Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lia
“Leo!”
My knees hit the floor as an excruciating burn ignites in my chest.
No. No. No. This isn’t happening.
“Stay with me,” I whisper. “Someone help!”
“Lia.” He wipes a tear from my cheek. “End this. Stop Joaquin.” His voice breaks, thinning to a whisper.
“Shh, don’t speak.” I brush the hair from his forehead. “Save your energy.”
I don’t need to look up to know who did this.
Joaquin’s glee seeps through me, palpable and perverse.
Utterly inhuman.
Not a flicker of remorse. Only empty satisfaction.
Calm down, Lia. You can siphon his healing. You have to.
My hands hover over the wound as I try to summon his healing, to siphon it into him, but my fingers won’t stop shaking.
Why isn’t it working?
Chaos unfolds around me as men and women clash in vicious combat. Every emotion in the room slams into me at once, obliterating what little control I have left.
I’m drowning in fire. Consumed by sorrow.
“Carter! Zayne!” My voice tears from my throat, desperate for anyone to hear. “Help Leo!” I search for Kylo, but he’s locked in a fight with Draven.
The pain ravaging Leo is unbearable. He’s slipping away. The faint tether of light that binds us dims for a heartbeat, then goes dark.
Time halts.
My breath sticks in my throat, and my heart shatters like thin ice beneath a step.
Sudden.
Irreversible.
My fists clench at my sides. A scream tears out of me, and the glass windows around us shatter outward in a violent eruption of power.
My body lifts off the ground, suspended in the air. Glass shards swirl in a cyclone around me, slicing through my skin. I should feel pain, but these cuts are nothing compared to the torment inside me.
My gaze sweeps the room for the person responsible. I sense his presence immediately—rotten and unmistakable.
Joaquin shields his face from the flying glass.
To my left, a thick shard spins overhead. I lock onto it, picturing it driving straight through his dark, corrupted soul.
The shard lands right above his heart.
The instant it strikes, my body plummets—free-falling until I slam into a solid chest hard enough to knock the breath from me.
Kylo catches me, breaking my fall before steadying me on my feet.
Joaquin falls to the ground, his body writhing in agony, choking up blood.
“He’s dying,” I whisper, barely able to breathe. “End this.”
“You, my daughter,” Joaquin coughs. “You made me proud.”
“Rot in hell,” I spit.
The muscle in Kylo’s jaw jumps. “He deserves to suffer.”
“Not when I feel every second of it. Kill him.”
Kylo stares at me, bewildered. “What?”
“When someone’s dying, I feel their life drain away. Please, make it stop.”
Joaquin’s lips curl in a blood-slicked smile. “You were the variable I could never predict.”
Kylo lifts a hand, sending another shard slicing clean across Joaquin’s throat.
I don’t look away. I can’t.
I need to see it.
The exact moment the light leaves his eyes.
The darkness that once clung to him is gone, replaced by nothing.
As if he never existed.
Kylo wraps his arms around me. “Hold on. We’re getting out of here.”
“Out! Now! The building’s coming down!” Carter shouts.
As Kylo lifts me, I glance back one last time. Joaquin lies in a pool of his own blood.
Draven and the rest of the Aether Hunters are absent.
“Where’s Draven?”
“He got away,” Kylo says tightly.
The moment my eyes find Leo’s body, my lungs cave in.
He’s gone. He’s gone. He’s gone.
Kylo reaches for me, but I twist free and fall to the ground, crawling toward Leo. Shards of glass slice into my palms, yet I barely feel it.
Joaquin took everything.
“Kylo! Grab Lia and go!” Carter shouts from somewhere behind us.
I gather Leo into my arms, cradling him as if I could hold him together and keep him here with me.
Kylo kneels beside me. “We have to go.”
“Leave me,” I sob, burying my face against his forehead.
His telekinesis yanks me off the ground. Kylo seizes my hand, dragging us toward the exit as the building groans, walls splitting apart, smoke and dust cloaking the room.
As we flee, we pass what’s left of Joaquin’s body.
I killed him. I killed Joaquin.
But I couldn’t save Leo.
My knees buckle, and I collapse like a marionette with its strings cut.
Kylo’s beside me, cupping my face. “I know you’re in shock, but you have to move. Your powers nearly leveled the structure. We don’t have long.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I’ll carry you.”
I’m hoisted over his shoulder.
We escape the crumbling building, sprinting through smoke and debris. The walls fold in on themselves as glass rains from above. Every muscle locks. My eyes squeeze shut as I brace for the ceiling to cave in.
I’m flung into the back seat of a car. Kylo dives in beside me as the engine roars to life.
I slump against the seat, my body numb with shock. Blood sticks to my skin, drying in dark streaks.
My mind replays it all on a loop.
Leo’s face.
Joaquin’s.
The way his body went still.
The way I felt it happen.
“Can you pull over? I feel sick.”
“It’s not safe,” Zayne answers from the driver’s seat, eyes fixed on the road. “I don’t know if we’re being followed. If you’re going to hurl, do it out the window.”
He speeds up, and I roll down the window. The wind tangles my hair, strands whipping across my face.
“Isn’t this Elijah’s Camaro?”
“Yes,” Carter says. “It was the closest vehicle available.”
Did Elijah make it out?
“Elijah and Seraphina are safe,” Kylo answers. “They escaped.”
Relief washes over me, but it vanishes quickly. The nausea builds fast, twisting my stomach. I barely get my head out the window before I vomit.
“Easy. Lean on me if you need to,” Kylo murmurs, moving my hair away from my face.
“Where are we going now?” I ask once I’m sure I’m done.
“Alaska,” Zayne answers.
“That’s where Elijah’s other compound is. We’ll be secure there,” Carter adds.
Alaska means Canada.
Days away.
I’ve never been anywhere without Leo.
“I don’t have a passport.”
“We won’t need them,” Zayne replies. “Kylo will compel the border agents to let us through.”
My throat feels thick, like I can’t swallow. Heat prickles at the back of my neck.
“I need out of this car.”
“It’s not safe to pull over,” Zayne repeats, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror.
The cabin shrinks around me. Leo’s blood still stains my hands.
Kylo leans forward. “Zayne, pull the fuck over. She can’t breathe!”
“Shit!” Zayne snaps.
Before the car fully stops, I throw the door open and stumble out. I scan the pavement ahead. Trees crowd both sides of the highway.
I consider running.
And if I don’t make it?
Maybe it wouldn’t matter.
“Don’t you dare,” Kylo says from behind me.
“Stay over there.” I lift a hand, warding him off. “I need space.”
“Stop,” he says, sharper than I’ve ever heard him. “Not like this.”
“We wouldn’t be here if you had listened when I warned you about Blair.”
He flinches like I slapped him. “I didn’t know.”
“I tried to tell you, but you shut me out.”
A semi-truck speeds by with a loud whoosh, wind rippling my clothes.
He lifts a hand, but hesitates to touch me. “Move away from the road.”
My feet stay rooted. It’s too much. I can’t carry it anymore.
“Lia…” His voice tightens. “Don’t do this.”
“He’s gone,” I choke out.
Lightning rips across the sky, followed by a roar of thunder. Icy rain pelts my skin, each droplet a cold reminder of what I’ve lost.
Another car rushes past—too close.
Kylo grabs my arm and pulls me from the road.
He holds me firmly in place, his body shielding mine from the passing cars. “Lia, look at me.”
“You don’t get it.”
“You don’t think I understand pain? I’ve been drowning in it for years.” Rain tracks down the line of his jaw. “I was empty. Numb. Fighting a war I didn’t care to survive.”
His eyes lock onto mine. “You’re the reason I’m still standing. The reason I want what comes after.”
Something in me splinters.
“Kylo, stop. Don’t talk like that. You matter with or without me.”
He leans in and cups my cheeks. “Stay with me,” he says, voice breaking. “Please.”
A sob catches in my throat.
He pulls me closer, holding me like I’ll disappear if he loosens his grip. “You’re not alone. I’m right here. I’m not letting you go.”
I cling to him, and the sobs break free.
My twin is gone.
I’ll never hear his laugh again.
Kylo holds me tightly, whispering soft, grounding words in my ear—a balm against the worst night of my life.
I’m soaked to the bone, shivering uncontrollably as rain seeps into my clothes.
“Are you guys finished yet?” Zayne calls out from the car. “It’s pouring! Get in!”
Kylo finally eases his grip. “Come with me.”
I take a step toward the car, but I sway to the left.
He catches me, holding me upright.
The trees, headlights, and raindrops blur together, spinning around me.
“Lia’s hurt!”
I look down. Kylo’s hands are streaked with blood.
I forgot about my injury. I forgot I was bleeding.
Forgot the knife.
“Keep your eyes open, sweetheart. Stay with me.”
I groan at the nickname, and he grins, raindrops glistening on his lips and dripping from the tips of his hair.
“Where is she hurt?” Carter asks.
Black specks dance across my vision.
“Here—” Kylo says, lifting my shirt.
“The wound is deep,” Zayne says. “She’s lost a lot of blood. She’ll need stitches. Heal what you can now, and I’ll finish when we reach the motel. She also needs fluids.”
A rush of cold air brushes against my exposed skin, and I wince. Warmth spreads through me slowly. The gnawing pain in my side begins to dull, replaced by a comforting thrum of energy.
Turning toward Kylo, I find him staring at me. His usual deep blue eyes have faded to a steel gray.
“Better?” Carter asks.
“Somewhat,” I manage. “Thank you.”
Kylo helps me to my feet. “Let’s get out of this shitty weather before you get sick.”
We make our way back to the car. My steps are slow, exhaustion kicking in. Inside, I climb into the back seat, pulling my knees to my chest and rocking slightly. My teeth chatter from the rain. Wet strands of hair stick to my face, and my clothes feel like ice against my skin.
“We’ve got the heat on full blast,” Carter says.
“How much longer?” Kylo asks from beside me.
“Long enough that you should get comfortable,” Zayne answers from the driver’s seat.
“Are we stopping anywhere along the way?” I ask.
“We’ll stop at a hotel in eight hours,” Zayne says. “That’s the best I can do right now.”
Eight hours. In damp clothes. I shouldn’t have gotten out of the car earlier. I’m chilled to the bone.
Yet the discomfort doesn’t matter.
Nothing will bring Leo back.
“Come here.” Kylo shifts closer.
He pulls me against his chest, wrapping himself around me like a blanket. My muscles go slack the moment I lean into him. His chest rises and falls in comforting motions.
My eyes close, letting the darkness have what’s left of me.