head, Deluna’s mocking laughter, sharp and cutting and rough-edged, like broken glass.

How far will I go? Deluna mused, cocking her head with a sneer. "Oh, Lucian, wherever I have to go to rid the world of your little love fairytale." She sneered, eyes glinting with malice, a darker, shadowed intensity in them.

My hands fisted at my sides. "Why?" I croaked, my voice hoarse with anguish. "What did she ever do to you?"

Deluna rolled her eyes. "For pity's sake. Naomi had a choice. I showed her everything; power, information, immortality. But no," she sneered. "She chose you. Chose love over all I could ever give her. And see what happens."

Her words hurt, cutting deep, with a knife-sharpened edge, and I could not speak, my throat closing, my eyes burning, and I kept my eyes focused on Naomi again.

"Naomi…please." I shuddered, my hands shaking, my fingers supporting her face, brushing a lock of hair off of her cheek. "Wake up. Don't do this to me. I... I need you."

No answer

Somewhere in me, something fractured apart.

A screaming agony filled me and I rocked back onto my heels, my breath tearing out in jerks and snatches. This wasn't supposed to go down in such a way. This wasn't supposed to have happened.

I yanked my eyes up to Deluna, my anguish melting into fury. "You're a monster," I whispered, my voice shaking, trembling, but full of poison.

Deluna simply sneered at me. "Come on, Lucian, don't act innocent with me. Let's not make a virtue out of necessity. We both have shed enough blood."

I hurt, drained of everything but churning, burning anger in my heart.

Deluna reached out, her fingers curving, and a churning, emerald-green cloud of power flared to life in her palm. The power vibrated in the air, sending sharp, spitting jolts through my flesh.

"Good, then, it's over," she exclaimed with forced amusement. "And since Naomi is out of the picture, then you have no reason to resist, have you?"

She was right.

Without Naomi, I was nothing.

I shut my eyes. I did not blink when Deluna prepared to unleash the deadly energy at me. Death no longer scared me. Because if Naomi was dead, then I'd be dead, too.

And then—

A blur of motion.

A change in atmosphere.

Someone.... something leaped between me and Deluna’s attack.

I flung my eyes open.

Naomi.

She was standing on her feet.

My heart ceased beating for a beat.

"No," DeLuna panted, her face twisted with horror. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Naomi’s eyes flashed at Deluna, a defiant sneer twisting her mouth. "Think I could fall into such an easy trap, Deluna?"

Fury twisted Deluna’s face.

I couldn’t move, my head reeling at what I saw. I couldn’t breathe, my eyes drinking in Naomi’s transformation. Her dark hair, rich, deep black, was matted with white, glinting softly under the eerie glow of the battleground. Her surrounding aura of magic changed—brighter, cleaner.

How…? I struggled to speak, my voice reduced to a rough whisper. "Naomi, I thought—"

"I wasn’t dead," she interrupted, determination burning in her eyes. "I fooled her. Made her believe I'd died. It was my best chance at getting her off guard."

A snarl twisted Deluna’s face. "You little—"

Her hands flashed out, a web of magic sparking in them, but Naomi reached first. With a flick of her wrist, a sphere of burning blue shot out, striking Deluna’s chest.

The impact knocked her stumbling backwards, a pained scream tearing through her mouth.

DeLuna's eyes grew wide, with fury and horror flashing over her face. "What the—?"

Naomi refused to allow her to collect her wits.

Her hands rose, summoning a new tide of power. Glowing shadow played over her face, and for a moment, she seemed almost alien—something not of mortal make.

"I have learned at your hands, Deluna. I was your apprentice, remember..." Naomi said, her voice filled with mockery.

"And I even have your blood running in my veins," Naomi continued, her voice even. "I was your pupil, once. You'd have been wiser not to have miscalculated me."

"All thanks to you. I have enough powers to destroy you." Naomi smiled.

A snarl twisted Deluna's face, fingers shaking in anticipation of the attack.

Naomi's voice deepened, and her voice filled with quiet determination. "But one you hadn't bargained for."

And that? Deluna snarled, spitting out the words.

Naomi's grin flashed, a wicked one. "I'd learn to beat you."

Naomi extended a hand, opening it and cutting her flesh with the silver knife I'd clutched years ago. Blood bubbled, spattering onto the ground.

For a moment, Deluna reeled, the pupils widening in horror.

"No," she whispered, horror in her voice.

"Mine," Naomi continued, taking a step forward. "My blood, your vulnerability. As I'd predicted, my blood is salvation for others, but to you?" She flashed her a glint of blood, her blood, on the silver tip of the knife. "It's your demise."

A scream, inhuman, shredded through the evening, a wailing cry of agony and heartache, and Deluna fought, attempting a counterattack, but Naomi moved, almost in a blur.

"Lucian now!"

Without hesitation, I took a grab at the knife's hilt, my fingers closing over Naomi's.

And together, with one quick motion, plunged it into Deluna's heart.

Her scream, a wailing cry, shredded through the evening, a cry of agony and heartache, and Deluna's blood spewed out, her frame jerking and shuddering in agony.

And then—

She lay motionless.

For a while nothing happened.

Then, like ashes blown in a gust of wind, Deluna's collapsed, disintegrated into nothing at all.

And in one shocked beat of a heart, she was gone.

A creepy quiet crept over the field of battle.

The full impact crashed down on me, my breath shuddering in shallow, jerking gasps. I whirled and confronted Naomi, my hands clamped onto hers.

Her face, averted, was inscrutable, staring down at the ground where Deluna had lain. She whirled, then, and met my eyes with a slow, deliberate regard.

"It’s over," she breathed softly.

I struggled to speak, my voice thick with emotion, and forced out a single, stumbling word: "Could it really be?"

Naomi took a shaking breath, her fingers tightening in mine. "I think… I think it is."

I breathed out a slow, shaking breath, my shoulders dropping in exhaustion. I was relieved, a warm, flooding sensation at odds with the lingering, gnawing ache of what had happened.

Naomi lived. Deluna died.

And now maybe our battle was just over.

With Naomi by my side, to face whatever happened next.