Page 362 of Once Upon a Fable

Gemma screamed something.

I ignored it all.

I was done with this.

He would die.

Immediately.

Rocking onto my knees, I wrenched my arm back, ready to deliver the final blow. I blinked back ghosts and memories. I focused on the forest where we fought and not the dorm where we’d hidden as slaves.

I bared my teeth and swung.

Gemma threw herself on top of the crumpled, bloody man beneath me. “Don’t!” She curled up over his head, putting herself in harm’s way, forcing me to roll to the side so I didn’t hit her.

Shoving upright, I roared, “Get the fuck away, Gemma! Let me finish this.”

“You can’t.” She cradled his head, sending violent jealousy through me. “It’s Jareth!”

Jareth?

The kid who’d endured two weeks of punishment and returned to us soulless.

The brother who scared me even while I’d done my best to protect him.

The family I’d killed to set free.

Gemma sat up, revealing the man she’d protected.

One blue eye, one brown eye.

Awfully familiar and horribly real.

Drenched in blood from my fists.

Jareth.

I choked.

The world ceased existing.

My headache returned in full crippling force. My vision stuttered. Vertigo slammed into me. I wobbled on my knees as I gasped for breath.

How?

Where?

I don’t understand.

And then, whiteness.

Nothing but fucking whiteness as my mind folded in on itself.

All the memories I’d let loose.

All the hatred I’d set free.

The bittersweet freedom and sanity I’d felt all sucked back inside me.