Chapter XLIX. Ellery
XLIX
ELLERY
WINTER
The kiss brimmed with longing. Every breath that passed between them was another wish wasted. No goodbye could express what had been ripped from them, what had never been theirs to begin with.
Still, they tried.
Ellery attempted to numb herself, but she couldn’t staunch her emotions. With Domenic, she never could.
The kiss became annihilation, her defenses stripped away, her heart bared and bloodied between them.
He had excavated every piece of herself she’d buried, and this was her reward: to feel each moment of the battle to come, to bear the full grief and guilt of his demise.
It would hurt until she followed him to the grave. It would be agony.
At least she could spare him suffering. She could make it painless. Quick.
Slowly, she reached for Iskarius. Until a searing heat flared against her, and she jolted away from Domenic as he, too, drew Valmordion.
They backed away from each other, wands raised.
They fired their first shots at the same time.