by K. G. Reuss
“I know,” I breathed out. “That’s when he will come for me. He is of Darkness and I am of Light.”
Calix nodded and kissed me deeply.
“I have a gift for you,” he said, moving to get out of bed.
“You didn’t need to—” I started but he hushed me by placing his finger on my lips.
He walked to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and pulled out a small wooden box, then sat down beside me.
“Ana, I want you to have this,” he said in a hushed voice. “I want you to wear it and always think of me, no matter where you are or what is happening. I want you to know you are mine and I am yours. Forever.”
I opened the box and saw a beautiful necklace inside. It was the same snake carved into Calix’s skin, its eyes glittering ruby jewels. It was made out of the prettiest metal I’d ever seen, the details of the snake so intricate, it was as if the snake were alive.
“Calix,” I said breathlessly. “This is … this is beautiful.”
“It is the symbol of my house,” he said thickly. “The House of Night.”
The words sent a shiver down my spine, and I winced, knowing in my heart what that meant. He removed the delicate necklace from the box and put it on me, his warm fingers brushing my skin. He kissed my neck, and I closed my eyes, dying inside.
How could the world be so cruel? To give me a love and then pull it away from me. To make the one thing I loved more in this world a cruel nightmare, one I couldn’t be with the way I wanted to be.
We were destined to work against one another, him Death, me Life, always on opposing teams. Is that what forever would be like? Always dancing away from one another, me eluding him? Him destroying, me trying to salvage what was left? Trying to overcome? To fight?
No.
I couldn’t live that way. I wouldn’t.
This would be my one and only move as the Oracle. As the bringer of life. Ending my own would save so many.
“I got you a cake,” Calix said, getting to his feet and looking at the sun again. It had dipped lower in the sky.
It was almost time. I think we both knew it.
“Is it chocolate?” I asked, staring up at him with my big, green eyes.
“Your favorite,” he smiled sadly. He leaned down and kissed my lips again, then went to the door, where he stopped and looked back at me. “Not everything in this world needs to end in fire or darkness. Remember that for me, OK?”
“Of course,” I said, smiling through my tears. “I promise.”
He disappeared through the doorway, and I hastily got dressed in my white dress and stepped into the fading sunlight streaming in on the floorboards.
“To the cliff,” I whispered, envisioning the high walls, jagged rocks, and turbulent water.
I felt a pull in the center of my chest and I was swept away, leaving Calix behind.
Chapter 48
I stood looking over the cliff, my hair whipping behind me in the harsh wind. I looked down to the jagged rocks below and knew the fall would be a gentle escape, that I’d die before the pain set in.
I looked down at my phone and pulled up Kellin’s number, ignoring his unread message.
I’m ending it tonight. The sun sets on the cliff, and with it, so do I. This is me saving the world.
I hit send and threw the phone over the edge, watching as it smashed into hundreds of tiny pieces on the rocks below.
“Ana?”
I froze as Calix’s voice cut through my terrified thoughts.
I slowly turned and looked at him over my shoulder.
“Don’t come any closer, Calix,” I said, my voice shaking.
“Ana,” he said again, his voice pleading. “Baby, what are you doing?”
“Putting an end to all of this madness,” I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. It carried on the wind, though, and Calix’s face twisted in pain.
“Ana, don’t do this. You promised,” he said, taking a tentative step toward me. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Calix, please,” I begged, stepping closer to the edge. “I know who you are.”
“I know,” he replied, taking another step. “You’ve always known.”
I frowned at his words, knowing they were true and that I hadn’t wanted to believe them.
“You’ve known and loved me despite it. You are not this person, Ana. You cannot end your life. We need you. I need you.”
“You need me so you can hurt people, Calix. You aren’t yourself when you’re in Winterset. You are the Nihilist, and the Master controls you. It’s too strong of a hold to break. Let me save you, please!”
“Ana, I need you to not do this. You don’t understand what you’re doing. You think you’re helping, but you aren’t. I would not lie to you about this. I swear to you this is not the answer you seek. It will only do harm. Don’t do it. Please! Come back to me, and I swear to you I will do everything I can to keep you from harm. If you don’t, I don’t know what will happen.”
“I don’t believe you,” I replied, taking another step toward the edge of the cliff. One more and I’d be over the edge, tumbling to the last moments of my life.
Jump.
That voice, tickling my mind. I swallowed hard as I felt a heaviness settle over me.
“Please,” he begged, his voice cracking. “If I save you—”
“Then don’t,” I answered. “Let me go.”
“I cannot do that. I love you!”
Jump!
“I love you too.”
I looked at the pain in his eyes and closed my own. I took that one final step and felt myself fall, my body cutting a smooth line through the air as I plummeted to my death. The last thing I saw as I opened my eyes was Calix’s horrified face staring over the edge of the cliff as I fell, his agonizing scream echoing in my ears.
I landed with a thud, the darkness coming for me before the pain did. I let out my final breath, Calix’s name on my lips.
Chapter 49
Calix
Her body was broken but I cradled her in my arms, the tears pouring from my eyes. I’d never loved anyone so much in my entire existence, and here she was, dead in my arms.
Another death, another of my victims.
I let out an anguished cry and hugged her broken and bleeding body to my chest. I didn’t want to let her go. I’d have figured a way out of this mess. For her, I was prepared to do anything.
In Earth Realm, Zaros wasn’t able to control as easily as he did in Winterset. The distance was too great. Still, the pull was there, small, but nagging at my mind, at hers. I’d heard him whispering to her. I’d been able to push his compulsion away and close off my mind, but I knew he had something to do with her jumping.
I placed her body back onto the ground and stared down at it, every ounce of my sadness washing over my cheeks.
I knew what I had to do. I knew what would save her but it would come at a cost. One I was willing to pay to keep her alive, to bring her back to me. Even if she hated me for it, at least she would get a chance at life.
Even if that chance meant I wasn’t a part of it with her.
I pulled the thin dagger from my pocket and sliced a gash into my hand, the same spot where I’d cut myself earlier to make the pact with my father. I licked at the blood, feeling its warm bitterness on my lips.
I leaned over her body and kissed her bleeding lips, effectively exchanging our blood. Her lips were soft and warm and our last hours together flashed in my mind’s eye. It had been the best moments of my life, lying in that bed with her in my arms, knowing she gave herself to me, that she had known who I was when she did it. She was an angel, pure and simple, and loved without a care. She was my angel, and I wanted her back.
“Tas musa en primo, non finnas,” I whispered in her ear, using the old and powerful language of our people, the words of binding, as a tear slipped down and fell onto my cheek. “Vos tia minas perpetum. Mi lita est lita tu. Lita.”
This is where we begin, not end. You are m
ine forever. My life is your life. Our life.
I repeated the words in my head and placed my hands on her broken chest. I bound us, grateful she’d lain with me earlier. Had she not given herself to me, it wouldn’t have been possible to finish the binding. The disgust took over me, knowing I’d slowly been trying to bind with her for weeks. Then, I had been a cold, uncaring man. Ana had awakened something else inside of me, though. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I came alive, I knew she was my reason for trying to overcome all of the treachery. This moment would change us both, shape us into something both ugly and beautiful. I shuddered as I thought about what I would become, but she was worth it. Zaros knew this was how we would bind, the clever snake. This is what he had meant when he told me I was thinking correctly about dying for her.
I didn’t care about the consequences. I needed her, not because she was my Oracle, but because I simply loved her and didn’t want to exist without her. It wouldn’t be living at all. It would be like fighting to breathe for the rest of my life, and no one wants to live struggling for air.
I dug deep into the darkness looking for her, and when I sensed her near, I grabbed her and pushed her to the surface. She stared at me, pleading, her large green eyes begging me to leave her, but I could not. Not my angel. My princess. My Oracle. She was meant to live for me, not die.
An exchange. Her life for my death. I knew it was the completion of the binding. A sacrifice had been made by both of us. I was Death, eating it for her so she could breathe again. In the back of my mind, I knew I had taken some of her abilities when we’d first met just so I could give her life again. It was our destiny, and I did not regret it. Not at this moment.
“Death unites us, not separates us. We will meet again, my sweet angel,” I said as I pressed my lips to hers and released her back to the mortal realm.
She reached her arms out to me, and I simply watched as she disappeared from view.
I stood in the void, knowing my time had come. The binding was complete.
The time of the Nihilist, the destroyer, was at hand, and there would be hell to pay. I only prayed for my victims’ sake that Ana could save me from myself.
About the Author
K.G Reuss was born and raised in Northern Michigan. She currently resides there with her husband and children. When K.G. Reuss isn’t pursuing her love of reading and writing, she is working in emergency medicine.
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