Page 139 of Fated

“Please,” I sobbed, beating my fists weakly against Calyx’s chest, my voice breaking. “You can’t leave him. Calyx, please!”

But it was no use. As Ash vanished from sight, so did my hope, the emptiness inside me growing unbearable. Half of my heart—half of my very soul—was being left behind.

My body went limp in Calyx’s arms, defeated, hollow.

I didn’t fight as we landed on a stone ledge, didn’t flinch when he waved his hand over an invisible opening to a cave. He carried me inside and laid me down on a black leather couch, my body like a shell of its former self.

Everything was gone—my mother, Ash.

All that was left were the gaping holes where my heart used to be.

Calyx sat at the opposite end of the couch, his head bowed into his arms. It was the same couch I had sat on with Ash, what now felt like a lifetime ago. My arms wrapped around my trembling body as wave after wave of staggering pain crashed over me. The ache consumed me—my heart, my head—every part of me screaming under the unbearable weight of my loss.

I heard Calyx exhale deeply, and in that moment, I hated him. I hated him for taking me away from Ash, for not helping him. Just this morning, I’d had everything, more than I ever thought possible. I had a love that was monumental, more remarkable than any I could ever have dreamed of, and more profound than any love story I had ever read.

I squeezed my eyes shut as agony impaled me, tearing through every fiber of my being. Desperately, I searched for the bond inside of me, the once-glowing thread connecting me to Ash. But it was dark, and I couldn’t sense him on the other end.

Ash, my beautiful Ash. I could still picture him, the way his emerald eyes looked at me, the sound of his laugh, the curve ofhis smile. I remembered how safe I had felt in his arms, how his very presence brought me peace. He couldn’t be gone.

No. He wasn’t gone—not yet.

In that one brief moment, clarity pierced through the fog of grief. I made a decision. My breathing steadied, coming under control with each deep inhale. I wasn’t going to let Ash go. I had made him a promise that I’d save him, and nothing—not Cynthia, not fate—was going to stop me. I didn’t know how yet, but I knew that I was going to be the end of Cynthia.

Pushing through the ache in my body, I forced myself to move, dragging my body inch by inch across the couch, fighting against the pain. When I was close enough, I rallied every ounce of strength left in me and threw myself at Calyx.

I slammed down the dam that had been holding back my magic.

Like a tsunami, my power surged through me, flooding into Calyx. In an instant, I found the darkness—the vile demon lurking inside him, feeding on his light. Calyx’s power was light. I could feel its warmth, its goodness. That insufferable grin he always wore flashed in my mind, and in that second, I shattered the darkness inside him into nothingness.

And then, everything began to fade.

***

His hands were on my shoulders, shaking me.

“Areya, dammit. Areya, I need you to wake up.” Calyx’s voice pulled me back to reality, his hands gripping me tightly.

I forced my swollen eyes open, finding his blurry face hovering over mine.

“Hey! Areya!” He lightly slapped my cheek. “Areya!” My body jerked awake at the sharpness of his voice. I looked around, still in the cave with Calyx. And then the crushing realization hit me:Ash was gone. I gasped, my hand flying to my chest as though that would stop the pain from ripping me apart. But Calyx … he was here.

“Calyx,” I demanded, my voice barely holding together.

He dropped his head into his hands, broken.

“Calyx, what do you remember?” I urged.

“Everything,” he whispered, turning toward me, his ocean-blue eyes meeting mine, swollen and bloodshot, his face streaked with tears and regret.

His expression was hollow, filled with unimaginable pain.

I remembered how Ash had felt the moment I broke his curse. How full of loathing, how heavy with grief. Calyx had to be suffering under that same crushing weight now, the horror of remembering every terrible thing he had done over the last sixteen years. And worse, he had just left his best friend to die. His body shook and he dropped his head back into his hands. His knees trembled, and his entire frame seemed to buckle under the weight of guilt and sorrow.

Seeing him like that—Ash’s best friend, destroyed—made my heart crack even further.

I put my hand on his back, my voice gentle. “It’s ok, Calyx. It’s going to be ok.”

He only shook his head, broken and lost, tears falling freely.

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