held their swords up directing them at Dorian as his eyes widened in fear. The dark shadow looming behind me was the shape
of the first monster that was pushing through the portal.
The room continued to rumble as my sisters sent their magic towards the portal, begging for it to stay closed. It would need
something in exchange for being teased for so long.
It would need a sacrifice to shut.
Blood opened the gate.
Blood would close it.
Sending out a message I hoped Ornella would hear, hoping she would feel the words across the invisible line that I wished
was still there, I took a deep breath in and begun walking up the steps. I shook at first as the knife in my chest hurt, I maybe had
a few seconds before I bled to death.
“Nicholas! What are you doing?!”
April shouted in protest, unable to move forward or to stop me. My sisters looked at me with confusion and longing in their
eyes as the two mages sized me up. I didn’t care for who they were or what they were. The female would die even if the other
tried to protect her with his life. I would not leave this world without seeing her death upon my hands.
With a flick of my wrist, the male let go of Panya suddenly. His movements were no longer his own and she stumbled
forward into my arms. The look of shock and horror played on her face as I could hear her heartbeat louder and louder in her
chest.
“This is for my wife,” I whispered in her ear and placed both my hands on either side of her neck.
With a quick turn of her head, an ominous crack filled my ears. Her neck snapped. When her body dropped to the ground,
her brother broke into a heart-breaking wail, as he rushed to her body.
Pulling the dagger from my chest, the instant relief and pain took over my body, urging me to stop. Fighting to stay on my
feet, the pain near overwhelming, I gritted my teeth and kept going. My blood would shut the gate.
As the large shadow from behind began to emerge and step forward, I took one last look at Ornella and threw myself at the
shimming light within.
A shockwave ran down my arms and legs, hitting me square in the chest, and in my heart. Screaming rang through the air as
outcries of pleas flooded my ears. I felt a sense of calm.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. It wasn’t meant to be this way. I was going to apologise to Ornella for treating her
so poorly. We’d have made a peace treaty of some kind with her brother once I found out the truth. Then we would go on to live
happily, surrounded by our own children and the family we’d created.
That was a life we never got the chance to live. It was something that had always felt like a dream as we chased after each