Chapter 150 THE END ROAD
AMBER'S POV
I stood frozen in the middle of the clearing, the night air thick with tension, my hands shaking. I could feel Damien’s gaze on me, heavy and silent, and I hated myself for it. For making him wait, for making him hope, for making him think… that there was a chance.
“Amber…” His voice was soft, breaking, and it cut deeper than any knife. “You… you’re sure about this?”
I swallowed hard. My throat felt dry, my heart pounding so fast I thought it might burst. I wanted to tell him I didn’t know, that I couldn’t choose, that maybe there was a way for both of them. But the truth sat heavy on my chest like a rock.
“I’m… I’m sure,” I whispered. My voice barely reached him. “I love him. I… I chose Derek.”
His face changed in an instant. Shock and pain. Then a tight, brittle mask of control. He blinked once, then looked away, as if breaking eye contact could make it hurt less.
“You… Do you love him?” His voice cracked. “Amber, I… I gave everything. I trusted you. I thought… I thought maybe…”
He trailed off, shaking his head, swallowing back tears. “I can’t fight you. I… I can’t.”
“Damien, it’s not about bonds. It’s not about destiny. It’s about… him. I love him. I always have.” My words trembled, and my own heart ached as I said them. “I’m sorry. I wish…”
He cut me off gently, painfully. “Don’t. Don’t say sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just… I didn’t expect this. I thought…” He closed his eyes, a shudder running through him.
“I thought maybe love could be enough.”
I stepped toward him, wanting to touch him, to make him understand. But he shook his head.
“No. Don’t.” His voice was quiet now, almost a whisper, heavy with heartbreak. “I can’t be part of this. Not like this, not if it’s him.”
Before I could answer, he turned and walked into the darkness. The sound of his footsteps echoed in my ears long after he disappeared, leaving only silence and emptiness. My chest ached in a way that felt like it would never heal.
I turned to Derek, who was watching the exchange with that haunted, distant look that made my stomach twist. I tried to reach for him.
“Derek… It’s me. It’s okay. It’s fine. Please…”
He nodded slightly, but his eyes weren’t fully here. Something had shifted in him, subtle at first, almost invisible, but it was there, the edges of him fraying, a shadow creeping over the parts of him I loved most.
“We need to start,” Lyra said quietly, kneeling beside him. “Now. We can’t waste time.”
Davina joined her, chanting softly, glowing with the faint light of magic. I placed my hands on Derek, feeling the warmth of him, the weight of his presence, and started chanting too. “Come back to us, Derek. Please, come back…”
Nothing happened. Not even a flicker. My voice grew desperate, cracks forming as I repeated the words.
“It’s okay… it’s okay… we’ve got you…”
Derek’s eyes blinked, and I saw awareness there, but it was dulled, like a candle struggling to stay lit in a storm. My heart raced. “No, no, no! Come back! Please, Derek! Please!”
Lyra’s hands glowed brighter, Davina’s chanting intensified. I could feel the strain, the desperation pouring from all three of us, and still… nothing.
Hours passed. Days. I refused to leave his side, tracing his face, whispering, begging. “Stay with me. I love you. Stay… don’t let go…”
And sometimes, sometimes, he would squeeze my hand, faintly, just enough to remind me he was still there. But it never lasted. And I could see the darkness creeping closer every second.
I sat back, trembling, feeling tears stream down my face. “We’re too late,” I whispered. “We’re too late, aren’t we?”
Lyra’s face was pale, eyes wide with fear. “I don’t know… I don’t know anymore.”
Davina’s voice shook as she muttered spells under her breath. “I… I can’t feel it breaking through. Something’s wrong… it’s like it’s too late. He’s… fading.”
I pressed my head to Derek’s chest, feeling the faint rise and fall of his breathing. “I love you,” I whispered, voice breaking.
“I love you, Derek. Please… please fight…”
And in the silence, only the sound of my own sobs filled the space.
Days passed, and nothing changed. Derek was still with us, but not really. His eyes followed me sometimes, a flicker of recognition, a ghost of the man I loved. Other times, he stared past me, distant, hollow. The magic we tried had failed, and I felt powerless, drowning in grief.
“Amber…” Lyra’s voice pulled me back from the spiral of despair. “We need to keep trying. Even if it’s small, even if it’s… it’s all we have.”
I shook my head, tears streaking down my face. “I can’t… I don’t know if there’s anything left to try. I can’t see him like this.”
Davina’s hands glowed faintly, and her lips moved silently in prayer. “We’ve been late before. But this… this feels… permanent. He’s slipping, Amber. And I don’t know how to stop it.”
I pressed my fingers to Derek’s lips, desperate. “Derek… Can you hear me? It’s me. Amber. Please… I need you. Don’t leave me.”
His hand twitched slightly, just slightly. My chest squeezed, and I held onto that tiny spark like it was the only thing keeping me alive.
“I… I loved you,” I whispered, choking on my own words. “I chose you. I chose you, Derek. Please… don’t go.”
He blinked, and I swore I saw recognition flash in his eyes. “Amber…” he said faintly, voice ragged.
“I… I’m here…”
But it wasn’t enough. The darkness around him crept closer, swallowing the fire, the spark, the part of him that made him Derek. I could feel it. I could feel it in my bones and it was unstoppable.
I looked away, seeing the empty space where Damien should be. He had left, carrying his heartbreak silently. He hadn’t cursed me, hadn’t blamed me. But I knew… he was gone, and I couldn’t save him either.
“Amber, we have to accept it,” Lyra whispered, trembling. “We… we can’t control this.”
“No!” I shouted, clutching Derek to me. “We can’t! He can’t… he can’t leave like this! He’s still here, I can feel him! We can fix this. We have to!”
Davina’s voice shook. “Amber… it’s too far gone. The spell… it’s not reaching him. He’s fading… faster than we can hold on.”
I pressed my face to his chest, feeling every beat, every breath. “I love you,” I repeated over and over.
“I love you. Please… fight… don’t leave me…”
A tear fell onto his hand. And then another. And another. Hours turned into days. I whispered, begged, and sobbed by his side, tracing the outline of his face, hoping, praying that some part of him would hold on.
And still, the darkness crept, unstoppable, patient, consuming.
I looked around at the other witches, at Lyra and Davina, their faces etched with fear and grief. We had failed. We had tried everything we knew and still, Derek was slipping away from us, from the world, from me.
I didn’t know how to survive this. I didn’t know how to breathe knowing that I had chosen love, and yet love wasn’t enough.
And the cruelest part… was knowing that Damien had loved me too, silently, and now he would wander, broken, carrying his own heartbreak, because the choice I made was mine alone.
I held Derek tighter. “I love you,” I whispered one last time, praying, hoping, as the last spark of him flickered in my arms.
And even as the world fell apart around me, I couldn’t let go.
I held Derek tighter. “I love you,” I whispered one last time, praying, hoping, as the last spark of him flickered in my arms.
His fingers twitched weakly against mine, but it was nothing I could hold onto. The part of him that had been fierce, alive, stubborn… it was slipping further with every breath he took. I could feel it, like ice spreading through my chest, chilling me to the bone.
“Please… don’t leave me,” I sobbed, my voice breaking completely. “I need you… I can’t do this without you.”
Lyra knelt beside us, clutching my hand. “Amber… he’s still… he’s still fighting… somewhere in there.”
I shook my head violently. “No, Lyra. No! Look at him! He’s here, but he’s not really here. He’s disappearing… day by day. And we can’t stop it!”
Davina’s tears fell silently onto her hands. “Magic can’t fix this. Not anymore. He’s slipping too fast. We… we were too late.”
I buried my face in Derek’s chest, feeling the warmth of him fading under my hands. Every heartbeat I held onto felt like a countdown, a cruel reminder that I had chosen love, and yet love had already begun to betray me.
I whispered again, barely audible. “I love you, Derek. I always will… even if you’re gone. Even if I lose you completely…”
And in the silent, dark room, with the weight of the world pressing down on me, I realized that sometimes love wasn’t enough. Sometimes, even the strongest hearts couldn’t
save the ones we loved most.
SHATTERED HEARTS FOREVER