Chapter 27
“Avira, please,” I beg her as I scooch back.
She grips my face with her hand, digging the tips of her fingers into my skin. “I had so much fun toying with you this whole time. Keeping you on edge, not knowing when or if I was going to come to you.”
Tears pool in my eyes and I can hear Kieran trying to talk to me.
“The look of terror and anxiety any time you thought you saw me in town. It was quite easy to slip something into your food so I could come into your dreams and terrorize you even more,” she says.
I try to move out of her grip but my whole body is stuck in place… just like in the dream.
“You thought your dreams were safe from me but I wanted to show you that no matter what you try to do, you are never safe from me.” She makes a tsking sound.
“Please, you don’t have to do this,” I whisper.
“Oh, but I do. You are too much of a threat to stay alive.” She tilts her head as she looks at me. “Such a pity. I wanted to have more time to mess with you, but you are not useful to me any longer.”
“I thought you wanted to know where the book was,” I quickly say, trying to buy myself time.
“I do, but you are clearly not going to tell me so I might as well kill you,” she replies and lets go of my face.
Avira snaps her fingers and our surroundings change to the throne room. Why are we here?
“You lost your bargaining chip for your life.” Avira waves her hands in the air as she talks. “Now it’s time for you to die a slow and painful death.”
“Avira, we can talk about this. I don’t need to die,” I try to reason with her.
Avira takes several steps toward me, smiling. “Oh, but you do. What did you do with the book? At first I thought you stole the book to break the curse. You Fae sympathizer. It’s people like you who threaten the royal family.”
Her head tilts back as she laughs. It’s forever before she stops laughing and looks at my frail body on the ground in front of her.
“Do you want to know how to break the curse?” she asks.
I stay silent.
“Answer me!” she yells, her fists clenching at the side of her body.
“Ye-yes,” I stutter.
Adeline! Where are you? Kieran screams through the bond.
In the palace… the throne room, I reply.
I’m coming. Get somewhere safe and whatever you do, do not get near Avira! Kieran tells me. Get somewhere safe and wait for me to come to you.
I’ll try, I whisper.
Too late but I don’t tell him that. I know deep down that I’m not going to make it out alive. I have no idea how to get out of this invisible hold.
Avira won’t allow me.
“The mate of the High Lord is the key,” she tells me, chuckling at the end. “Sadly, he hasn’t found her yet. But he found you instead and you fell for him. You do realize that you will never be able to have him, right? He has a mate out there, a Fae mate.”
I bite my inner cheeks, desperately trying to keep my face from giving anything away. Why does she think his mate has to be Fae? Can she not detect that him and I are mates?
“Do you know what she has to do?” Avira asks and I shake my head. “Poor mate of the High Lord. Hopefully, she is never found. The tragic fate she will have to go through.”
I keep my mouth shut, afraid that I’m going to give away that I’m his mate. Would she even believe me if I told her?
“Don’t you want to know what the High Lady has to do to break the curse?” Avira asks.
“Wh-what does she have to do?” I’m so afraid to ask.
I’m afraid to hear the answer.
“I’ll tell you since you’re going to die and won’t be able to tell anyone else the key information.”
But Kieran and his friends already know how to break the curse, and it’s all connected to me. How are they going to break the curse if I’m dead? But it’s not like I can do anything to get out of this situation.
“She has to die,” Avira reveals.
Everything around me goes quiet as her words replay in my head over and over again.
She has to die.
I have to die.
There will never be me and Kieran walking down the street, hand in hand, laughing, smiling, eating good food and making so many memories.
We will never have kids.
We won’t grow old together.
We won’t have a wedding.
Kieran will live alone for the rest of his life.
No.
Adeline! What’s wrong? Kieran asks.
He knew all along and wanted to tell me in person that I was going to have to die. And I know deep down that he was never going to allow that to happen. He was going to live the rest of his life with the curse over them because he doesn’t want me to die.
But I can’t allow that to happen.
They need to be broken from this curse and live a better life, even if it means I’ll never get to see it.
Adeline, talk to me! What’s going on? he asks.
But I can’t bring myself to actually talk to him for the last time. There are so many things I want to say to him and yet I don’t know where to start. I don’t have enough time to actually tell him everything.
“Too bad you won’t ever get to see what the High Lady will look like,” Avira whispers as she thrusts the sword into my stomach, twisting and turning it.
Screaming, it feels like fiery, burning pain slices through my stomach.
Sweets! Kieran yells through the bond. What happened?
I love you, I whisper through the bond. Find someone else to love. Don’t stay alone forever. Be happy.
Sweets, don’t you dare! Just stay alive for a little bit longer. I’m almost to you, Kieran begs me.
Avira lets go of the sword and my body hits the ground, blood gushing out of my stomach.
“Such a pretty sight,” she whispers and cocks her head to the side.
“Avira,” I weakly say. “Want to know something?” I manage to get out.
I suck in a breath, trying to stay alive for a couple more seconds. Please let me get these words out. But the black around my vision continues to cover my vision.
“What?” she asks, rolling her eyes and getting closer to me.
“I’m the High Lady,” I confidently say for the first and last time.
Her eyes go wide right as the door bursts open. She whirls around and a huge roar fills the room.
“Adeline!” Kieran screams.
Avira turns back to me and I smile at her panicked looking face.
“No,” she whispers.
Black starts to encroach into my vision. Kieran runs straight toward us full force. Avira takes one more look between Kieran and I before disappearing into thin air.
“Sweets, just stay alive for me.” He drops to his knees and carefully pulls me into his arms.
Out of the corner of my eyes I see Elias, Zayden, and Everett flank around us, watching for any danger.
“K-Kieran.” I cough, blood spilling out of my mouth.
“Shhh, don’t talk. Everything is going to be okay. The healer is on their way and you are going to pull through this,” he says. “I just need you to stay quiet and conserve your energy.”
“I love you,” I manage to get out.
Tears pool in my eyes as we stare at each other. This is the last time I’m going to see his face. The last time he is going to hold me.
“Adeline.” He shakes his head.
“Find someone else.” I cough several times. “Be happy.”
Kieran puts pressure on my stomach wound, making me howl in pain but it comes out weak.
I’m not going to survive another five minutes with how much blood I’ve already lost.
“Adeline, you are going to survive this. I just need you to hold on for a little longer. They are almost here,” Kieran begs me.
“Please.” It’s my turn to beg him. “Please find someone else to love in your life.”
“Shhh, don’t talk like that. You are the only one that I want in this life and the next. You are it for me,” he whispers.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, coughing up blood.
“Open your eyes for me. Look at me. You’re going to be okay,” Kieran says. “Come on, Sweets. Open your eyes for me.”
I crack my eyes, barely, and look up at him. “So tired,” I mumble, feeling extremely weak.
“I know you’re tired but you need to keep your eyes open for me. I need you to stay awake until the healer gets here.”
“The curse.” I cough once more.
“Shhhh,” he tries to silence me.
“Can’t be broken until I die,” I manage to get out.
“I don’t care if the curse is broken or not. You are not dying on me. I’m not going to lose you.” His voice cracks at the end.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper and close my eyes again.
“Sweets, open your eyes,” he commands. “Open those beautiful eyes for me.”
My head lulls back and everything goes quiet. All of a sudden I find myself standing across the room, but when I look over at Kieran my body is still lying in his arms and he’s… he’s crying?
“Adeline, please wake up. I can’t lose you. Open your eyes and tell me that you are going to survive this. Please, Sweets,” he begs me as he holds my body closer to his.
I open my mouth but no sound comes out. Why can’t I talk to him? What is going on?
Looking down at my hands, I see right through them.
“Everything is going to be okay,” a voice whispers in my ear.
Whirling around, I scan the room but no one is standing anywhere near me.
“Stand by his side. Find the witch and kill her. You are the only one who can,” the same voice says, sounding farther away.
How? I try to get out, but no sound comes out of my mouth.
“Remember the dagger Kieran gave you,” she says. “It’s the key.”
I look back over at my body to see a shadowy figure standing at the top of my head.
She looks over at me. “Remember, the dagger is the key.” She touches my forehead and everything around me goes blurry.
Gasping, my eyes shoot open as I stare into Kieran’s cobalt blue eyes before everything goes black again.