Page 234 of Barbi and the Villain

He merely chuckles.

“A true mating only happens within the same species. When the mating mark appeared, I knew you could not be just a human. You must have some divine energy within you. Whether that was Tartareian or Aperite…” he shrugs. “It was only a matter of finding what you are and how I could use that best, and…” he trails off with a smile. “You certainly did not disappoint. The daughter of the great Lispera herself.”

It dawns on me that this is who he is. Until now, he’s just been playing a role. He needed me, so he made himself into my ideal man, saying and doing all the things he knew would make me fall for him.

“You are vile,” I whisper. “All those lies…”

“How is it my fault that you are so gullible? You are cute, Barbi and quite endearing. I must say, this was fun while it lasted.”

My mouth opens and closes in shock.

Fun? This was…fun?

My energy simmers around me, my heartbreak fueling my anger. I’ll show him fun! I’ll fucking show him…

His dark tendrils surround me, extinguishing my emerging powers. He has me surrounded as he holds me in a tight grip, yet he’s not touching me. I try to summon my shield, but I fail miserably.

“You are powerful, I will give you that. But you are no match to me.” He laughs at my struggles.

“Fuck. You!” I grit out and spit in his face.

He wipes the moisture from his cheek before he curls his hand around my throat, lifting me in the air. His fingers dig into my airways, and I flail my limbs around in an attempt to get him off me.

“It really was not supposed to end this way.”

He glances at me, his expression inscrutable.

“If only you had remained ignorant until the end… You would have gone into that lake, as I told you to, and all this mess would have been avoided. Now…” His lips pull up in a sad smile.

He carries me over to the broken window, dangling me over the edge.

I glance down, terror engulfing me.

The lake is unsettled, the red of the water rippling all around the lighthouse and forming a whirlpool of misery—my misery.

At once, I know that these are my last moments alive.

“Stop,” I cry out. I attempt to hold onto him with all my might as my stomach drops just looking at the steep fall.

“I am sorry, Barbs. I really am.” He smiles as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I do care about you, you know.” He leans to whisper in my ear. “But I can never love you. My heart will be forever with her.”

“Nyk, please,” I stammer as he takes a step over the edge of the window. He floats in the air while I hold onto him for dear life. My powers are useless. No matter how much I summon my energy to the surface, I cannot. The shield he’s placed over me inhibits my abilities, rendering me useless.

I can only stare into his hauntingly beautiful face as he sends me to my death.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

My heart beats louder and louder in my chest. The mating mark burns a hole through me, echoing this ineffable anguish that is wrecking my soul.

“Goodbye, Barbi,” he murmurs softly as he lays a chaste kiss on my lips and wraps the necklace with his ring around my neck. “I will remember you fondly for your sacrifice.”

Sacrifice? What sacrifice? This is murder, plain and simple.

He is…killing me. After all we shared, after all we have been through. He is killing me.

None of it was real.

Even my love that sprung from the deepest corners of my soul was not real.

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