Chapter 624
Chapter 124 : Pain of the Aftermath
*Oliver*
Xander was a f*****g mess in every way.
He was just staring at me as he sat on the cot, his eyes narrowed on my face as I did my best to explain what had happened, what I’d done, and why.
I could barely form the words. He wasn’t the only one who had lost their mate. He wasn’t the only one who’d lived, while the other part of their soul was left behind in a realm that no longer existed.
I hadn’t had a choice. It was Lena’s life or the lives of many… hundreds of thousands of lives, to be exact.
I knew in my soul that Lena would’ve wanted it this way. She made that decision for herself the moment she gripped that pale yellow stone in her hands and whispered beneath her breath to spare Xander’s life in place of her own.
I had been furious. I leaped for her but crashed into the blood-soaked ground in King Nikolas’s castle, and Lena had been gone.
It was Narcissa who whispered frantically in my ear, her long silver fingers wrapping around my upper arm. “We need to go, wolf prince. You are the one to end this.”
Me. It was going to have to be me.
A single whisper from Narcissa swept our group from the castle to the entrance of the portal in a split second. All around us the Death Walkers, those gray and molting vampires, turned to ash and dust. Their king’s death had spurred a massive die-off in that realm, but I didn’t have a moment to ponder the significance of it, not at the time.
I felt her then, my mate. It was a desperate tug on the weak bond I’d felt in my heart my entire life. I hadn’t even had a chance to lay eyes on her. I hadn’t spoken a single word to her. Until that point, her existence was just a fleeting hope in my heart. I had hoped, wished, that one day we’d meet. Maybe after the war, or even during.
She was still there, in that realm of blood.
Save one, or many?
at Xander, who was waiting for me
she did, tearfully, begging Narcissa for more time. I don’t know how long we stood there as the last of the lower vampires crossed that portal, running for their lives.
my head
Penny and a few lower vampire males I didn’t know–guards, royal guards, by
“Why did you wait?”
breathed. I had no tears left to cry. My body and mind were numb, emotionless; there was nothing back darkness left. Maybe it would
flexing his
She told me the king still had warriors in my own realm. She said there would always be conflict between the two realms. New
“You were going to–”
close the portal from the… I
face void of expression but
“It’s over. It’s done. When you close that portal, my father will destroy it all. I made him a deal. I said I would
of me pleaded with me, begging me at one point on her knees. A Goddess in her own right, on her knees
day,” she’d continued. “Your rule will be nothing but peace and
joy,” I had replied, growing furious at her bribery, “if I have no
suffer another loss,” she
brothers. Will would likely not even care, no tears
had lost their only daughter–their only
feet moving toward that portal was the notion that it needed to be me to break the news, to tell them the truth about what
over my shoulder
refugee camps and our warriors were doing their best to defend the
a blood curdling scream, sensing the death and suffering of the people she had loved.
in the realm of blood, why not here? Was it because the portal was still
of me as I watched Narcissa run toward Crimson Creek, her silver dress billowing out behind her. Warriors stood in shock as she passed, their weapons drawn but frozen,
and recovery in front of us. We’d have countless dead to bury, countless children to care for who would be growing up without parents
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