"I love you," I whispered, expecting devastation to erupt from the sanctuary at any second. Holding my breath, I thought of the first moment I'd met Vesta, and the eyebrow she'd raised at me, as if saying, "Who the hell is this guy?" in her typical, off-the-cuff manner. I remembered her pale blonde hair, the caramel tan of her soft skin… the sound of her voice, and the way she tilted her head back whenever she laughed. I loved it. It had been music to my ears.
What I wouldn't have given to hear it again.
A loud boom thundered above, and I sank my hands into the dried-up dirt, bracing myself for the killer wave. It was coming. I could feel it. The ritual had been unleashed, and this was it… that final moment. That fabled last breath.
I would've liked to see the lagoon again. To bask in the sun and bathe in its crystalline waters. To shift into my Tritone form and swim for days on end, up and down the sandy western coastline, from White City all the way down to the Dorasor Mountains, where the River Pyros originated, with its hot springs and lush jungles.
There was no time left for that. It would've been nice.
A few minutes passed, while I waited to die.
It took me a while before I began to wonder what was taking so long. Not that I'd gotten in any way accustomed to the idea of dying—not at all. But prolonging the inevitable irked me more than the concept of dying. The Hermessi had already taken everything I treasured most. They might as well hurry up and take my damn life, too.
But nothing happened.
Instead, the ringing in my ears died down. The bright light faded, and silence settled over the realm in a most peculiar fashion. Could this be the calm before the storm? It didn't feel like that.
The air was breathable again. There was no weight crushing me. No sense of doom.
Looking up, I could see the sanctuary again. The sky was clear, and its glow had vanished altogether. The building hovered, but barely. It wobbled. I heard the tinkling of glass inside, the steel beams of its structure moaning. From all the jostling, remaining bits of dirt clumped to the bottom began to fall off.
One of them landed on my head, and I cursed from the sudden jolt of pain it sent through my skull. This didn't make sense.
Suddenly, the sanctuary came down in all its glory, and I scrambled backward as far away from its landing point as I could at such short notice. It hit the ground hard, with a spine-tingling thud. The marble cracked here and there along its core beams and around the already-broken windows.
The thud reverberated across the surrounding land, as if a Deargh had suddenly fallen from the sky. Chills rushed through me as I tried to make sense of what was happening. There was no one else around, no one to ask about this. All the people had gone as far away from here as possible and were probably hiding, trembling with fear.
I managed to pull myself up, startled by a pulse that shot over the sky, something akin to a shockwave. I had a feeling it had something to do with what had just happened to the sanctuary.
Without even a hypothesis in mind, I rushed into the building and came to a sudden, breathless halt. I could see the Reapers, hundreds of them, standing by the crystal casings. The fae inside no longer glowed. There were no spirits in sight. Not even Vesta's.
My heart jumped in my throat.
"What happened?" I asked, my voice hoarse and tired, my eyes stinging.
One of the Reapers to my right came forward, wearing a sad look on his slim, aristocratic face. "I am truly sorry, Tritone King," he said.
"Who the hell are you, and what are you sorry for?!" I blurted, my mind no longer functioning properly.
"I am Rudolph. Vesta's Reaper," he replied.
For a moment, I made a connection. A distant link between what had just happened and the fate of my betrothed. But I couldn't put it into words. It scared the life out of me to even consider saying it out loud.
Vesta was in her crystal casing, and, for the first time, the absence of the Hermessi's glow worried me. Her skin was pale, her eyes closed. Her chest didn't move. There was no breath. No life left in her.
I'd braced for this moment, and I'd thought it would all be over with the white light. But I was still here, while Vesta was… gone. All the grief in the world was cradled inside my chest, pulling and tearing my heart into little pieces.
"The ritual was stopped," Rudolph said. "But Vesta and the others… they didn't make it. Their life-chains snapped when the five millionth fae was taken."
"What… What do you mean? You said the ritual was stopped," I breathed.
"Yes. But after the Hermessi reached their required number," another Reaper interjected, his tone careful and low.
"Taeral," I said, inching closer to Vesta's casing. "He did it… He stopped the ritual before it destroyed us all."
I should've been happier about this. I should've let a sigh of relief tumble out of my chest. I should've cried tears of joy. But how could I? Vesta was dead. So were Lucas, Kailyn, Ben, Grace, Caia, and Vita… and many other fae, both GASP agents and civilians. The loss of life was catastrophic, and I… I was now looking at a future that didn't have Vesta in it.
River had lost most of her family here.
"Why can't I see her anymore?" I asked. "You showed her to me."
Rudolph sighed. "She's dead. The rules—"
"Screw your rules!" I exploded. "You let Nuriya see Sherus after he died! Screw all your rules!"
The second Reaper came forth, his hands out in a defensive gesture. "Seeley did that on his own, against our regulations. Please, be patient. We're all waiting on updates from Seeley and our superiors. This here… it's unprecedented. You were allowed to see Vesta before because she wasn't dead yet. That has changed, and we are all sorry for what you're going through, but we cannot break the rules of our own accord."
I was crying. I didn't even realize it until I heard myself sob. "What the hell do you mean? Am I going to see her if your boss okays this? Is that what you're trying to say?"
"In a nutshell, yes," Rudolph said.
Letting a slew of profanities out, I took out my long knife and rammed its steel pommel into the crystal casing. I hit it, over and over, but nothing happened. My arm hurt, but there wasn't a single scratch or crack to signal that I could get to her.
"The witches did an excellent job of warding these things," Rudolph observed, and touched the casing with the tip of his scythe. It all came down in colorful shards, suddenly disintegrated. I reveled in the sound the pieces made as they fell onto the marble floor.
I scooped Vesta in my arms and settled by the doorway with her, as the sun shone through and bathed everything in its warm afternoon glow. My soul ached, but I held Vesta close. Her body was still warm, but that would soon fade.
Crying, I pressed my lips against her forehead, knowing this would be the last time I felt her skin like this. The world had been saved, but my Vesta had paid a heavy price.
