In that instant—in that heart-stopping instant, as Max was lifted into the air and slammed into a wall, as Dianna screamed Martine’s name, and as Derrick lunged for Escobar, using his fist to knock the warlock unconscious—time screeched to a grinding halt.
Martine went limp in Dianna’s arms, her dark hair falling around her creamy shoulders, her eyes glassy and wide.
For the first time in his life, Derrick experienced an agony no words could express, everything seeping out of him at once—gutted. He felt gutted, torn, shredded to his very soul at the sight of her unmoving.
Visions of Martine, quick to spar with him, beautiful under a white snowfall, wrapped in his arms after they made love, smiling up at him, blurred his vision—flashed before him as though they were on instant replay.
In those seconds before he rushed to her side, before he scooped her up in his arms and howled his rage, the emptiness drenched him, shook him to his core.
Derrick dropped to his knees, pulling Martine from Dianna, rocking her, fighting inexplicable sorrow and an almost uncontrollable fury.
Dianna was the first to offer comfort, tears slipping from her eyes, her hands trembling. “Derrick…oh Derrick, noooo!” she screamed, reaching for Martine’s face, stroking her pale cheek, sobbing.
He couldn’t find the words, didn’t know where to go, what to do. He only knew he’d failed to protect Martine, and he couldn’t live with that.
Didn’t want to live with it.
His mind raced, rushing forward, searching for anything to fix this. Dianna was a familiar, right? Surely she had something in her bag of tricks. Wasn’t she the most powerful familiar in the land, according to Escobar? That had to mean something, right? She had to have a bag of tricks, and he wanted them.
“Fix this,” he demanded. “Use your biggest-baddest-familiar-in-the-land powers and fix this!” he all but spat in her face.
But she shook her head vehemently. “No, no! This can’t be fixed without…it can’t be fixed!” she cried, hysteria lacing her words.
He lay Martine on his lap and gripped Dianna’s shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “It can’t be fixed without what?”
Fear. Fear and pain were in her eyes. She clung to his arm, her fingernails digging into it. “I said no! There’s no fixing it!”
“You’re lying!” he roared at her. In his gut, he knew she was lying. “Tell me what to do to fix it, Dianna!”
Escobar stirred by his feet, his lip thick with blood, his body shuddering when he tried to move. “A life for a life, eh, Dianna?” he rattled off before Derrick grabbed the collar of Escobar’s shirt, and dragged Escobar closer, slugging him into oblivion once more.
Derrick turned back to Dianna, his eyes narrowing, his chest tight from forcing air into his lungs. “A life for a life? What does that mean? Tell me now!”
Dianna shook her head again, trying to pull Martine’s lifeless body away from him. “No! No! No!”
“A sacrifice, that’s what it means, doesn’t it, Dianna? Doesn’t it?” he roared, shaking her. “A life for a life?”
“Yes!” she yelped back, still shaking her head, her tears spattering him.
Then the choice was simple. He didn’t think about it. He didn’t hesitate. “Then take mine, damn it! Take my life in place of hers!”
That was when it hit him—the impossible part of his curse.
In that moment, he made an enormous discovery, one he wouldn’t have seen coming a couple of weeks ago, maybe even as far back as just five days ago. One he never thought would come in his lifetime. In that moment of complete madness, he found there was nothing more he wanted to do than give this thing between him and Martine a shot.
How ironic he’d found a woman he’d sacrifice his life for—one he’d give everything he had in order to ensure her safety and happiness—and he had to die.
Welcome to impossible.
Chapter Sixteen
“Do it!” Derrick ordered. “Do it now!”
Dianna gripped his arm, her eyes pleading, her face wet with tears. “Please, please don’t make me do this. The process before you die is painful—unbearable. It will hurt you, and when Martine comes back she’ll be heartbroken! I can’t bear to see her any more hurt than she already has been!”
Scanning the room, he located Max, his brother’s chest rising and falling, allowing him a brief moment of peace. Knowing he was still breathing, still alive, would still be able to return home to JC and their family, solidified his choice.
Derrick’s jaw tightened. “But she’ll be alive. Nothing else matters. Do it, Dianna!” he bellowed before pressing a quick kiss to Martine’s still lips and gently laying her back on the floor.