Page 121 of Of Flame and Fate

I remember how dizzy the strobing images made me, and how hard it was to differentiate between the here and now and what was happening in Tahoe. Tears fill Shayna’s and Emme’s eyes, except I’m the one who cries first.

“The tattoo was what Johnny used to drain her,” I say. “The one of the snake piercing the heart.”

“Destiny was our heart,” Shayna says, repeating my exact thoughts. The realization causes her tears to run faster and all at once, she breaks down.

“She was,” I agree. I sniff, trying uselessly to keep it together. “I just don’t think any of us knew it until it was too late.”

Koda gathers Shayna into his arms when she cries into her hands. Like the rest of us, his body was battered, and while his wolf has healed him, it can’t protect him from Shayna’s sorrow. He holds her, hurting because she does.

Gemini pulls me to him. “I just don’t understand how he did it,” I say, my misery making it hard to speak.

He sighs. “Destiny never knew of him. But the Fate always knew her. I think he baited her with his music, calling to her when he finally believed he could take her.”

“But he seemed so shocked when he first saw her,” I say. “Like he was seeing something he didn’t know existed.”

“I think you’re wrong,” he tells me gently, his knuckles passing gently across my skin. “If anything, I think he was shocked to see you, and your sisters. He wasn’t expecting anything like you.”

I ease away from him, just enough to see his face. “So all that screaming and suffering on the mountain wasn’t real on his part?”

He strokes my hair, appearing sad. “It was. Except where she hurt because her magic was leaving her, my guess is he was in pain due to the gamut of energy being fed into his body.” He releases my strands. “He probably spent years nourishing the tattoo so he could take Destiny’s power when they finally met. I just don’t think he expected what leeching that power would cost him.”

“We should have let Tye kill him when he had the chance,” Bren mutters. He spreads his arms out. “Look at all this shit, all these dead humans, the rest of us coming close to biting it. It could have ended before it began.”

Gemini frowns. “I don’t agree. The amount of energy passing from Destiny into Fate was colossal. If Tye had killed him then, it would have erupted and destroyed us all.”

“Instead it only killed poor Destiny,” I say.

Emme edges beside me when I wipe my face. “Here,” she says. “Let me heal you.”

Gemini releases me and steps toward the otherweresto give us space. Like the rest of us, they look aggrieved.

“I’m all right,” I mumble. I’m not a masochist, but I feel like one then. I should have saved her. I should have done more. But I don’t think I was enough.

No matter how hard we fought, none of us were enough to save her.

I stare out in the direction of the fiery pit, pondering all the things that went wrong.

“Taran,” Emme says. “I don’t think you realize how hurt you are.”

Maybe I don’t. Maybe I don’t want to.

I’m having trouble breathing. Mostly though, I’m numb. Johnny was a victim of chance. Like me and my sisters, these powers were shoved upon him whether he wanted them or not. The thing is, we stopped being victims and decided to do something good with all the shit we were handed. Johnny didn’t, he continued to play the victim only to become the aggressor, attacking an innocent and killing her slowly.

My breath releases in painful bursts. I can’t imagine how much Destiny suffered, not just since meeting Johnny, but in the last few moments of her life. It must have been torture, and yet she used what remained of her strength to help us.

Oh, Destiny, how I would love to see you bouncing along in your zebra prints one last time.

“Taran,” Emme pleads.

“Emme, I’m fine,” I tell her.

“No, you’re not,” Gemini answers gruffly, evidently articulating what everyone is thinking based on the way their stares hone in on my face. He storms to my side. “You almost died, twice, and your face and body reflect it. Just let Emme heal you.”

I raise my hands to my face, wincing when the numbing lifts and the pain sharpens. My skin is swollen. “All right,” I say.

It doesn’t take long for Emme to heal me, everything snapping into place rather viciously once she gets going. She cringes, glancing away even as her fingers slip tenderly away from my face.

Gemini takes the phone Emme hands him when she finishes and calls the Den. He’s communicating with anotherwereto arrange our flight home when Shayna’s phone rings.

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