Reaching Retribution(104)

“Natasha,” Natalie whimpers with tears glistening in her eyes. “Please don’t go.” Liam and I stop behind her.

Conner grabs onto Natasha’s hand and kisses her knuckles. Coughing, Natasha looks up at them and tries to smile. “He promised if I worked with them, he’d leave you alone. He promised you’d be safe. He was going to keep coming after Ryanne, and I knew you’d become involved. I didn’t want you to get hurt,” she whispers. “I had a part to play. I had to play the part. There was too much at stake. Too much to lose.” Natasha’s head rolls to the side and her breathing slows. “I had a part to play.”

“Natasha!” Natalie screams. “Don’t leave me.”

Connor looks over at Natalie. “Ryanne was right.”

“What?”

“She told me the girl we knew was still there.” He looks down at Natasha. “I love you Natasha.” Leaning down, he places a kiss on her forehead.

“I still hate her,” Natasha whispers as she glances at me. “Tell Madison I love her, okay?” Natasha croaks as tears fall out of her eyes and land in the grass. “I’m sorry.” she gasps and closes her eyes. Her hand goes limp in Connor’s. Natalie cries out and covers her mouth; tears are streaming down her face and over her hands. Liam reaches down and pulls her up to him. She stands, throws herself into his arms, and cries into his shirt. Logan finally makes it to us and drops to the ground beside her to attempt to heal her, but she’s gone.

That doesn’t make sense. Ryanne rescued Natalie and Conner from Natasha’s attack earlier this summer…She had a part to play.

With a sad shake of his head, Logan stands up and makes his way over to David and heals him. David thanks him, but reaches out and hits me lightly on the shoulder. Without saying anything, he points over at the platform.

Ryanne is back.





Chapter Thirty-Two


Zahtri has to come sooner or later. He’s not going to leave me standing here alone for long. He has to want this to end as much as I do. We can’t do this for much longer.

I bite my lip when someone touches my shoulder and whip around expecting to come face-to-face with Zahtri, but Vincent is standing behind me. “Wha—”

Vincent’s arm wraps around my waist. All the colors around me blur and the sounds coalesce together in a vortex of meaningless noise and shades. I close my eyes to try and make the transportation process easier. When we stop moving, I lose my balance and stumble to the side. Vincent keeps a grip on me, making sure I don’t fall.

When I turn around, Vincent lets go of me and reaches down to place a hand on his ribs. My eyes move down to his hand and I see blood oozing between his fingertips. “Oh my gosh,” I gasp and look back up at him.

“Use his weakness,” he says. I try to ignore the grimace on his face. Vincent is dying. A normal wound wouldn’t push that much blood out as fast. He was hit with a weapon Zahtri infused with dark magic. “Claire said to use his weakness.”

“What weakness? I can’t find anything?” I look around me briefly. We’re still in the forest, just an undisturbed part. Vincent takes a few steps back and leans against a tree. “I’ve been looking, Vincent. He’s too strong. The only way I can stop this is if I take myself with him, and I’m trying to avoid that.”

“Get creative,” he tells me doubles over in pain.

“I’ve been trying. I don’t know what else to do.” I move toward him, reaching out. I don’t like seeing him in pain. There has to be something I can do to ease the hurt.

“You’re a smart girl, Ryanne. Get creative.” A peaceful expression crosses Vincent’s face as he stands up straight and looks at me. “You know, I was going to marry her,” he whispers.

I take another small step forward, toward him. “Who?”

“Claire, I loved her.” He grabs onto my wrist and I feel myself being transported again. Closing my eyes, I wait for the movement to stop. When I feel Vincent’s hand loosen its grip, I open my eyes. I’m back at the clearing. The fight is still ensuing, but there is no one around us. “I can almost hear her calling me,” he says with a small smile. I catch him as he falls forward, gasping.

“Vincent, please don’t go.” I lower him to the ground. I hope that no one shows up right now. Gently resting his head on the grass, I push his hair out of his face. “Vincent?”

“I can s-see her.” The blood is still oozing out the wound. He’s too far gone for anyone to help. I hope he’s not in pain anymore. His eyes close, but he’s still breathing. “She’s so beautifu…” With one last exhale, his body goes limp.