Chapter 43 Kieran
Kieran
Iwatched in horror as Sybil closed her eyes and began to scream.
Her magic poured out of her in waves, pushing us back into the wall behind us.
An ache so deep pulled at my soul, urging me to go to her, to stop whatever was happening to her.
But I stood frozen as the air began to stir, like a storm gathering strength.
I heard Ivara call my name in warning, but it wasn’t my magic making the air heavy.
It was all coming from Sybil. Her sword flickered, her power leaking from her body, swirling around her.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Salem’s ear twitch before his body dissolved into shadow, slipping away to join the warm glow circling Sybil.
Another wave of power pulsed through the room, pushing everyone back.
The servants Hale had brought with him whimpered behind me, but I couldn’t look away, not as Sybil’s veins turned into a mix of black and gold, crawling up her arms and neck.
Sybil’s scream grew louder, more bloodcurdling.
Her eyes wrenched open, but they were no longer the beautiful, deep green I loved.
One eye glowed a bright white, while the other was endless black.
Blood poured from her eyes and down her face.
I breathed her name, taking a step forward.
My chest throbbed, the pain from days before returning tenfold.
This is what must have happened when Ambrose took her to the dungeon and commanded her to reveal the rebellion's secrets, and she refused.
I looked to Samian to check on him and found his eyes locked on Sybil, terror and agony burning in his gaze as he clutched his chest, teeth grinding hard.
I snapped my attention back to Sybil and cried out her name.
If she continued whatever she was doing, she was going to die, and we with her.
I didn’t give a fuck about what happened to me, but my heart and soul knew that she wouldn’t be able to survive trying to break the bargain.
I called out to her again, but this time, Sybil gasped, my voice finally reaching her.
Sybil lifted her gaze as the otherworldly colors faded away until only green remained, and her eyes shone with tears. I took a step closer when she shook her head, giving me a sad smile. Her magic fell away from her, though the pressure grew around us.
“I love you,” she whispered through the bond, her voice quivering. “I love you and know that this is not the end.”
“No,” I breathed, my heart stopping as I took another step closer to her.
“Samian,” Sybil yelled, her eyes never leaving mine, “now!”
A wall slammed against me, pushing me to the ground.
Samian held me down as vines wrapped around me, holding me to the floor.
I fought, bellowing as I clawed and tore my way through to get to Sybil, to stop what was about to come.
Samian called out to Daelan and Ivara for help, their hands pushing me down, keeping me away from my mate.
I fought against their grip, struggling to break free, when Sybil’s gaze shifted to Samian, then to Daelan and Ivara.
Each of them cursed under their breath, frozen in place, too stunned to move.
Tears poured down Sybil’s face when her eyes changed back to those eerie, otherworldly colors.
The fight drained out of me while I watched in agony, helpless, as her magic coiled tighter around her.
Spears of power erupted from every direction, piercing her body—driving straight through her heart.
The mating bond wailed, and I reached for Sybil, her name tearing from my throat. I wrestled against the vines, against Samian and the others holding me down as I watched Sybil’s blood, her life force, pouring out of her.
A vicious curse dragged my attention from my mate.
Ambrose stood at the edge of the room, fury twisting his features.
Beside him stood that fucking traitor, his skin gone pale as he stared at Sybil with sickened disbelief.
I could see the regret flickering in his gaze, as if he hadn’t meant for any of this to happen.
Shouts sounded from outside the room, my men quickly moving toward us. Ambrose grabbed the back of Ezra’s shirt, pulling him away to escape. Samian groaned beside me, raw with grief, and my eyes returned to Sybil as she took one last, shuddering breath.
Her magic faded, her body falling to the floor.
Samian’s vines pulled away as we all rushed to her side.
Pulling Sybil into my arms, I gently caressed her cheek, whispering for her to wake up, for this to all be a terrible dream.
But she didn’t move; her heart was no longer beating.
My blood burned with rage as my head snapped up, my gaze clashing with Samian’s.
“You knew,” I seethed. “You fucking knew!” I gently laid Sybil’s body down, then turned on Samian, slamming him to the floor and pinning him beneath me.
I raised my fist and drove it into his cheek.
“How could you? How could you let her do this?” Tears streamed down my face as I struck Samian again and again. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
“Kieran,” Queen Cassia barked.
I jerked my head toward hers, snarling and baring my teeth. I didn’t fucking care who she was. Queen or not, she was the one who told my mate to die, the one who made her into a fucking martyr.
I went to move when Samian stopped me, his hands pulling my face down to look at him. “Listen,” he whispered, his eyes lining with silver. “Fucking listen.”
I bared my teeth, fury burning through me, but I did as he told me. I opened myself to the room, straining to listen—and then I heard it. Felt it tear through my soul.
A heartbeat, weak and barely there.
My eyes snapped back to Samian, widening when another one sounded.
Both of us turned to Sybil in time to see her skin healing as her chest rose with a quivering breath.
I shoved myself off the ground and pulled Sybil close, pressing my ear to her chest, hope surging as her heartbeat strengthened.
A shocked laugh escaped me, and I turned toward the queen in disbelief.
“Only in death will she rise to become the one she was meant to be,” Queen Cassia murmured.