Page 149 of Lethal Souls

Her longing for the days when they were simply siblings who looked out for each other. Her hurt when she realizes she can never forgive them.

Selah’s eyes soften as mine do.

And then her body crumbles to ash.

NINETY-ONE

WILLOW

I don’t know how or why, but being alive doesn’t make any sense. I felt that monster with its claws in my chest. I felt him pulling just before dying.

But here I am, charged with so much more. Juniper kept going on about a purple light, about me coming back together.

And now that I’m in this sky with Caz and Hassha, I realize what that purple light meant. Korah is missing…which means she sacrificed herself to save me.

Why would she do that? Is that what she meant when she said she needed me alive? That I was destined for more?

My eyes burn with tears but I blink them away, dusting Selah’s ashes off me. Caz crashes into me, and I laugh through the sorrow, throwing my arms around him and squeezing.

“Willow! I thought I lost you,” he cries. “I thought you were dead. I felt you die.”

“I’m here,” I tell him. He leans back to clasp my face in his hands.

“Look at you,” he whispers. “You’re a Regal too.”

I smile, gazing down at my black armor and the white locs resting on my collarbone. “I suppose I am.”

His glowing red eyes transition to their familiar icy blue and tears accumulate, but he kisses me before I can see them fall. Still, I taste the saltiness of his tears as they drift past my lips.

With my restoration, I feel more than his heartbeat. I can feel his blood pumping, his thoughts racing. This kiss does more than consume me. It becomes me.

I hold on to him and sigh.

“The baby?” he asks when our lips part.

I glance at my belly. “Still there. In fact, I can feel their heartbeat now.”

“No.” Caz grins, pressing his hands to my armored stomach. When he senses the heartbeat, his eyes light up, and I swear he’s like a child with a prize. He appears so innocent, so sweet.

“Caspian, Willow.” Hassha’s voice surprises both of us.

We release each other to find her.

She floats not too far away with a soft smile. Something is off with the way she looks though. Her eyes are dim, her skin transitioning to gray, but the glow around her burns bright.

When she winces, my worry increases.

“Hassha?” I call.

I start to move toward her, but Caz catches my hand. I glance at him, confused, until I return my attention to Hassha. Slowly, her blue light builds. She glows the brightest I’ve ever seen before, and even through the light, I notice her smile.

“Thank you for saving our world,” she says.

“Hassha, no.” My eyes line with tears as an ache settles in my chest.

“It’s my time,” she informs us. “Caspian, you have it all in you now. You can do anything for Vakeeli. You are its leader. Remember that.”

He sighs, defeated as he pulls me closer to him.