Chapter One
Colton
“You killed her!” I yell again. Tom bends down and picks the man off the ground. I’m not sure what he’s going to do, but I’ve never seen Tom look this angry before. The man is a mage— that much is obvious. I try to push away from Bragden and Liam again, but they tighten their grip. Blood is dripping down the man’s chin from his split lip because of Tom’s earlier punch. He killed my soulmate; I can’t just stand here. She’s dead because of him.
The man glances down at Ryanne before he speaks. “It wasn’t supposed to hit her.” A menacing look crosses his face before he narrows his eyes on Incendia and points. “It was supposed to hit her!” Bragden lets go of me and walks toward him. Recognizing the look on Bragden’s face, I stop struggling. Liam lets me go and I move back and sit down next to Ryanne. She can’t be gone. This isn’t real.
It can’t be real.
Seeing the feral look in Bragden’s eyes, Tom steps out of the way. Bragden takes one look at him and punches him. Emma and Natalie gasp and flinch when the sound of his nose breaking echoes though the room. He slumps to the ground unconscious. With taunt muscles, Bragden stands over the man, fists clenched, trying to control his anger. A few seconds later, everyone turns and looks at me, crying next to the dead body of my soulmate.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. I lean back against the edge of the bed, trying to control my breathing. It feels like I can’t get enough air into my lungs—like I’m slowing suffocating under pain. I just got her back and now she’s gone. Just yesterday, Travis rescued her from Dravin’s compound—broken and bloodied, but alive. Less than twenty-four later, she’s dead.
Incendia falls to her knees on the ground next to me. “I’m so sorry. It was supposed to be me. She shouldn’t have done that. I was supposed to die. Was that what she saw in the vision? Me dying?”
Bragden walks over to me, “Probably. That’s kind of Ryanne’s thing. You’re meant for something bigger. That’s why she saw that vision.”
“But she’s the girl from the prophecy! I’m nothing more than an average mage.”
“And Ryanne thought you were worth saving,” I tell her emphasizing Ryanne’s name. She’s more than the girl from the prophecy. Tom walks over the unconscious man and closes the door. We don’t need to attract any more attention right now.
“Incendia, do you recognize this man?” Tom asks quietly. I don’t look up at him because I don’t think I can handle seeing the sadness in his expression.
“He’s Mr. Garrowen’s son, Enrique,” she whispers. “I didn’t know he was a mage.” When Incendia’s eyes start to water, Bragden reaches over and pulls her to him. She turns and starts crying into this shoulder. “She saved me twice today. Why would she do that? She doesn’t even know me.”
“Ryanne would rescue a stray cat.” I lean back against the bed. We all turn and look at Kyril sitting with Olive. “She did rescue a stray cat.”
Even Olive looks upset. This shouldn’t have happened. I was supposed to have a future with her. Claire told me that everything was going according to plan. This was not part of the plan. What changed? The last thing I told her was a lie. The last words I’ll ever speak to her weren’t true. I didn’t even get to tell her that I loved her too.
I push myself up. “We need to find Dravin.” Dravin is the man responsible for all of this, and I can’t just stand here while I know he’s out there causing another person or family pain.
“Colton,” Tom starts.
“You don’t understand. Literally a couple hours ago, she asked me not to stop fighting. She said if something does happen to me, you have to continue with this fight. You have to push forward; otherwise all of this would have been for nothing. Don’t let it be for nothing, Colton,” I quote her. “I have to finish this, Tom. For her.” My voice cracks at the end and hearing that, Emma stifles a sob. I glance across the room at her and see silent tears streaming down her face. David is trying to comfort her, but yet again, this is one of those situations where nothing seems helpful in the moment.
The room gets quiet when Liam starts coughing and leans against the wall to support himself. “Liam, what’s wrong?” Natalie asks. A layer of sweat glistens on his forehead, and an expression of pain crosses his face as he leans his head back against the wall and grabs his chest, gasping for air.
“It’s Ryanne,” Bragden explains. “He’s supposed to protect her. She didn’t get to complete what she was destined to, and he needed to protect her until that moment came. His body is reacting to losing their bond.”