Chapter 129
Zirah
My stomach sinks, my breath lodging in my throat as I drop to my knees beside him. Screams ring out loudly around me, yet their voices are nothing but white noise to my ears as I sink my teeth into his neck. His pulse beats beneath my tongue, each growing fainter as the life drains from him.
Zeke and Lyon are by our sides within seconds as I pull back, seeing his deathly pale skin. Gnash whimpers loudly, the sound tearing through my chest and crushing the air from my lungs. I’m pulled from my grief-induced haze by the violent force of Zeke and Lyon, who fling themselves at Regan.
Zeke’s embrace is desperate, and I can see the raw torment in his eyes as he clutches his lifeless brother. Zeke is quick to rip him from me, biting his wrist and trying to force his blood down his throat.
I am too late; I can feel it in every atom of my body. He’s gone. This curse took him from me. I didn’t break it. I condemned the man I love.
I watch helplessly as Zeke works tirelessly to revive him. My coven grabs Leila while Lyon falls to his knees, staring vacantly at Regan. I feel numb. Everything around me feels like a nightmare I’m witnessing from afar. Everything has turned to chaos, but I feel nothing.
Mountains loom overhead, cracked right open for the world to see that mother nature too can bleed. The towering peaks are obscured by the chaotic tumult of the storm that engulfs us. Each crash of thunder sounds like the sky is crying out in anguish. We stand on the craggy terrain mere moments after escaping the bunker, only now we’re faced with a different nightmare. We were so close, but not close enough.
Dark clouds roil, gathering momentum with each passing second, and the rain beats relentlessly against the earth. It’s as though the heavens weep with me, sharing my sorrow. Each lightning bolt that streaks across the horizon illuminates the tragic image before me, the glow casting shadows upon Regan’s ashen face while Zeke’s hands press to his chest, trying to force life back into him.
I kneel beside him, the very essence of him slipping away from my grasp. Desperation gnaws at me, the weight of my grief threatening to drown me. “Please, Regan,” my voice breaks, quivering with sorrow. “Stay with me.”
Gnash, though weak, still holds onto life while his bond to me suddenly solidifies. With each passing second, I feel Gnash bond to me more. It makes my heart ache, knowing it is only because he lost his master. Gnash nudges Regan’s chest with a mournful whine.
The world seems to tilt on its axis, every sound muffled, every color surrounding me dims as if the world is losing its color without him. The chilling wind blows, but the cold is nothing compared to the icy dread seeping into my heart. As if in tandem with his fading heartbeat, the storm intensifies.
Gnash whines pitifully, pressing into Regan’s lifeless form.
“Litha, don’t you let him pay for my sins,” comes a choked cry. My eyes move to Theron, where he is deathly pale. James clutches him as blood bubbles out his lips.
His face is full of pain, his chest heaving, eyes wild as he glares at the storm raging above. Yet, there’s a glint of something else—something I can’t decipher.
His head turns in my direction. “He won’t die for me,” Theron coughs. Blood spurts out his mouth like his insides are liquefying. “Take it,” he coughs. “Take it, Zirah.” His hoarse voice is laden with urgency. “No parent should witness the death of their child, let alone be the cause of it.” He lurches forward, spewing up blood, his skin graying before my eyes. “Take it,” he rasps. The raw emotion in his tone sends shivers down my spine.
Though knocking on death’s door, Theron possesses an intensity in his eyes that I have never seen in him before.
“Zirah,” he rasps, the effort visible in the tendons of his neck, “Take it. Take my life.” Theron’s voice wavers, saturated with regret. “This curse . . . It was mine. I won’t let it claim my son. I’ve wronged so many, but please, not him. Not because of me.”
James, whose arms support Theron’s crumbling form, looks away with tears in his eyes. He’s trying to keep it together, but I see the anguish on his face at what his brother is asking.
Theron’s once fierce eyes now look weary, resigned. “Too many mistakes,” he croaks. “Let my boy live, Litha. You know he’s worthy of life, yet you condemned him along with me,” Theron stammers to the skies.
The conflict inside me is suffocating. Could I really trade one life for another? Play god in such a way? Yet, my hand is already reaching toward him like my subconscious has chosen before my mind came to terms with it.
The pain that engulfs me with my choice is breathtaking. Each lick of the pain pierces deeper than the last. Every cell in my body screams in agony, but even as the pain threatens to tear me apart, there’s a persistent echo from the depths of my soul—a lifeline.
With the malevolence of the storm, my hand falls onto Theron’s chest, my magic tickling my fingertips when Theron gasps.
I lay my hand over Theron’s chest, feeling the vibrations of his life force. Taking a deep breath, I draw upon the storm’s energy and the ancient power coursing through the veins of every member of our coven.