Page 48 of A War of Ruin and Reckoning

“Mi amor,” she whispered, touching his hot, sweaty forehead. “I’m going to find medication.”

“No,” he rasped, hand grasping hers.

It was so clammy and weak. It took every ounce of control to keep her voice from trembling.

“I must, my love. You need help. If I wait another day, who knows what it will be like out there.”

Who knows if he will be alive or dead?

“Don’t go,” he begged.

“I’ll be back. I promise.”

He tried to stop her, but a convulsion wracked his body, bowing his spine from the bed. His agony brought tears to her eyes. After everything that had kept them apart, they’d found their way back to each other. He had to see that nothing in this life had the power to break their bond.

“Jace.” She gripped his hand tightly. “We found our way back once. We’ll do it again.”

“I hear their screams,” he murmured, tilting his face to the window as though he could see through his swollen eyes. “It’s too dangerous. I’ll lose you.”

“You won’t, and you know why?” she asked. “What did you say to me last night?

He licked his dry lips. “You’re my North Star. Mi estrella brillante.”

“That’s right. And why do I call you Jace?”

His chuckle caused a coughing fit so violent that Nova held a cloth to his mouth. When she pulled it away, red spotted the white. He wheezed, “Because I’m too handsome.”

She forced herself to smile through her tears and squeezed his hand. “So handsome that I misheard you introduce yourself. So you see, I have loved you since I saw you. And no good-for-nothing brother of mine will keep us apart.”

A tear spilled from his left eye. “I should have fought harder for you.”

“Me too. But we were both pawns in his game.” She held her breath, trying to stop the fury she had for herself, for failing to see the true depths of Nile’s villainy. She refused to make her parting words about that.

Jace whispered, “He’s done far worse than you’ll ever know.”

“Tomorrow. We will talk about that tomorrow. For now, we focus on you getting better. The pharmacy is only a five-minute walk. I’ll return to you soon, I promise.”

Their fingers dragged over each other’s as she pulled away. She kissed her fingers and pressed them to his lips. As she walked away, he called her name, “Estrella?”

“Yes, mi alma?”

“If you don’t… I’ll find you.”

Nova wiped silent tears from her eyes. Some part of her heart had held onto the hope that this Guardian who looked like her love was somehow a miracle in disguise. But now that she’d forced herself to remember those final moments, she knew in her heart Jace was dead.

She never made it to the pharmacy. The moment she’d stepped outside the Bellagio, it started snowing. People rioted. Someone pushed her clear over the balustrade into the fountain’s freezing water.

Thud thud thud.

A knock at the bathroom door startled Nova.

“Yes?” she croaked, hastily wiping her eyes.

“Are you well?” Leaf called through the door.

“I’m fine.”

A pause, as if he listened for her lies.

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