Whisper tiptoed toward us, his hackles up as if he’d sensed we no longer belonged in this world.

Smoke coiled around Lucien’s shoulders as he looked down and brushed matted hair off the little girl’s cheeks.

I’m sorry.

I flinched as I heard him.

He didn’t speak but the bridge between us opened every sense. My heart fisted with agony as he hoisted her higher and rocked her. I’m so sorry.

Even his inner voice was torn and tragic, hurting with so much guilt.

Tears stung my eyes. I had to fix this. But...how?

I could somehow sense death now. I didn’t smell rot or decay but coldness and stillness. An absence of heat where the soul used to be, leaving it hollow and empty.

And this little girl was...empty.

Lucien didn’t look up as Whisper headbutted him. He didn’t stop the panther as he sniffed the little girl unmoving in his embrace.

My heart broke into a million pieces as he jerked and coughed, turning his head to the side and spitting out a mouthful of tarry blood. More followed—thick and dark, dripping from his lips as if something had ruptured.

“Lucien.” Scooting into him, I cupped his burning cheeks and brought his gaze up to mine. “Are you okay? Why are you still so weak?”

Raw terror filled me that I was too late. That I’d been able to wrench him back from death but—

“I’m fine.” He forced a smile and pulled away. Another rush of his feelings crippled me. He didn’t feel worthy of my comfort. Too fixated on his failure to allow me to make him feel anything other than regret.

“I know you’re hurting,” I whispered, sending love over that bridge. Drowning him in so, so much love. “But I’m here now, okay? Let’s go home and—”

“I can’t,” he snarled. “I can’t leave them. Not after what I did.”

“You weren’t the one who did this.”

He shook his head, his entire body trembling.

His skin was fissured everywhere—his shirt burned off and gone. Some of the cracks along his arms showed dull muscle but others continued to glimmer.

My heart clenched with fear.

All those warnings my mother had given me when I’d helped her in the lab. All those notes I’d read about the crux of evolution and the failure of mortal bodies.

I’d hoped we’d reached a level of ascension the night we’d taken each other’s virginity. That I was right when I said we were the reason we’d survived but...that was nothing compared to this.

He’d tapped into a different level.

He’d become one with the fire; claimed completely.

Tears poured down my cheeks.

He’d gone too far.

The flames had taken too much.

Whatever pause I’d been able to give him wasn’t enough.

I choked on a sob as his heart hitched, making him grunt.

I felt that too.

Felt the heat devouring him cell by cell, erasing him, changing him.

And I didn’t know how to stop it.

The urge to collapse and cry almost won before I shot to my feet and tugged on his arm. “We need to go. Right now. I’ll...I’ll figure something out, okay? Dillon might know something that will work. I’ll call Frank and get him to send me my parents’ files. I can fix this. I can help you. I know I can.”

“Nothing lasts forever, Rook. Regardless of whether it’s a tiny flea or a giant star—eventually everything dies.”

My mother’s voice echoed in my head, hurtling me back to my childhood where I’d eavesdropped on her talking to my father about the latest lab experiment that’d gone wrong.

“Its bones literally melted, Kristófer. Its blood turned to ash. It burned alive, feeding off its body until it just...vanished.”

“You won’t die. I won’t let you die.” Sniffing back sobs, I wrapped my arm around Lucien’s bulk and tried to get him to his feet. “Come on. We need to go.”

Listlessly, wordlessly, he placed the girl down and brushed her knotted hair off her face. He coughed again, sending another black splatter on the ground. It sizzled where it landed, causing little pockmarks in the dirt.

His brows furrowed as he glanced at his bleeding wrist. “If they were making more like me...why didn’t my blood help?” His gaze met mine, his voice raw. “Maybe if we mix our blood together, we can revive them all.” He looked at the pile of bodies beneath the trees.

Blood.

God, why didn’t I think of that?

I brought my wrist to my mouth and bit as hard as I could. “Here.” I grabbed the back of his head and pressed my arm to his lips. “Drink it.”

“Not me. Her.” He scowled and went to push me away but at the last second, his tongue slipped over my stinging skin. He shivered as he ingested my strangely silver blood. He only took a mouthful before grabbing my wrist, pressing his to mine, and squeezing us tightly together. A single drop combined...just before our wounds healed over.

Catching the rolling duality of silver and gold, he pressed his thumb into the girl’s slack mouth.

“Come on,” he murmured hoarsely. “Take it. You have to open your eyes.” His jaw clenched. “You’re hungry, remember? So eat...”

God, I couldn’t.

I couldn’t watch him break.

“Please,” he begged.

That single plea tore apart my already broken heart.

A sob caught in the back of my throat and—

Whisper suddenly roared. Locking his glowing gaze on the forest, his tail lashed like a whip.

Lucien narrowed his eyes in the same direction.

I heard the weary curse he didn’t verbalise.

With an exhausted groan, he used whatever remaining strength he had left to clamber to his feet, leaving the girl to rest on the ground.

“Rook.” Holding out his hand, he never took his eyes off the darkness, waiting for me to take it.

Threading my fingers with his burned ones, I gasped as he jerked me tight against him.

“Whatever happens, I love you.” His gaze glowed crimson. “This is all my fault. I don’t know if I condemned you to breaking like me, but...having you here. Seeing you well and strong...it gives me peace to think you’ll somehow survive without me.” His lips twitched into a tired smile. “You’re better than me in every way, so you will find a way...I know you will.”

“W-What are you talking about?”

He shrugged listlessly. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I was the reason you died. I’m grateful to know I didn’t cause you pain tonight by leaving.”

I opened my mouth to tell him that was exactly what happened. He’d put too much distance between us. He’d taken away the very connection we needed to stay alive but...my throat froze over.

I couldn’t tell him that I’d been in excruciating agony. Couldn’t tell him how close I’d been to my final breath as I’d found him on this mountain top. How I’d twisted time to get to him—

How was I supposed to layer him with yet more guilt when he couldn’t stop looking at the little girl as if he’d personally murdered her?

“Lucien, I—”

“Don’t.” He shook his head. “I didn’t want you to see this, but...I know what I’m doing. I know what has to happen, and I’ll protect you with everything I have.”

Tiny flames licked along his collarbone. The pyre in him caught fire again, chewing through the frost I’d fed him.

No...

Bringing my wrist up, I went to bite a bigger wound—to force him to drink more of my blood, but...a rustle in the trees. A twig cracking.

The bond twisted as Lucien’s attention arrowed into the night.

The glow beneath his skin brightened just as a familiar nightmare picked its way through the rubble of bodies and stepped into the crater Lucien had caused.

“Well.” Marcus pulled out a pristine white handkerchief from his navy suit and held it to his nose. “This is unfortunate.”

Chapter Sixty-Nine

I’D ENVISIONED THIS MOMENT EVER SINCE the fire awoke inside me. I’d been smug with power and eager to torture him. I’d plotted all the ways I’d make him scream but now...now I didn’t care.