I fell backward as his hands slipped from me. “Doran, no!” The words escaped me, even though I knew they were of no use. I fell through the air, backward, landing hard on the ceremonial slab, screaming his name. I loved him, he was my friend, and like Faris, he’d stolen a part of my heart somewhere along the way.

My head smashed into the hardened stone with a crack that I felt all the way through my skull. Warmth pooled under my neck and I lay there, looking up at the sky. The screams of my friends and family as they died trying to make sure I was able to do what I had to. But without them at my side, the ceremony would never take place.

I knew that for the truth it was; the purple skinned book of prophecies had made things very clear. I needed someone from each of the seven divisions of the supernatural world to help me with the ceremony or it would never be complete.

Around me, the world exploded in fire and earth, and chunks of ground raining down on my head. I closed my eyes, listening to my own heart slow.

“Rylee!”

Alex’s voice cut through the fog of dying, but still I struggled to open my eyes.

“It’s too late,” I whispered.

“No, don’t say that. You can’t give up, boss.” His arms circled around me and he pulled me up to his chest. “You can’t give up, Rylee. That isn’t you. Don’t do this.”

He whispered into my ears something important, something I didn’t understand at first. “This isn’t the way. Don’t do this. Please.” His voice cracked on the last word and I managed to open my eyes.

Tears streamed down my face, but they weren’t my own. They were his as he stared down at me, clutching me to his chest. “Rylee.”

“Alex, I’m sorry.”

He pulled me tighter against him and I reached out for my other loved ones. Feeling for their threads as I Tracked them.

Gone.

Liam, Berget, Eve, Charlie, Calliope. Pamela. All gone, their lives cut short. I dared to reach for the babies. Zane was gone and his loss was a thousand times worse than saying goodbye to Milly. His life threads, I scrabbled for them as I howled to the night sky, but no sound came out. Not the babies, I couldn’t lose the babies; they were all I had left to fight for.

In a last moment, I reached for Marcella. The only hope I had left.

“Oh, I’ll be keeping her alive, Rylee. Don’t you worry about that.” Orion stepped into view, holding Marcella in his arms. She saw me, cried out, and reached her tiny hands toward me.

I couldn’t move, and the tears on my face were now my own. “Ella.”

“Momma.” Her hands waved as she frantically reached for me.

Ah, the pain in my heart outstripped every pain I’d ever felt in my body as she cried for me, and Orion laughed, holding her away. “Now, I think we’re about done here.”

He held up a sword, twisting it one way and then the other. A sword I’d held before, years ago. “The elemental who had this on her, she was a true bitch to kill. Almost had me at the end, but you know what broke her?”

I stared hard at him. He grinned down at me, his bald head shinning from the fires that had sprung up around us. “I killed her familiar and her sister in one fell swoop.” He made a kissing noise. “Their deaths broke her, and my demons swarmed her and brought me this sword.”

Laying there on the slab with Alex still holding me tight, I dared to Track Lark.

She was right behind him. There was a quick twist and her spear point slammed through his heart, opening him up like a can of rotten fruit. His body fell to the ground as he clutched at the spear and Lark caught Marcella.

“Rylee, hang on,” she said, dropping to her knees beside me. Marcella crawled onto my chest and lay her head by mine.

“Momma.”

I wanted to reach up and touch her one last time, to do as Lark commanded.

But there was no hanging on. My heart stopped, Alex cried out, and the last thing I saw was Marcella’s eyes as she touched my face and I slipped over the Veil.

CHAPTER 38

RYLEE

I JERKED OUT OF the vision, my heart scrambling as if it were actually restarting. Jonathan touched my arm and I spun to face him. “Fucking hell, that was shitty.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think that path would be any good. It’s not your style, despite how people want you to conform.” His eyes flickered over me and then to the path on the right; the one that held no uniform steps, no obvious answer. “Do you want to see this?”

I backed away. “No. No, I don’t.” He was right. Everyone around me always wanted me to plan my way through a salvage, and every time I did, shit fell apart. People died. “I’ll do this my way.”

Jonathan grinned at me. “Then maybe you have a chance. Your heart hasn’t failed you yet, has it?”

I realized here in this place, he wasn’t a creepy kid with weird eyes anymore. He was actually quite handsome. He grinned a little wider. “Here, you see my spirit, as I see yours.” He pointed behind me and I turned to see my reflection hovering in front of me.

“I don’t look any different.” The woman in front of me was dressed the same, her tri-colored eyes swirled, and her auburn hair fell over her shoulders. Scars were visible on my arms and my white shirt was bright against the color of my hair and dark pants.

“That’s because you have always been true to yourself, even when others tried to change you. That is your strength, Rylee of the Blood. You are a warrior, and you lead with your heart. Don’t change that.”