Page 85 of Black Hearted
“No!” I screamed, a sob forming in my throat.
This wasn’t happening. It was supposed to be me, not him.Me.
A cracking noise rent the air, and a powerful shockwave knocked me off my feet. I was thrown backward, landing hard on my back, my teeth snapping together painfully.
I groaned, my body battered and sore.
Zane.
Scrambling to my feet, I gasped when I looked at the tree. It had split in two, revealing … a mountainous landscape with a gaping cave.
A portal. The tree had cracked in half, creating a portal to some unknown place.
But then my eyes fell on Zane’s limp body crumpled at the base of the tree, and my world crashed down around me.
Desperation clawed at me as I gathered as much power as I could muster, sending my magic along the lines of the earth. I searched for every sign of life. I sensed every tree, every flower, every weed within a ten-mile radius. Not only that—I felt the presence of animals, insects, every living thing.
But not Zane.
“No. No. No,” I whimpered, the word becoming a mantra of despair.
I ran to him, hope battling against the crushing weight of reality. My tears blurred my vision, but I pushed forward, stumbling toward him.
Zane couldn’t be gone. Fate couldn’t be that cruel.
When I reached the tree, my heart shattered. Zane lay on his back, his chest unmoving, his lips a sickly purple, his unseeing eyes fixed on the sky.
A guttural scream of despair tore from my chest and burst from my lips. I collapsed onto him, throwing my body over his lifeless form. Sobs racked my frame, my tears wetting his face, chest, and hair.
“Why?” I cried, my voice cracking. “Why did you do this?”
It felt like someone had carved my heart from my chest, leaving only a raw, empty, bleeding void in its place.
“It was supposed to be me,” I sobbed. “Not you.”
He had taken a fate that was meant for me, and that wasn’t right. I couldn’t accept this. I wouldn’t. I had to do everything in my power to reverse it. I’d healed the dying many times, but I’d never brought someone back from the dead. It was something I had never dared to try before, but for Zane, I would do anything—give anything.
Taking a shaky breath, I lifted myself off Zane’s chest. Pressing a hand to his cheek, I found it still warm to the touch. Gently, I closed his lids, and as I gazed down at him, I could almost convince myself he was only asleep, not truly gone.
Leaning forward, I whispered in his ear, “I love you too, and I’m not going to let you go.”
Closing my eyes, I began to pull the life from every bush, tree, flower, and blade of grass around me, filling my wellspring of power. What I was about to attempt would require a tremendous amount of magic, more than I’d ever channeled before.
I continued pulling power, filling myself with more magic than I’d ever held before. I went far past my limits, until it felt like I might combust.
When I could take no more, I opened my eyes. The world around me was drained of life, washed in gray. The plants and vegetation were shriveled and dead as far as the eye could see. I knew it extended beyond the ravine—I’d likely drained the life from everything within a two-or three-mile radius.
Sadness pierced my heart for what I’d done to the land, but I vowed to restore it if I survived this.
Peering down at Zane, I was struck again by how peaceful he looked, as if he were only resting. I pressed a kiss to his stubbled cheek, then laid both hands on his chest and began to push my magic into him.
As I funneled my magic into Zane, I searched for a spark within him to ignite his healing. But it wasn’t working. Just my magic wasn’t enough.
Usually, when I healed someone, I poured my magic into their life force, their very essence, helping their body heal itself. But Zane didn’t have a life force anymore. For all intents and purposes, he was an empty shell, so as I poured my magic into him, there was no anchor, so it wouldn’t stay inside of him. The only thing I could think to do was to push some of my life force into him as well to act as a tether.
It was an idea I wouldn’t have considered if Queen Liliana hadn’t done something similar to me using the faestone dagger. She hadn’t been just pulling my magic from me, but my very life force as well. But unlike her, I would be willingly giving my magic to Zane rather than taking something from him. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but it was the only option I could think of.
Without hesitation, I dug deep into myself. If I died saving Zane, it would be a worthy sacrifice.
