Page 70 of Widow

My body was still twitching. My eyes blurred. Everything hurt. My body. My heart. My soul.

I couldn’t let them die. I wouldn’t let them die. They were too good. Too loving. The world needed them.

And what was I?

I was going to give in. I would sacrifice myself for them.

A bright light flashed in the forest. The shrieks that filled the dark sky hurt my ears. What was happening?

A sob escaped me. Her sob. The spiders were gone. Dead.

Her grief filled me. She was forcing me to feel her pain.

Ric and Kai ran back toward me. Kai’s face was set in stone. Ric had his head bowed. His hands were cupped. Picard.

The Widow pushed forward again. She was pissed.

Behind Ric and Kai, Lucifer appeared, and a second later, so did a younger man with purple eyes.

Lucifer rushed toward me. “Why is Lia on the ground? What happened?”

“Help him.” I managed to get the words out as I struggled with the Widow. “I'm fine. Help Picard.”

They had stopped moving forward. Ric dropped to his knees to place Picard on the ground. Lucifer looked at Picard then back at me. I nodded, and he turned toward the unmoving, faintly glowing creature.

He’d saved us.

I collapsed back down to the ground, my cheek hitting the dirt. I turned my head so I could still see.

Lucifer’s hands were glowing as he healed Picard. Kai stood with his hand on Ric’s shoulder.

The shaman walked toward me. His purple eyes, the most striking eyes I had ever seen, met mine.

“What is he-” Kai’s voice was cut off with the flick of the shaman’s wrist.

A dome surrounded us. It was eerily quiet inside.

The shaman squatted down next to me and put his hand to my cheek. The Widow wrestled me. She did not like this man.

“Her hold on you is too strong. She will eventually take you over.” He looked sad and defeated.

Was this the same man who had helped Lilith?

I must have spoken my question because he chuckled and rubbed a hand over his face. “Sometimes, in life, we are faced with tough decisions.”

I nodded. Boy, did I know that feeling. “You have to help me.”

“The only way I can help you is to kill you.”

An odd sense of peace washed over me. Or maybe it was just numbness from the shock.

Lucifer, Kai, and Ric were all outside of the dome now. Ric pounded his fist on the side of it, but I couldn’t hear it. Kai was yanking his arm, trying to get him to stop. Blood was smeared on whatever we were in.

Lucifer had his head cocked to the side, his eyes glistening.

“I love you.” I moved my eyes from Lucifer and looked at Kai. “I love you.” My eyes moved to Ric, who had finally stopped hitting the side of the dome.

He shook his head at me. It looked like he said, “Don’t you dare.”

“I love you.” I couldn’t see them any longer, tears were blurring my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

I took a deep breath and looked back at the shaman.

“Do it.”

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