Chapter 123
Just as I was watching Derrick collapse to my mother's feet, gasping for air, a burst of magic shot out from behind me. As Kyle stepped to my side and her spell failed, I fumbled for balance.
She seemed shocked by my brother's abrupt presence, but not enough for me to be able to free him from her grip.
She then took a knife out from under her dress sleeve and pressed it to Derrick's throat while the savage wolves were still battling mercilessly behind me.
I pulled back my magic, feeling the fire in my body as I looked down at my mate, his eyes pleading with me. He desired for me to save myself rather than for me to save him.
"Maybe you're both much more clever than I've ever given you credit for." With her dagger jabbing into his flesh, she declared. "Kyle, I'm shocked you had the guts to keep your partner a secret from me. Don't worry, I'll take care of your problem as well as I finish dealing with your sister's." As Kyle took a seat by my side, he growled at the threat.
I could feel my brother's power beckoning at mine, but I had no idea what to do. His might was almost teasing me, a whispering voice wanting to come into contact with mine. I turned to look at him, but he was staring at me already, our instincts mirroring each other in our gazes.
Hold his hand. You just need to have faith in yourself.
When I could think of nothing else to do, I listened to the voice in my head as it grew louder and clearer. Kyle held tight to my hand as though our survival relied on it. Our abilities went awry, spinning until they seemed incredibly light.
My own breathing, movement, and thought processes had all vanished as our magic coiled, grew, and produced.
The first to recognise the connection was Kyle, who started using my magic as his own as soon as we started working together. His power bursts trembled forward like an earthquake, reverberating across the savage wolves' battle. His magic tore the black magic from their bodies that my mother had fed them.
The fighting stopped silently, and the savage wolves heeled, making the command my mother had given them meaningless.
"How did you do that?" My mom had a high-pitched voice.
"Hurt him, and you will receive a fate much worse." When I warned her, it seemed as though my voice wasn't really mine, and my magic was about to unleash a force greater than anything my mortal body could handle.
She looked between my brother and I for a few minutes before deciding. Time seemed to pause as I observed her plan come to pass and the blade at Derrick's throat pierce his skin, causing blood to gush out.
No, even though I made an effort to distance myself from him, an unseen force prevented me from reaching my dying partner.
Kyle said, "You need to end this first," but it sounded like he wasn't speaking for himself. Regardless, I lost interest in all of this.
Instead of becoming a puppet to my own strength, I wanted to hold my partner close to my chest and help him recover from his wounds before it was too late.
"Do you know how it feels to have all the power in the world and be made to feel powerless about it?" My body was searing hot, as if there was something else inside of me, and my words seemed so far away. "I gave you your magic, and I can just as easily take it away." My mother glanced up at me, her face going pale as my body started to lift away from the floor.
"Who are you?" Although my mother had never been afraid of much, she was terrified of what was happening to me.
But those weren't my words. "I am the moon that you pray to, and you should be begging me for my mercy," I said.
With his back to me, I stared at him as he lay there on the ground. Now beside him, Morgan was trying to stop the blood from flowing, his hands covered in gore.
My mother knelt down and put her hands together in front of her.
"You do not deserve my mercy." I could feel it as my magic connected with my mother's, but we were depleting it rather than drawing into it as I was with my brother. I observed as the strength she had accumulated through the retaliation of her heart was extracted from her system, leaving behind frailty.
"What have you done?" With a gentle question, she raised her hands in question.
Perhaps you could have inherited the throne if you had refrained from using violence. Rather, this is your due process." My strength suffocated her until she suddenly erupted into light."
With the loss of my mother, the divine force within me started to fade. I wrenched my hand free from my brother's as my feet struck the floor once more. My chest is burning with pure sorrow as my heart breaks.
I sank to the ground, cradling Derrick in my lap and pushing Morgan away. His face was getting paler, and he had closed his eyes.
"Please," I pleaded with the memory of my system's strength and the being that had once been my body. "I can lose everything, but not him—please not him."
"There's a cost involved if you want me to heal him."
The voice returned the call.
"Anything; I will do anything." Her strength touched me, connected to the blood, sparking at my fingers.
I observed the incision healing on its own and his skin regaining its color. I was relieved when he opened his eyes once more.
He got up and put his hand on his throat in shock. "You scared me; I thought I lost you," I whispered.
However, as his health improved, I saw that I was becoming weaker.
With a smile, Derrick acknowledged me as my vision blurred and his words became unintelligible. My body gave in, and I leaned towards him, gripping his forearms. I took one last look at him and I felt my heart slow down, and then the blackness descended.