Page 79 of Never Quite Gone

“Are we?” Will's eyes held too much pain, too many lifetimes of watching from the sidelines. “How many times have I lost you to him?” He gestured at Eli. “How many times have I had to pretend not to know what was coming, had to watch you throw everything away for love?”

“That's not fair?—”

“Fair? Was it fair to be the only one who remembered? To carry the weight of every death, every loss, every moment of watching my family tear itself apart over and over?”

“There is no other way,” he said softly, ancient knowledge bleeding through modern pain. “The ritual needs the blood of bound souls at the moment of remembering. Needs the power of love that transcends death.” His gaze fixed on Eli again, calculation replacing grief. “And thanks to Vale's blood, thanks to you two finally remembering together... I can finally make it work.”

“You really loved us,” I whispered, the truth finally clear. “In that first life. Enough to reach for power that shouldn't exist. Enough to bind our souls together forever.”

“Love is the strongest magic there is. Strong enough to transcend death, to bind souls across lifetimes, to fuel rituals thatshouldn't be possible. Your love for Eli, his for you – it's been feeding my working since before the first temples rose.” Will said.

Blood loss made the room spin slightly, but I forced myself to focus. “And now?”

“Now I have everything I need.” Will's smile held genuine affection beneath ancient purpose. “Vale's blood, carrying the power of his original curse. You and Eli, finally remembering together, generating more energy than ever before.” He gestured at the containment circle. “All that love, all that power, all those lifetimes of finding and losing each other – it's perfect fuel for what comes next.”

“Which is what?”

“Completion.” The word fell like stone into still water. “The ritual was never supposed to just bind souls together. It was supposed to transcend death itself. To keep us all together, forever, without need for rebirth or reincarnation.”

“At what cost?”

His smile held centuries of secrets. “Everything,” he admitted softly. “But isn't that what love is? Being willing to sacrifice everything to keep those you care about safe? To keep them together?”

I had to try one last time. Had to reach for the brother I knew was still in there somewhere, beneath all that ancient power and impossible knowledge.

“You were happy once,” I said, desperation making my voice crack. “In this life, before the memories started. We were happy.”

I saw Will flinch, saw a flash of the little brother who used to crawl into my bed during thunderstorms. Who cried when I left for college, who stood beside me at every major milestone of this particular life.

“I can't do it again,” he whispered, magic flickering around his hands like dying stars. “I can't watch you die knowing I'll remember every detail for centuries.”

“Then let us help you,” I pleaded, taking a careful step forward despite how my wounds protested. “You're not alone in this, Will. You never were.”

For one heartbeat that felt eternal, I saw hope flicker in his eyes. Saw the boy who'd followed me everywhere, who'd wanted nothing more than his big brother's approval. Who'd loved our family enough to break reality itself, just trying to keep us together.

Then Eli stirred in the containment circle, and something hardened in Will's expression. Ancient power overwhelmed modern grief, centuries of pain crushing that brief moment of connection.

“I'm sorry,” he said, raising his hands as magic gathered like storm clouds. “But I can't lose you again. I won't.”

The blast caught me square in the chest, sending me crashing into our father's prized Monet. Canvas ripped beneath my weight as I fell, blood staining priceless art while childhood memories rained down around me in shattered frames.

“I love you, brother,” Will said softly, and I heard truth beneath the power. “That's why I have to do this.”

Darkness crept in at the edges of my vision as I watched him lift Eli with magical bonds. His hands dangled limply, still beautiful even unconscious. Will cradled him with terrible gentleness, as if he understood exactly how precious this soul was – not just to me, but to the pattern he'd created so long ago.

“Sometimes love means making impossible choices,” Will's voice seemed to come from very far away as he opened a portal of pure magic. Light that shouldn't exist bent around him like reality giving up its claim. “You taught me that, across every lifetime.”

His tears fell like centuries of rain as he stepped toward the portal. Each drop carried weight of every death he'd witnessed, every loss he'd been forced to remember while the rest of us got to forget.

I tried to move, to speak, to reach for him one last time. But blood loss and magical damage won out, pulling me toward unconsciousness that felt like giving up.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me completely was Will's face – ancient and young, powerful and broken, my brotherand something so much older. The portal closed behind them with a sound like reality surrendering, leaving me bleeding among scattered memories of happier days.

Understanding came too late: sometimes the greatest monsters are born from the deepest love. Sometimes the worst damage comes from hearts that feel too much, that refuse to let go even when they should.

My brother, who had loved us enough to break the world.

My protector, who had carried the weight of remembering through countless lifetimes.

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