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I gripped the collar of Drake’s burned shirt and lifted him. “Do you see now? Do you see what your betrayal has cost me and the world?”
Logan grabbed my sleeve, stopping my tirade. I finally looked at Drake. He was not fighting at all, burns marring his neck, the side of his face, and his torso. He wasn’t healing. I placed him on his feet, my anger subsiding and dread taking its place. His legs gave out when his feet touched the soil, his back hitting the tree next to him. He coughed and groaned, holding his chest.
“We have to move,” I said, the ash, smoke, and embers making it nearly impossible to see or breathe. Memories of Rashearim on fire flooded me. I knew the true power of an Ig’Morruthen, and the damage they could cause. They could reduce even the strongest worlds to ash and ruin. I just never thought I’d see my Dianna succumb to the destructive urges. My aching heart reached out to her, hoping for an answer, but none came. I felt hollow and overwhelmed at the same time, unsure if it was me or if I was feeling her.
“I can’t.” Drake coughed, trying and failing to sit up.
“You have to,” I snapped, hauling him back up. “I don’t have time for this.” The alternative was Drake dying, and I did not want that. He was her last hope, the last flicker of life in her, and I needed him alive for her.
He pushed off my arm, catching me by surprise, sliding down the tree until he sat with a thump.
My hands went to my hips, my frustration growing. Logan stepped around me and leaned down to grab Drake, but he swatted him away. “We can rest when we get to Silver City. Now, get up.”
Drake gave me a bloody grin and removed his hand from his bleeding chest. “No, I really can’t.”
I saw it then, and my hope died. A half-broken forsaken blade protruded from the middle of his chest, wedged deep. Dianna’s last-ditch effort because she knew I would try to save him, so she’d ensured he would die, regardless. I was on my knees in an instant. One hand splayed on his chest while I tried to dig the piece out.
No, no, no!
“Dianna likes to keep tiny daggers on her.” Drake smiled, blood bubbling with every breath. His hand caught mine. “It’s too late, World Ender. I can feel it. The final death is what we call it. Not as bad as I thought, really.”
“No!” I bellowed, the silver lines running up my arm. If I could concentrate, I could remove it and repair as I went. I just needed to focus.
“I knew you liked me,” Drake said, his smile followed by a wet cough that only lodged the blade deeper. Fuck.
“I cannot lose you. You are my last hope.” My voice cracked as I lowered my head.
“Trust me. I’m not.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, my fingers slick from his blood and ash. Something in me snapped, tears stinging my eyes. “How am I supposed to get her back?”
“You don’t need me for that. I betrayed and lost my truest friend.” He shook his head, the effort causing him pain.
“I can’t lose her.” My voice broke this time.
“You won’t.”
I glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”
“I saw it when she first stepped out of the forest, a flicker in her eyes as if a part of her tried to crawl to the surface for you. I thought Gabby was the last tether, but you are. You are her only link to whatever mortality she has left. So don’t let Kaden win, no matter what she says or does. Trust me. You are the only thing she cares about now.”
He tried to sit up and winced in pain. The light from the flames behind us played shadows across his bloody and charred face as he looked at his ruined home. “I should’ve tried harder. You’re right. I wanted to help my family, but she was my family too. It sucks that I realized that too late.”
Drake’s yellow eyes gleamed with tears, one after the other, spilling down his cheeks. I knew he felt some remorse for what he’d done. Logan kneeled beside Drake, his face seeming to soften.
Drake turned back to me. “Dianna is stronger now. Every Otherworld creature felt it when Gabby died. The world shifted, but she is still Dianna. She is still the girl I saved in the desert who cared so much about others that she followed a stranger into a terrible world. She is still the girl who likes flowers and pretty gifts from overbearing god kings. She is sweet, kind, funny, and loves with her entire being. That’s why she is like this. She’s hurt. She’s in pain. If you love her, truly love her, don’t give up. True love is worth it. It’s worth fighting for. Remember that.”
I nodded, hearing the rhythmic beat of his heart stop for a moment too long. His amber eyes dimmed slightly. He was no longer the prankster vampire prince but a man who knew his actions were wrong.
He smiled, the tears running down his cheeks sizzling as lines of orange and gold cracked through the skin of his face. Pain twisted his features, the flesh of his arms splitting.
“Just don’t give up on her.” His voice was a broken wound now. “Gabby wouldn’t.”
“I won’t. I swear it.”
Drake struggled to turn his head and look at Logan. “I’m sorry about Neverra, but she is alive.” Something eased in Logan’s expression, and I realized he’d needed to hear it said out loud, even if the mark on his hand remained. “Kaden has her. You just have to find him. Look where the world opens.”
The words left his lips wrapped in a cracked whisper. It was the last thing he said before his body crumbled to ash, his remains joining those of his family and home on the wind.
