Page 67 of Fate of the Fallen
“Let me help you, Nick. I—"
“Kill me!”
A jolt shot through me when the harshly spoken words rang out in an unfamiliar voice. The statement burst from his lungs and ricocheted off the walls of the church, reverberating back to me like sound waves from a mighty bell.
When I didn’t react quickly enough, he growled a second command, even more gruffly than the first time.
“Now, Evie! While you can, while I can control it!”
I no longer had a visual on him, but knew he had one on me as he fought this, as my heart raced a thousand miles an hour trying to process those words.
A request that had officially rendered me speechless.
“I—”
“Kill me!” he roared, the sound carrying with it and air of authority.
I sat straighter, unsure of what to do next. Instinct told me to run, but wisdom told me he’d only chase me and wouldn’t stop until he succeeded. I could, literally, feel that I was slower, weaker now, as I guessed much of my strength went to the rapid growth of the baby.
Even if my heart would have let me do what he asked, it would take me shifting to one of my other forms and … I couldn’t.
“I can’t hold it off much longer,” he confessed, and I heard how much admitting that grieved him. “Grab something. Something sharp and, when I come at you, just make sure it goes through me.”
I blinked away tears as that visual hit me like a ton of bricks.
“There has to be something else,” I sobbed.
“There isn’t,” he said sternly, forcing myownemotions in check. “You’re gonna do this because—”
His words cut off abruptly when a pained groan bellowed from his mouth. He gathered himself and forced the rest of the statement from his mouth.
“You’re gonna do this because they need you. The clan, your family. I can’t be the one to take you from them for a second time.”
When he finished speaking, he struggled for breath.
This should have been an easy thing, choosing to put my own life ahead of his, but it wasn’t. It was actually the hardest decision I ever had to make. If it hadn’t been for the gentle flutter in my stomach reminding me I wasn’t fighting forme, I might not have chosen to fight at all.
I might not have chosen life at the expense of someone else’s.
I scanned my surroundings quickly for something to defend myself with, something sharp like Nick said to. The only thing I could get my hands on with so little time was a loose floorboard beside me. I tore it free, positioning myself just as a deafening roar shook the very foundation of the building. I settled one end of the makeshift weapon against the ground for leverage and I braced myself against the pillar.
In one final show of power, my dragon broke through. I felt her energy as I watched Nick leap toward me from the shadows, unable to fight his nature any longer. The brilliant blue flame that shot from the center of my palm ignited the entire board within the fraction of a second. I held it tight, keeping the sharp, ragged edge aimed outward.
It had come down to two choices. Only one of us could walk away from this alive and I couldn’t be the one to decide. But because he was good to the core, Nick made the choice himself.
He chose me.
As I lifted the board higher into the air like he said to do, I closed my eyes and would keep them that way until it was over. A powerful impact was accompanied by a horrific sound, that of flesh being torn open, ribs being broken.
The force jarred my arm back, shoving my shoulder out of place and I cried out in pain, but the sound of my voice was the only sound in the entire building. A thick, deafening silence made my skin crawl with what it signified.
Death.
A heaviness peeled away from my soul, like a life-draining parasite had suddenly released me. I knew right away it was the feel of the curse being lifted. Tears rushed down my cheeks and … I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t make myself see Nick like this.
His body and the plank both fell to the ground with a thud. Air sputtered from his mouth and my throat squeezed with emotion. There were so many bombarding me, like huge waves that came so fast I couldn’t catch my breath before another was on top of me, pushing me under.
Somehow, he was still alive, although I knew it was only a matter of time until that changed. I forced my eyes open, finally taking in the sight of him, because this wasn’t about me and what I was comfortable with. This was about comforting a friend through what little time he had left. I chose to only look into his eyes, not at the board protruding from his chest, not at the blue flames that were beginning to spread over his skin.