The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(87)

TEN.

Thalia, Faraway called out to me. Where are you?

I’m by the river. I answered tears pouring out of my eyes as I watched the Raven move from Joss to Hemi.

NINE.

I’m on my way. Hold on.

You’ll never make it in time. You’ll be too late, I answered.

Another brush of thought touch my mind. Wolf.

Wolf? Can you help?

SEVEN.

Nay, I cannot give you what you are unwilling to give up yourself. It was the second time he’d said that to me tonight. Then it hit me.

SIX.

“Kael,” I whispered.

His eyes opened and met mine. He was crying with frustration, his tears running freely down his cheeks. His hand shook as he tried to pull the knife farther away from me.

“I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”

FIVE.

He seemed to understand by my tone of voice what I was asking of him. He devoured me with his gaze, memorizing me. His eyes locked onto my lips before he let out a small moan.

FOUR.

Kael shifted ever so slightly and succeeded in lowering the knife from my throat. It slid it to a spot over my heart. His hands trembled, and I wrapped my hands around his fists, feeling the warmth of him under my touch. I’d missed his touch so much. I needed him. I missed him, and I knew I could no longer live without him.

THREE.

Thalia…No wait. I’m almost there! Faraway called out.

TWO.

Faraway! I love you. You are the best friend I could ever have. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait for you!

I watched out of the corner of my eye as the Raven stopped in front of my father and lifted the knife high into the air.

“One.” I breathed the word mere milliseconds before the Raven did.

I grabbed Kael’s hands and flung myself onto the knife, plunging it deep into my heart. Instantly, Kael was released from the spell that held him. He reached out for me just as I fell into his arms. Kael crumpled to the ground, cradling me.

I briefly heard my father’s cry of grief and Joss screaming my name over the thundering sound of horse hooves. But none of it mattered, except for the beating of Kael’s heart as I lay pressed against his chest. The sound of my own heart was slowly fading away.

“I love you too,” Kael whispered.

Our heartbeats—matched in a beautiful, slowing rhythm—stopped.





Chapter 36



There was nothing.

Just a void.

No sound.

But then I heard it, very softly. The last sound I remembered before dying.

Kael’s heartbeat.

I opened my eyes and I was weighted down, like something heavy was on top of me. My cheek rubbed against something scratchy, and I lifted my head from the offending object. It was Kael’s extra set of knives, but something else had me pinned.

I didn’t care, though. I was fascinated by the very handsome man lying underneath me at the moment.

Kael’s eyes were closed, but then they started to flutter.

And then they opened. He gaze met mine, and before either of us could say anything, Kael pulled me down to meet his lips in passionate kiss that never seemed to end.

“Thalia.” A soft voice called my name, followed by the sound of clearing throats. I looked up and saw Joss staring down at me as I lay there wrapped in Kael’s arms. “I’m so sorry.” He turned away from me, and I looked up at my father in confusion.

Bearen stood above Kael’s head watching us as well, his face pale. He kept grasping his chest. “I feel like I’ve just seen the impossible.” He dropped to his knees and reached forward to touch my cheek.

I tried to move, but I was stuck.

Kael noticed my discomfort and tried to help me, but we were both pinned to the ground.

I shifted my weight and saw that Faraway’s head was actually lying across my back. “Faraway!” I called out playfully to him. “Move.”

“Thalia…don’t.” Alba appeared suddenly and came to stand where I could see her. “You mustn’t be upset. It was time. I told you there would come a time when your Guardian would leave you. I said you would wake up and he would be gone.”

“What do you mean?” I demanded.

“The Guardian has but one purpose. To give up his life so that another may live. Faraway chose you from the beginning. He was drawn to your strength of courage and your selflessness. Even the wolf saw it. And since you took two lives with you when you departed, he offered up his own, so you could bring two back.”

My heart stopped beating and I began to cry out in pain. “No! You lie. He’s just sleeping. He can’t be gone!” I pushed away from Kael, turned under the weight of Faraway and wrapped an arm over his still warm neck.

It couldn’t be. It wasn’t fair.

But no matter how I tried to call out to him through mindspeech, he wasn’t there.

Faraway?

Wolf? Even Wolf refused to answer me.

Please Faraway, answer me.

Nothing. I heard nothing but silence.

Kael wrapped his arms around me as I mourned the loss of a piece of my soul.





Epilogue



Five years later.





“I don’t want to hear about another delegation from the south. We have no need to trade with the country of Azure.” I threw my hands up in frustration.