Chapter 159
Emily’s POV
“Meredyth? No! Never”
“It is the only way to fully wake your powers, Emily,” another relative said, her voice hard. “If you don’t take her life, you cannot have the gifts that belong to you.”
“What kind of choice is this?” Anger burned inside me, hot and sharp. “I won’t take anyone’s life! I am a healer. I
am not a rogue!”
My mother stepped in front of me, looking serious. “Are you sure, Emily? Think carefully. If you refuse, you will go back to your body. Declan will force the blood ritual, and slowly, he will drink your power until you die.”
I looked at Meredyth, then thought of Nathan and how he would hate me. Living forever meant nothing if it cost
the life of someone I loved.
I looked down at the water, staring at Meredyth’s broken, bloody form.
She wasn’t just Nathan’s mother anymore. She was my family.
Flashbacks rushed through my mind, one after another.
I remembered how Meredyth stood by me and believed me when everyone else thought Stella was innocent.
I remembered the warmth in her eyes when she handed me the old photo of my parents, giving me a piece of my
past.
I remembered how she panicked over my burn hand, immediately calling the doctor to save me.
She was the one who took care of me every single day after I was discharged from hospital, making sure I felt safe
I could almost smell the sweet scent of the kitchen, remembering the quiet mornings we spent together, Laughing
and baking pancakes.
She had given me a mother’s love when I had nothing.
I looked back at the Lunas, my decision hardening in my chest. I would rather die than become the reason Nathan
ost his mother.
“I’m sure,” I said. I raised my chin, making my voice steady and clear. “I don’t want a life that costs Meredyth hers. If someone has to die, take me instead. Let her live.”
The Lunas looked at each other with deep, unreadable expressions. The silver leaves above us shook wildly as a
sudden wind blew through the branches.
My mother looked at me, a soft, proud smile finally appearing on her lips. “As you wish,” she whispered.
The white tree glowed with a blinding silver light, and the forest began to disappear.
2:04 pm P P
The roaring crowd slammed into my ears a second later, thousands of rogues screaming beneath the Blood Moon white cold wind whipped through the courtyard.
Meredyth was lying right next to me on the black carpet. I crawled over to her and pressed my hands flat against her chest, pouring every bit of my healing magic into her broken body.
My hands trembled violently against her wound. So much blood.
Goddess, there was so much blood.
Every pulse of healing magic felt like ripping pieces out of my own veins and shoving them into her body.
I couldn’t lose her too.
Not after finally learning what it felt like to have a mother again.
“Emily…” she breathed, her lips barely moving. Her voice was so quiet I wasn’t even sure she said my name. She
was dying.
“That’s right, sweetheart,” Declan’s mocking voice cut through the air. “Heal her. Keep her alive. You’re going to need the practice for our long life together.”
“Back off!” I screamed at him, keeping my focus as my hands glowed with magic.
e/saw
Declan’s eyes narrowed as he realized what I was doing. He saw that I was giving her everything I had left. “Get way from her!” he.barked at his guards. “Pull her off that dying hag!”
But I refused to let them touch us.
I threw my hand out, unleashing a powerful blast of raw energy. The approaching rogues flew backward, crashing
hard against the stone.
My vision went blurry and my body grew dangerously weak as I gave Meredyth the very last of my magic.
I looked up and saw Declan step forward, holding a dagger. He slashed it through the air, cutting off the flow of
ny power.
It didn’t matter. It had been enough. I watched Meredyth’s chest rise with a deep, steady breath as the ragged
vound on her side fully closed.
“Alive,” I whispered, a tired smile breaking across my face as I looked down at her.
“You,” Declan roared. He grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet. “I am so sick of your games!” He turned harply toward the old witch. “Varga! Start the ritual. Now!”
Varga lunged forward, her sharp fingers gripping my wrist. She sliced my palm with a crystal blade before I could
ull away.
Declan cut his own hand open, forced my bleeding palm against his over the hilt of the dagger, and our blood nixed. Instantly, the massive red ruby flared with a toxic light.
2:04 pm P
“Now we belong to each other forever,” Declan whispered darkly into my ear.
He pulled me tight against his chest, and the forced mark on my neck burned.
My body betrayed me instantly, My pulse raced. My skin heated beneath his touch.
Somewhere deep inside the forced bond, my instincts screamed to kneel for him.
I hated it.
Hated the way the magic twisted my own body against me.
“That’s it, Emily,” Declan laughed, his voice vibrating against my back. “Give it all to me.”
I felt him draining me. My remaining energy and my life force started flowing out of my veins and straight into
him.
The dark magic pulsed through his arms. I watched as Declan’s glowing red eyes slowly started shifting into a bright, stolen silver. I grew weaker, my knees buckling.
Then, a sudden flash of light hit the eastern balconies.
The crowd of rogues went into total panic. Rogues started staggering, holding their heads and screaming in
confusion.
“Where are we?” “What are we doing here?” The mind control was breaking. A massive fight broke out in the
crowd.
Through the chaos of clashing wolves, I saw him. Bloody. Furious. Alive.
Nathan cut through the crowd like a storm, Marcus right at his side, both of them fighting to get to me.
“Kill him!” Declan shouted, pointing his free hand toward Nathan “Tear him to pieces!”
“No!” I choked out.