Page 84 of Rebirth

“I’m about to save you again,” I vow, my gaze level with hers. “Even if it means this world burns.”

For I will become the monster to keep her light alive. Commit every atrocity, cause every destruction, if only it means she will survive.

I will tear down stars from the sky if that is what it takes to save her. For her, I will sacrifice anything. Even my own soul.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

SOPHIE

Pain shoots through my shoulder, searing my veins as I grit my teeth, gripping the wound. The world spins.

He’rox gathers me in his arms, holding me ever so gently as his tentacles writhe and snap at his back.

“Find her…” I whisper again, pleading with him through the haze of pain. “The girl…she was controlling them. She might be able to help us. Maisie died, but maybe this little girl…Maybe she can…”

He stares down at me, his gaze black and filled with purpose. “I must save you first.”

The ground shifts under us as he moves, swiftly cutting through the forest. My head lolls back, darkness creeping in at the edges of my vision. I can feel the cold seeping through my veins, followed by fire. As if I’m freezing and burning at the same time.

“I could amputate it. Stop the infection.” But even as I whisper those words, I know that isn’t the right solution. It’s too far gone already. I can feel it in my neck, traveling down my spine, the speed at which it moves sending more than fear through my bones.

I stiffen against the pain, unable to breathe, my eyes fluttering open to find He’rox’s dark gaze on me.

It’s cold. So cold. And I recall the words he’d said before he took me into his arms.

“The girl,” I whisper again. “Please, He’rox.”

Movement stops as he halts, eyes focused on me and I phase out of consciousness for a moment, only to reopen my eyes to us moving again.

There’s a cold reality creeping in at the corners of my mind. A surety, as if the universe itself is talking to me.

I’m dying.

So…this is how it feels.

I could almost laugh.

So, my father was right all along. The end of the world does end in disease. At least, the end of my world. And his. But there might be hope for the rest of humanity. And I’m confident the alien holding me now can find the key.

My eyes flutter open again and I’m dimly aware that we’re high in the canopy, swaying gently even though we’re moving at incredible speeds. He’s walking on his tentacles, using them like four stilted legs.

“The girl,” I whisper again, lids low as I focus on him. He’rox. The alien who has taught me so much in such a little time.

All my problems, all I’ve been through, have been nothing compared to what he and his people have endured. And still, they fight. Still, they came to save us.

Save me.

A smile curves my lips despite the pain, and He’rox’s gaze snaps to mine.

“I’m going,” I whisper.

His eyes flare with something I don’t have the energy to understand. Only accept.

“I’m glad I got to spend my last moments with you…”

I think he calls my name, swear he roars in distress, but all else fades as my head lolls back once more. And as my consciousness wanes one last time, I’m aware of something moving over my skin.

Like water, but not.

---