I wish I could go to him, wish I could hold him one more time.
But I’m already cold, the rain and sleet able to reach the stadium with the magical wall gone, and I can already feel everywhere Cyrus’s venom touches as it works its way deeper and deeper into my system.
“Grace, look at me,” Hudson says with an urgency I’ve never heard from him before. “I need you to look at me.”
I slowly turn my head back to him, even as I wonder how much longer it’s going to take the venom to kill me. Everything hurts so much, I can barely breathe, barely think.
“You have to hang on,” Hudson whispers. “We can fix this—I know we can. I just need you to stay with me a little longer.”
“Eternal bite,” I whisper to him. A reminder that I know what’s happening here. Just like I know that he’s lying. Because no one ever recovers from Cyrus’s eternal bite—not even gargoyles. History has proven that.
“Fuck the eternal bite,” he answers. “You’re not dying on my watch, Grace.”
I laugh—just a little—because the pain makes it hurt too much. “I don’t think even you can stop this.”
“You have no idea what I can do.”
Speaking of which… “I think I have something that belongs to you,” I whisper.
Another wave of pain racks my body so hard, I almost pass out. I vaguely register Hudson’s shouting at me, pleading with me, though I’m not sure why. He doesn’t want me to do something…probably not die. Yeah, I don’t want that, either. But if I’m going to die, I’m going to at least give him a fighting chance at living again.
As the pain finally recedes, I reach my hand up, lay it on his cheek. Then reach inside me to find the brilliant blue thread that’s never been there before—it’s right on top, laid over all the others like it’s just been waiting for this moment.
Then again, maybe it has. I’m sure Hudson knows what to do with his powers much better than I ever will.
With the last remaining strength I can muster, I wrap my hand around the string and channel Hudson’s power back into him.
There’s a lot of it, more than I’ve ever imagined was possible for one person to hold, let alone wield. I’ve seen Jaxon’s power, felt it through the mating bond, and it’s immense. But this…this feels limitless.
The exchange goes on and on, Hudson’s eyes glowing a little brighter with every second that passes, his lips moving, but I can’t make out the words he’s saying over the sound of his power rushing in my ears as it leaves me. Until finally, finally I’m empty. Finally, the last remnant of Hudson is gone, and I am well and truly alone.
Which seems fair, actually. I guess when it all comes down to it, everybody dies alone.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, tears blooming in my eyes once more and mingling with the soft rain on my face. “I should have—”
“You,” Cyrus says, his fury barely contained as he stares down at the son he so recently lost. “How are you here?”
Someone must have told him Hudson was beside me, and he came back to see for himself. I wish he would leave. I can tell I only have a few more minutes left, and I want to spend them with Hudson.
“Does it matter?” Hudson responds. “You were always going to pay for this, whether I was here or not.”
“She cheated. The rules are very clear—only a mate can help you pass the test, and she has no mate. Cole made sure—”
My heart stutters in my chest, rage and regret burning inside me at what Cyrus just revealed. He did know what Cole had planned—had maybe even put him up to it.
I want to say something to Cyrus, want to call him on the atrocity—or atrocities—he committed today, but I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. It’s taking every inch of strength I have left to try to follow what’s going on. Arguing is impossible. And it wouldn’t matter anyway—what’s done is done, and it’s not like getting him to admit his complicity changes anything. I just want him to leave me to die in peace.
Hudson doesn’t argue, either. He just stares his father down, face blank and eyes blazing, until it’s obvious that Cyrus starts to get uncomfortable, his face growing pale as he shifts back and forth. But still he blusters. Still he pits his arrogance against Hudson’s strength.
“You know the rules,” he says. “She cheated.”
“She did not cheat,” Hudson tells him. And neither says a word for a second, maybe more. “And I will find a way to heal her. She will rule the Circle one day.”