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“He’s more powerful than all of them,” Amelia adds.
……
Thorne and I wait a few days before heading to what is now known as home—Charleston. The events of the past few weeks play through my mind in rapid succession.
With Kragen gone, the thing I’ve spent my life running from is gone. The irony of the situation is, I don’t know who I am without him in my life. What kind of fuckery is that?
“What are you thinking?” Thorne asks as we sit on the porch of a colonial-style home, right in the center of downtown.
“I’m thinking I have to save them.”
“Yeah. We will.”
My phone rings, startling me back to reality.“Hello?”
“Elsie, it’s Amelia.”
I don’t respond. God, I suck at dealing with trauma.
“There was an accident with Brayden’s family,”she continues.
I slide forward in the rocking chair I’ve been sitting in for hours.“What happened?”
“Car wreck. His parents are dead, and he’s in the hospital. It’s only a matter of time until he dies as well.”
“What…what does that mean?”
“It means he’s going to die,”she answers simply.
“I hate to say it, but maybe that’s for the best.”I instantly feel horrible about my words. He’s just a kid. He doesn’t deserve to die.
“Yeah. We have another idea.”
“No,”I answer before giving her a chance to explain.“His choice will be taken away. You can’t do that to him.”My stomach knots, thinking about Brayden becoming a vampire.
“I know. I swore never to do that to someone. It’s Celeste’s idea. She thinks he’s the only link to find the children.”
Tears fill my eyes. She’s right. Without him, we’ll never locate Eudora, Marnie, or the immortal children. Brayden’s powers will be limitless. We need him, but at what cost?“You’re talking about taking a child’s life to find other children who shouldn’t exist.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Elsie. Fran, Celeste, and I have spent the past few hours discussing the pros and cons, each time ending in a stalemate.”
I laugh.“It’s all cons. There are no fucking pros to this whatsoever.”
The phone makes a strange sound, and a different voice comes online.“Elsie, it’s Celeste. I know how horrible it sounds, but after everything’s done and Alex and the girls are found, I’ll make sure they go to the same people I did. They’ll spend the rest of their immortal life as adults.”
“Brayden never had the chance to be a kid.”
“He’s going to die, Elsie. He won’t have that chance, anyway. Why not save him and use his powers to save the others?”
I don’t know what to say. There is no logical argument against what they’re about to do. Yes, he might help us save the others but at what cost?“It’s already done, isn’t it?”
Celeste is quiet for a few minutes.“Tonight. We’ve got a plan to get him out of the hospital and back here.”
“If you’ve already made the decision, why call me?”
“You deserved to know,”Amelia answers for the two of them.
I hang up without responding and wipe the tears from my cheeks. “I’m sorry, acushla. I think they’re right. It’s the only way to find the others.” Thorne stands, pulls me to his front, and wraps his arms around my waist. We stand, wrapped in each other’s arms for longer than necessary.
