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“Yes, Pris. It’s terrible here too. Yes. So many people are dead. Why is everyone dying? Why is everyone leaving? I don’t understand…”

Goosebumps broke out over my skin at those familiar words. Mina had cried those exact words out in the garden after Bernova died. It was the moment her utopia first shattered. The day she lost her radiance.

The day she realized she couldn’t save everyone in the world.

My body trembled. I took a step ahead, then pulled the figure holding the phone to her ear into my arms. Into my embrace. I held her tight.

I wished I had held her tighter back then. I wished I could have pulled her from the darkness and into the light, instead of letting the cruelty of this world swallow her whole. But I had never known how to reach the light myself. So, in the end, all I could do was follow her toward the dark. I thought this would be enough for us.

It wasn’t.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered into the strands of her hair. Had the ghosts of my past not been haunting me, I wouldn’t have met this closeness with such composure. “No one else is going to die. I won’t allow it.”

“Raymond…”

I pulled back. The phone slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground as she stared at me in shock. But I could only smile.

I wanted to dedicate every remaining moment of my life to Mina’s happiness.

Those were the only moments I ever felt human.

Felt real.

One last time, I wanted to feel that. One last time before calling Krivan to sign my own death warrant.

With my hands still resting on her shoulders, I slipped one hand into my pocket. I tossed one of the pharmacy-grade sleeping pills I always carried with me into my mouth.

And I leaned in and kissed Mina Olind.

My other hand caught her chin, urging her closer. Her damn red hair was tangled around my fingers. My body tensed as I breathed in her scent, as though I were breathing for the first time.

And dying for eternity.

I should have felt exhilarated kissing the woman who had haunted my daydreams and nightmares for four years—the woman whose endless passion I could never purge from my heart, no matter how hard I tried to hate her.

Instead, I felt like crying.

Only one of us knew, but this was a goodbye kiss. An apology for everything I had done.

As my head began to move back and forth, I felt her arms snake up around my neck. But I was busy, trying to force the pill down her throat with my tongue. My attempts only intensified the kiss.

When the feeling of the pill finally dissolved from my tongue, I pulled back an inch and smiled triumphantly. I watched her through dazed eyes; she looked confused, her cheeks flushed bright red. Her mouth, open with a barrage of unasked questions, glistened with my saliva.

I swallowed hard. My fingers traced her chin, gently caressing her skin. Then I locked eyes with her.

“I killed you.”

Her eyes widened, but before she could react, I continued. “I made clones of you and killed them. In another universe, I made you kill yourself. And even after you were dead, I wouldn’t leave you in peace.”

“What…”

Before she had the chance to speak, I leaned down to her lips once more. This time, it was far softer, I intended. My sorrow accumulated on my lips, but I didn’t let it flow toward her.

“I won’t kill you again.”

I pulled my face away from hers. She made a move toward me, but her lids were heavy. As the drug took effect, I caught her body in my arms. Once she finally passed out, with her in my arms and the injured child on my back, I called Johanna.

After making sure they were heading to Dr. Aneta, I dialed Krivan.