Page 148 of Revenant

Elias drops my hand and is on her faster than I can blink. Landing a right hook against her cheek, hard enough I can hear the bone splinter from here. I fight to find an ember of power left inside, but there’s nothing. Drained dry.

The spell took nearly everything I had and then some. I’ve never done a spell to that magnitude before, but even after an all-day training session, I need time to recoup.

And we’re out of time.

Veil laughs manically, throwing her head back in a fight of bliss while blood spews from her mouth. Crimson coats her teeth, making her smile more sinister than before.

Veil creates a gust of wind, sending it straight for Elias. He flies across the room, his body hitting the opposite wall hard enough to make the cement splinter. He gets back to his feet instantly, unfazed by the attack. Meanwhile, I still can’t get a fucking blip of magic to come to my aid.

“What’s wrong? No more magic left after one measly little spell? You’re a Calder, I expected more from you.”

My hands ball into fists at my sides, anger rushing through me like a wildfire. “So that’s your big plan? Wait for me to break the curse and then kill me? Bold of you to assume any of them would want you after everything you’ve done. It’s honestly comical you would think killing me would make them any more compliant.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to kill you,” she states matter-of-factly. “I said I don’t share my toys, and what that looks like when I play with them isn’t what you think.” Her statement rings true as Elias closes the distance, and she drives the dagger into his chest, the blow landing dead center over his heart.

Elias halts instantly, staring at the weapon protruding from his chest, before his eyes instinctively find mine. He staggers back as the color leeches from his face, and it isn’t the wound that breaks his expression, it’s the realization. They spent centuries certain nothing could kill them, and in one second, he was proven otherwise.

No.

No, no, no.

I can’t move. Can’t breathe. My body acting as though taking a single step would solidify this is real.

He falls to his knees, a huff of air passing through his lips with the impact. Veil takes three lazy steps toward him, tilting her head as if she’s examining an animal she just slaughtered. She grips him by the chin, forcing his gaze to hers. “Such a waste,” she whispers, letting go of him and watching as he hits the floor.

I grab the grimoire and rush over to Elias, not caring that she’s only a few feet away. I pick his head up and place it in my lap, pushing his icy blond strands back so I can see his perfect onyx and amber eyes. “Elias, hey. You’re okay, you’re going to be okay.”

“That relic was created after they were born. The Sisters of the Reliquary deemed it unnatural for such a being to be able to roam the earth without a way to die,” Veil states like it’s a history lesson. “It’s the only thing on the planet that can kill one of the five vampires I created.”

I ignore her, even though I absorb her words without permission. I flip through the pages of the grimoire, searching for something that will undo this. There has to be something, there has to be… “Alicent—” Elias’s voice cracks, drawing my gaze to his.

“Hey, no. You’re not dying, do you hear me? You’re Elias fucking Deveraux. You’re immortal, do you understand?” Tears well in my eyes, unable to come to terms with this.

Words blur as I scan the pages, desperate for anything…a loophole, a counter spell, a single line I might have missed. But I already know the answer isn’t here. It can’t be. This grimoire was last updated before they were made. Veil never had access to it, the guys said so themselves, said it had been locked away for centuries before they gave it to me.

“We have so much left to do together.” My voice chokes on the words. “So much to see. You are not allowed to give up on me.” I hurl the book across the room, and it hits the wall with a sound too small for how much rage is behind it. My hands shake as I yank the dagger free from his chest, praying—begging every god I don’t believe in—that his body will do what it’s always done. Heal. Knit itself back together. Prove me wrong about how afraid I am.

It doesn’t.

The wound stays open, raw and gaping, and I uselessly will it to close, the way I’ve come to depend on without ever once thanking whatever magic allowed it. Whatever magic is imbued into that blade isn’t interested in giving him that mercy.

“Why?!” I scream at Veil, letting the tears stream freely down my face.

“There’s always a method to my madness,” she states, and there isn’t even a semblance of remorse passing over her features.

I look back down to Elias, not wanting to give the lunatic any more attention.

“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Elias.” I stroke his hair, my tears falling freely down onto his cheeks. “If I was stronger—”

He cups my face. “Listen to me. Don’t ever blame yourself. You have nothing to apologize for.” Suddenly the room shifts, the basement flickering out of focus until we’re sitting in a field. Forget-me-nots stretch out in every direction, small and pale blue, clustered so densely they blur into a soft haze against the green blade of grass.

“Elias—”

“Take care of them for me, okay? Eryx will retreat, Bastian is going to tear this fucking school down with his bare hands.” He chokes on his words, teeth grinding together as though the pain is becoming too much. Elias pushes out a sharp breath. “Koen is going to hide, unable to process. Pryce…Pryce is going to act like everything’s okay. He will immerse himself in everyone’s grief to ignore his own—”

“You have my word.” Because how can I deny him?

He pulls in a ragged breath. “Listen to me. The first night we were alone, I…didn’t say it at the time. What you were describing.” Another exhale, shallower this time, and the forget-me-nots dim in patches, color leaching out of them in uneven blotches. “When Eryx and I…traveled here. We stopped at a village.” His eyes lose focus for a split second before finding me again. “I wandered into the woods. Found a coven. Peaceful. The willow tree.” His hand tightens weakly around mine. “The second you said it…I knew.”