Chapter 214
The clinical way he says it makes me feel sick, like we’re talking about cutting up a piece of meat instead of killing someone I love. But I know Derek is trying to help, trying to make sure we do this right.
We only get one chance, and if we mess it up, Tristan dies for nothing.
Tristan lies down on the mattress and looks up at all of us. His brown eyes move from face to face, taking in our expressions, our fear, our love for him.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says, but I don’t know if he’s talking to me or to himself or to all of us.
Sarah moves to stand beside me, and she doesn’t say anything, but I can feel her presence like a warm wall at my back.
Her hand brushes against mine, and even though I’m wearing gloves, the contact gives me strength.
Orion picks up the knife with hands that are definitely shaking now. The blade wavers in the light, and I can see his jaw clenching and unclenching as he stares down at it.
‘I can’t do this, he says, and his voice is barely above a whisper.
“Yes, you can,” Tristan says firmly from his position on the mattress. “You have to.”
“There has to be another way, there has to be something else we can try.”
“There isn’t,” Tristan’s voice gets softer, more patient. “We’ve been over this a hundred times. It has to be you because you’re strong enough to hold me
down if I try to shift. It has to be now because waiting won’t make it easier.”
Derek moves to kneel beside the mattress, positioning himself near Tristan’s legs. “I’ll help hold him steady, the wolfsbane will make him want to shift,
but if he does, it’ll kill him faster.”
The casual way everyone is talking about this is making my head spin. How are they all so calm? How are they discussing the logistics of murder like
they’re planning a dinner party?
But I know it’s not really calm, it’s the kind of forced steadiness that comes from knowing you have to do something horrible and trying not to think
about it too much.
“Athena? Tristan turns his head to look at me, and his eyes are clear and focused. “Are you ready?”
Am I ready? No, I’ll never be ready to watch someone I love die. I’ll never be ready to see him in pain because of me, because of what I am and what I
can’t control.
But that’s not what he’s asking.
He’s asking if I’m ready to save him, if I’m ready to try to use this cursed power for something good for the first time in my life.
“I’m ready,” I say, and I try to put all my conviction into those two words.
Orion positions himself next to Tristan’s chest, kneeling on the mattress with the knife in his right hand. The blade looks huge in his hands, deadly and final and wrong.
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Chapter 214
*On three?” Derek suggests, but his voice is tight with stress,
Tristan shakes his head quickly. “Don’t count, just do it. Counting will make it worse.”
Sarah’s hand finds mine and squeezes, her palm is sweaty, but so is mine. We’re both terrified, both trying to be strong for the people we love
Orion raises the knife, and the blade catches the light and throws it back at us in sharp flashes.
His whole body is tense, and I can see the muscles in his arm trembling with the effort of holding the weapon steady.
‘I’m sorry,” he whispers, and there are tears running down his face.
Then he brings it down.
The sound it makes going into Tristan’s chest is wet and horrible, like tearing fabric but so much worse. It’s the sound of metal cutting through skin and muscle and everything that’s supposed to stay inside a body.
Tristan’s back arches off the mattress, and a scream tears out of his throat that doesn’t sound human.
It’s raw and desperate and full of pain that goes beyond anything I’ve ever heard before. The sound goes right through me and settles in my bones, and I know I’ll hear it in my nightmares for the rest of my life.
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R Visitor
OMG I have tears in my eyes! please let Tristan survive!
7 days ago
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
