Page 125 of Eternally Rare

“And I’ll finally be with my firebond. That’s fine.”

“Dad…” Nyx croaks, teary-eyed.

His dad hugs him. “I love you. Be happy. Live a good life. I’ll see you again.”

Raltena doesn’t allow Nyx to say another word before she drives her hand into the spirit of Nyx’s dad. Her eyes glow as she soaks in his energy.

“Unfucking real. You Monreaux’s make my job difficult, ya know?” Lorcan flicks the cigarette to the ground, stepping on it.

“Dad?”

“It’s okay. I feel good. I’m… free.” He smiles, slowly fading.

“Thank you,” Nyx says.

“Anything for my son.”

And then he’s gone with Lorcan.

Raltena digs into her bag, grabs a vile, places it to her lips, and a blueish tint fills the small container as it leaves her mouth.

She moves quickly after that, snagging the sword that killed Cailian, and slices it through the air, chopping Nyx’s wings off.

“Nyx!” I yell just as he roars, sending fire into the air.

I dab my tears on his lips before he has a chance to feel too much pain. His skin heals over where his wings used to be, but the bones where they belong are still there, flexing from habit.

“Thank you, My Darling Jewel.” He is sweating, his onyx scales ashen.

“Nyx.”

“It’s okay,” he says, taking my hand, then Cailian’s. “We will all be okay.”

“He’s… so cold. Colder than usual.” I cover my mouth while bile climbs up my throat.

“I need a dragon to burn these wings. I need their ashes. It can’t be from the dragon I took them from,” she announces to the fleet.

Raiden steps forward and inhales, letting his fire free. I don’t miss the guilt, the pain stretching across his face as he burns the wings of his prince.

Nyx buries his face into Cailian’s chest. “Anything to get him back for us, right?”

I nod, unable to speak because if I do, I’ll sob again, letting go of any hope.

The witch gathers the ashes, places them into the vile, and then whips her head up from the ground, staring at me.

She stands, strolling over to me casually as if she doesn’t hold the rest of our lives in her hands. She digs her nails into my chest until I hiss, my fangs dropping on instinct. “This is going to hurt but only for a moment. You don’t have much of the magic to begin with, but it is enough to restart his cells.”

I can feel her taking the magic, dragging it from my bones, and I scream.

“Stay still or this process will kill you.”

At least in death, I know I’ll see Cailian again, but one look at Nyx keeps me strong.

We all live together.

Or we all die together.

There are no other options.