Chapter Fifty-Two
ADRIAN
‘No,’ Santi said from where he knelt. ‘You’re wrong.’ He was still clutching Annabel’s hand.
Adrian blinked, then blinked again as numbness swept over him.
‘I’m sorry,’ Enzo said, standing. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Adrian’s parents wept, his sisters too, some shaking their heads, others stoic.
‘Do something!’ Santi shouted. ‘You’re a fucking god! Save her.’
‘There’s nothing left to save,’ Enzo said quietly. ‘Whatever is inside her, keeping her breathing, is not anything you want to save. She’s a walking corpse.’
Adrian lunged then, his fury looking for somewhere to spill out. When he reached Enzo, arms raised as everyone else shouted in alarm, Enzo spun, eyes blazing as he wrapped a hand around Adrian’s wrist, halting him.
‘Your anger lies not with me,’ he said, squeezing tightly. ‘I know. I know the pain you feel well. But save it for the one who deserves it, who caused it.’
‘I swear,’ Santi croaked, ‘I will find this Dark, and I will make it suffer.’
‘So will I, and so will Adrian,’ Enzo said. ‘Together.’ It was an earnest promise. Adrian sagged, tears springing to his eyes, and Enzo caught him gingerly as his knees buckled.
‘My sister,’ Adrian finally said, all pride gone as he sobbed into Enzo’s shoulder. ‘My sweet sister.’
Enzo’s expression softened, and he patted his back as he continued to cry. ‘We will avenge her, Adrian. I swear it.’
A surge of warmth travelled up Adrian’s body, trying to soothe and hush him. When he finally pulled away, even Enzo’s eyes seemed bright with emotion.
Then Enzo frowned. Coughed. His eyes went wide as he clutched his chest.
‘What’s wrong?’ Adrian demanded. Enzo fell to his knees, clawing at his throat.
‘Elara,’ he rasped.
‘What?’ Santi demanded.
‘Something’s wrong,’ Enzo managed to get out. ‘We need to leave. Now.’
‘My family—’ Adrian said.
‘Please,’ Enzo begged. ‘Just take me back to the ship, then return. I’m telling you: Elara is in danger.’
The desperate plea in his eyes made Adrian pause. ‘I need to go,’ he said to his parents. ‘I’ll be back, I promise.’
‘What do we do with her body?’ his father croaked.
‘Burn it,’ Enzo said. ‘Give her the funeral she deserves. But I believe that’s the only way to let her spirit rest.’
His mother continued to weep, clinging on to Adrian as he embraced her.
‘I’ll be back for you,’ Santi rasped to Annabel.
He threw himself over her, clutching her as her lifeless body stared up at the ceiling.
‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner, I’m sorry that I let my fear get in the way of it.
Your soul is a mirror of mine.’ He was crying now, and Adrian went to him, trying to offer reassurance.
‘I know it now as clear as day. For what else can cause me to feel like my heart has torn in two?’
Enzo continued to struggle, hand pressed to his chest. ‘Please,’ he urged.
Santi stared at Annabel for a moment longer before Adrian hauled him away. ‘Later, Santi,’ Adrian said, his own heart broken. ‘We will come back and give her the rites she deserves.’
Santi stumbled away as Adrian heaved Enzo up.
Lenore ran ahead of them, opening the doors with teary eyes as she helped them towards the exit. ‘Please come back, brother. We need you.’
Adrian embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go, Santi drifting behind them like a wraith.
He dipped a finger into the vial he carried that contained the seawater tied to his ship, and croaked, ‘The Starred Siren.’ Water leaped up around him and Enzo as his home, now tainted by death, disappeared behind them.