Page 244 of The Cruelest Undead

“I think so. I’m glad you got to meet her. I hope she remembers it forever,” he said, feeling incredibly emotional.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You look like you’re going to cry.”

Oh, he was.

When he lifted his head, a tear dripped down his cheek.

His father immediately got it.

“We have to go, don’t we?” John asked, sipping the coffee. “This is our goodbye moment.”

Never let it be said his father wasn’t smart, and that he couldn’t read a room.

Flynn nodded.

“But I don’t want to go,” Barb admitted. “I feel healthy, and I’m strong. I don’t have cancer anymore, and I got to see your little one. Please don’t make me go.”

He had no choice.

“When you were brought back, Mom, it unbalanced the universe. Jacques has to keep everything in check. He has to make sure things balance.”

“But I just got here. Can’t I have a week? A month? Maybe another day?”

He shook his head.

“The reaper is waiting. It’s his job, and I’m sorry. I wish you could stay.”

His father put his hand over his.

“If we go, will you be okay?”

He laughed sardonically.

“What choice do I have, Dad? This is the path I took, and I have to keep moving. So much is on the line. I can honestly say though that I wish I could go with you. I’m tired.”

His mother touched his cheek.

“So you’re going to have to survive this without us again?”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

Barb’s heart broke.

“My poor boy.”

He was honest.

“This wasn’t a snap decision, and I need both of you to know that. I really wanted you both to stay. I was scared at first, but now I see I shouldn’t have been.”

His father was curious.

“What brought it on?”

He shared.

“Kiera died, and I had to make the sacrifice. I had to make the choice, Mom, and Dad. I’m sorry. I’ve lived without you once, and I can do it again. Alex can’t survive without Kiera. He began dying, and…”

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