27. Chapter 27
Camille
Istared ahead, terrified, as Josiah crumpled, lifeless, to the ground.
There were no words, just grief and an all consuming horror, that shook through my entire being.
My eyes were transfixed on the unmoving, bloody heap that was Josiah's body and just behind his body stood the demon I knew would be my mates end—my end.
Kyril stood in front of me with a look of sheer boredom on his face.
Boredom. His hand was still clutching Josiah's barely beating heart.
I watched as the pulse slowed in his hand, blood spraying with each sporadic beat.
His eyes snapped down to mine and a shiver ran down my spine.
The sobs began spilling out of me uncontrollably.
My eyes darted around in a panic. Nothing had happened the way it was supposed to.
I was going to die alone—right in this very spot, with nothing at all to show for every effort we put into the moment.
Everything we tried, led to the end of everyone I loved and cared about.
My body was far beyond repair. I was so weak and I cough deeply trying to clear my lungs.
I winced in pain as the damage of Kyril's body slamming in to me, was finally catching up to my awareness.
This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to end.
My eyes made their way back up to his, his face remained emotionless as he dropped Josiah's heart below him and made a face of disgust. I cried even harder as it rolled toward me, leaving a path of shimmering red in it's now motionless wake.
"Pitiful," he said as he looked at me. "I truly had more hope for you. I actually thought this might be fun, an actual challenge. Instead, I am finding myself miserably disappointed."
He sighed a seemingly endless breath. I could see him contemplating his next move for only a meer moment.
"Don't—Don't you dare—fucking walk away—from me," I sputtered.
The ache in my lungs was almost unbearable and I coughed again, the metallic tang of blood coating my mouth.
"I'd expect you don't really have the ability to stop me right now. Such a waste, too. Your essence calls to me so loudly," Kyril said.
He took in a deep inhale and closed his eyes like he was experiencing a form of the sweetest euphoria.
I begged my body to move. I strained against the ground, trying to lift myself.
I tried to put everything I had left in to my muscles so I could at least fight in these last moments.
I refused to die with my face in the dirt.
I refused to give Kyril the satisfaction of looking weak even though I clearly had already done that.
That's when I notice the pain in my stomach and the glass underneath my hands.
I was laying in rubble and surrounded by shards of glass.
The pain in my stomach was from the dagger still sticking out of my side and all of the lacerations from Kyril blasting into me.
My whole body tensed. The goosebumps rippled across my flesh like a wake—a warning—a jumpstart to a memory.
I shivered as the hairs on my arms rose.
Kyril stepped toward me, "Maybe… maybe I'll just have a quick taste. No need to waste such precious sustenance."
I looked up again and saw Kyril stuck in mid step. His eyes were confused and puzzled as I could see him straining against an invisible force.
"Get the fuck away from her!"
Suddenly, Kyril wasn't standing in front of me anymore.
He was flying backward like someone had catapulted him from where he was standing.
He was whipping through the air away from me.
My eyes fell on Jerrod's. He smiled so softly at me, heartbreak clearly visible behind the resolve on his face.
He looked worse for wear. It was probably the worst I had ever seen him.
He was covered in blood and dirt. His clothes were shredded and filthy.
He had visibly deep cuts around his entire body.
I honestly couldn't believe he was still moving at all and knew he was probably close to his limit if not already surpassing it. His eyes left mine and found Kyril.
I watched his eyes tilt down toward the ground and saw Kyril's momentum shift from whipping erratically to straight back down to the ground.
The speed was so hard for my eyes to even track, but my vision had begun blurring in and out.
The black shadowy haze had started rimming my vision.
He hit the ground between Jerrod and I, and the area detonated around us like an explosive had just gone off.
Rock and debris went scattering everywhere like shrapnel.
The shockwave of the collision hit next and the air moved so fast toward me that I couldn't take a breath in.
I had no idea Jerrod could have even done something like that with his gifts.
Clearly, the initial urgency of keeping me safe must have pushed him to a place far surpassing what he was usually capable of.
I thought for sure this was the advantage—the edge we so desperately needed—an upper hand in view.
But, I finally saw what Josiah meant when he said we couldn't win.
The speed. The absolute devastation that followed this monster.
He moved like nothing I had ever been able to even imagine.
Jerrod was fast in his own right, but I knew he wasn't fast enough.
I barely tracked what was happening, but saw the narrow misses.
Jerrod stayed so fluid in his movements, trying to stay ahead of Kyril, but if I were honest with myself, I knew it made no difference.
Kyril didn't seem to be slowing or even tiring.
I pushed again off the ground, but my breathing was growing more and more labored.
I coughed again, spraying more blood below me.
And in the quiet, I could hear Kyril suddenly screaming.
"You are wasting your energy! You can not stop this! IT IS INEVITABLE," he yelled as he missed again.
"I will die… before I let you come anywhere near her again," Jerrod screamed back.
"Then you will die," Kyril said and I could see the look on his face shift. He was done with the charade, the illusion that we had even a chance in this scenario.
I took in a deep breath as I saw them collide.
Jerrod came flying toward me, just like the vision.
Just like I had seen so many times before.
Bouncing against the ground like a pebble skipping along ice.
His body twisted and bent at unnatural angles as he sped toward me.
When he finally stopped, he landed just close enough for me to reach him.
I used the last bit of strength I had to pull my broken and battered body toward him the rest of the way.
My eyes blurred as the tears began to pool in my eyes.
I gripped on to his hand and his eyes locked on to mine.
The blood began to pool underneath him, running quickly from the wounds.
We held on to each other, knowing this was the end.
Knowing that we couldn't go back anymore.
Knowing this was finally it. We were at the end of the line—at the final moment—and nothing would save us now. Nothing could.
His teal eyes were filled with regret and grief.
A trail of blood trickled out of his mouth and ran down the side of his lips.
His breathing was becoming more and more shallow and labored.
He was going to die and I wouldn't be far behind him.
I could hear Kyril laughing maniacally in the distance.
He had finally won. We hadn't been able to stop him.
We couldn't keep him from destroying everything.
The blood loss was becoming more apparent.
I shivered as the cold set into my body.
Jerrod's hand felt like ice in my own. Nothing else mattered in this moment.
Nothing but me and him and our unbreakable bond in the final moments we had.
And in the back of my mind, I felt relieved that the Gilarian weren't my problem anymore.
The whole situation was someone else's future, someone else's fate, someone else's battle to win. It wasn't my problem anymore.
A tear slowly trailed down Jerrod's face. He lifted his hand to my cheek and gazed lovingly at me. "Camille—I'm—I'm so—sorry," he rasped trying to get out his final thoughts.
"Don't be sorry," I cried quietly.
"Please… listen… I love—love you… Forgive me. Please."
I looked at him confused. "You couldn't have change this anymore than I could have," I admitted sadly.
"No… this is—this is—the only way… I'm so sorry… But I have to," he sputtered, tears spilling down his face now.
"I don't understand!"
"You… will…," he gasped.
"Oh god, no, don't leave me yet. Please… I'm not ready. I'm not ready for this!" I wailed. "I need you with me!"
"I will always—find you—," he choked. "In this life—and every life—after—"
He was gasping in little breaths now. I bent down and put my lips to his, knowing, it was almost time to let go. My hand gripped on to his tighter.
"It's okay, my love. I will always find you…" I said softly against his mouth as the tears fell unbridled from my eyes.
He smiled, closed his eyes and his hand went slack.
My whole body went rigid because the moment had come.
It was time to say goodbye. But I couldn't! I couldn't let go yet.
I took a deep breath and let out an agonizing scream at the loss.
I felt like the misery of the grief alone would kill me in the moment.
I begged for death to take me. I begged for this to be over finally.
I couldn't do this. I couldn't live my life without him by my side. I couldn't live without the bond.
I gasped at the sudden tug. The bond was still there.
Faint but there. He suddenly grabbed my hand, forcefully enough that it jolted a sharp current of pain through my arm and it felt like my body was flying backward.
I threw my arms forward, trying unsuccessfully to grab back on to him, but the force was so intense.
Everything around me blurred, like the world was whirling and spinning.
I felt like I was swirling in a vortex downward, spinning faster and faster in a whirlpool of colors and moments.
Then time stood still for just a moment and I wondered if I had finally crossed over.
Was I dead?
Was this the end?
The afterlife?
It felt like everything had stopped. There was nothing but a state of emptiness and purposeless being.
But just as quick as I had been pulled back, I was being pushed forcefully forward and my mind began to race.
I was becoming confused and muddled. I wasn't sure where I was or what had happened.
I wasn't sure how I had gotten to this moment.
I shot through space and time like a missile.
Nothing made sense. Nothing seemed right. And then, there was nothing.
I woke up screaming, coated in sweat, wrapped in my blankets, like they had been trying to strangle me in my sleep. The bed underneath me was lumpy and uncomfortable. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm down.
Where the fuck was I?
I looked around the room and then I found myself thinking about what I remembered last. I tried to recount what I had done the day before. I was so discombobulated. I started squinting my eyes like maybe that would help deepen my ability to recall the details I had seemingly forgot.
The door in front of me swung open and I found myself even more disoriented, like my brain was trying to catch back up to something.
"Cami, are you okay?"
I looked up, taken aback, to see Amelia standing there. She was still in her pajamas, looking at me like I was crazy. I felt an unexplainable sensation of loss and betrayal and regret in my soul. My eyebrows pulled together as the unusual chaos swirled inside of me.
"I.. uhhh…" I stuttered
"You don't… look very good. You're like, white as a sheet. Are you sick?" she said softly as she knelt down and sat on my bed.
She put her hand to my forehead and I found myself recoiling from her touch. The interaction, in and of itself, had me perturbed.
"I'm… not sure," I admitted. "Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Are you being serious right now?" she asked with a weird look on her face. "I know you've been nervous about today, but it'll be fine! I promise!"
"What day is it, Amelia?"
"The first day of job training?" she answered with a small laugh, but her face was full of concern. "I'm sure you can handle Lord Valencia just fine."