Void(107)

Looking at Render, I knew how. The paragons had changed the course of my life, and it led me to finally accepting what I was. I’d learned not to fear it but respect it. But just when I’d come to terms with it all, it was gone.

My eyes moved across the pavement, and I saw we were on a tarmac. A flight crew was getting a small jet plane ready in the distance. Reed gave me a sad smile before walking over to it, giving us a bit of privacy as I processed the tumultuous feelings within me.

“I’m so sorry. I never meant to do this to you,” I whispered to Render as cool tears trailed down my cheeks. He hated me for cursing him with the Void, and my heart broke inside my chest. “It has to be reversible, right?”

Maybe Hyde could wake up Emilia again. Maybe she could teach me how to fix this. I’d never forgive myself if I couldn’t.

Render blew out a breath. “We don’t have time to figure it out. Right now, I need to get you on that plane and out of here before every supernatural in the fucking world finds you and tries to kill you. The entire council wants retribution, Devicka. The others stayed behind to try to get a handle on the situation, but...you can’t stay.”

More tears filled my eyes, and I shook my head, hating that this was my new reality. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening,” I cried while wrapping my arms around myself. How had things gone south so quickly? My entire body folded in on itself. This can’t be happening. I’d drained myself of my own power, and I’d given it to the ones who would never forgive me.

“Your dad arranged for you and Reed to stay on one of his private islands,” Render explained before adjusting the handle on a suitcase.

My dad knew about this?

“I had to do it,” I pleaded. “They wanted me to give them too much power. I couldn’t let that happen. And I couldn’t hurt any of you. I was just trying to keep you safe. Why won’t you just look at me?” I demanded, my voice sharp with panic.

Render finally turned to face me, a devastated look on his face. I felt his pain and his anger. I’d ruined him.

“Render, I’m so sorry. You have to understand. I never meant for this to happen. I swear to you, I’ll figure out how to take it back. I can’t eve—”

He ground his teeth together. “You think I fucking care?” he yelled as more smoke escaped him in angry waves. He looked terrifying. Was that how I’d looked? “You think I give two fucks about this?” he repeated, and I flinched, reeling from the anger in his voice. I knew the bond had been fragile, but now it was gone completely, emptied out of me right alongside my power. I felt a sadness deep in my bones that wouldn’t quit. All this time, fighting the inevitable led me to wanting him—wanting them. And just like everything else in my life, the Void was going to rip it away.

“I know, I know,” I said, looking down at my feet. “I was just trying to make you strong. I didn’t mean to transfer the Void to you, but I was barely in control. I fucked up, and I’m so damn sorry. I didn’t mean for it to happen.” I guess I was lucky he’d even been willing to get me out of there before the council members got their hands on me. “I understand you hate me for making you a Void,” I said in a small voice. “I’ll go.”

I turned to walk away, heading for the plane. Every step hurt. Every inch I went further away from him had pieces of my heart falling and shattering to the ground. But before I could even make it three steps, Render grabbed me and spun me around.

And then his lips crashed down on mine.

It was a short, searing kiss that tasted like ash. There was no pulling pleasure from our bond. No dynamite attraction fueled by magic and unexplainable tension. It was raw. It was haunting. It was devastating.

He pulled back the moment my knees started to go weak. His Void was pulling at my life force, a sensation I didn’t even know was possible, considering I was human now.

He looked down at me with that intense way of his. “Devicka Cainson, I’d take the Void a thousand times over to keep you safe. I’d burn down the whole fucking council, too. But I won’t let you leave thinking I hate you. Because right now, the person I might possibly be falling in love with is about to get on a plane to the middle of nowhere, and I don’t know when I’ll see her again,” he whispered while touching his forehead to mine and clutching my cheeks. Soft tears gathered in his gray-blue eyes, his stern expression catching them as they fell.

“Render, I…” I didn’t know what to say. His declaration had been liberating but also felt like a delayed kick to the gut. How cruel was fate to give them to me just to take them away when we finally got past the hate and distrust?



“Come with me,” I pleaded, my hands curled over his arms.

“I can’t. I want to, but I can’t. We’ll come for you. When it’s safe.”

“But—”

“Get on the plane, Devicka. Before I do something stupid like kiss you again and say fuck the rest of the world. I’m a selfish bastard, but not when it comes to this. I’d rather know you’re safe than know you’re mine.”

Without warning, he shoved the suitcase into my hands, making me stumble slightly, and walked back toward the front of the car, slipping into the driver’s seat like he hadn’t just broken and filled my heart at the same time.

I walked over to his rolled down window. “Can you tell the others that I’m sorry? Tell them…” I wanted to declare how I was feeling, spill my heart out on the airport runway like a loser, but no words could really measure up.