Page 9 of To The Final End
There’s a ringing in my ears that won’t stop.
My body is shaking. I can’t make it stop either.
Bree isn’t moving.
Riley’s eyes are still open. Still fixed on her sister. Still seeing nothing.
I look away. I can’t—I can’t watch her die twice.
The others are frozen around me. Gray trembling silently, one hand still hovering near Bree’s shoulder. Jace staring straight ahead like if he blinks he’ll shatter. Rhett’s fire flickering at his fingertips—weak, useless, guttering out. Theo pale and wide-eyed, lips moving without sound. Thane’s hands shaking so hard I can see it from here.
Stellan frozen. Watching something in the magic I can’t see.
All of them.
Kneeling.
Waiting.
Doingnothing.
My chest caves in.
The hunger that’s lived in me since I woke up wrong—since I started needing things I couldn’t name—it collapses inward. Becomes something sharper. Something that feels like drowning.
Bree. No. No, no, no. Please no.
I can’t lose her. I can’t—
“What are we doing?”
The words come out broken. Barely audible.
No one hears me.
I try again. Louder. My voice shaking so hard the words almost don’t form.
“What are we waiting for?”
Silence.
Something in me snaps.
“What are we waiting for?!”
My voice cracks. Raw. Unstable. I don’t recognize the sound of it.
Everyone turns to look at me.
I jab a shaking finger at Bree.
“She’s dying! She’s—she needs—Riley told us—she said—”
I choke.
I can’t finish.
Theo’s voice comes quiet, steady. Repeating the words I couldn’t get out.
