Page 98 of Monster's Pretty Bride

Because Eryss is safe.

Naranus will live.

I have finally done something right.

Eryss collapses beside me, sobbing, her hands gripping my face, her entire body shaking in denial.

I cup her cheek, my fingers barely solid, my form crumbling, fading.

“Shh,” I murmur. “You always were… my little sister.”

Her sob shatters me.

She shakes her head wildly, refusing to let go. “No. No.”

With my last remaining strength, I stare at our enemies. At the darkness that destroyed my coven.

I take a deep breath, releasing every power my soul has. I become pure magic to eliminate the darkness.

I burst into light, melting and becoming one with magic.

“Sister!” I hear Eryss wail, and I embrace her within the light.

“I’ll always be here. Now, become free. Use your magic. Feel it.”

My last gift to her is unlocking her magic, destroying the bindings preventing her from using it.

I disappear with a sad smile on my face.

But a satisfied heart knowing I did something right.

I gave my sister a chance at life. A shot at happiness.

Now, it’s up to her and Naranus.

44

ERYSS

The world as I know it crumbles.

My sister is gone.

Her last words, her last touch, vanished into nothing but light and warmth, into magic so ancient, so powerful, it crackled in the air like an untamed storm.

I scream, an agonized, wretched sound that rips through my throat, splintering into the battlefield like a blade against glass. My hands, still outstretched, reach for ashes, for something, anything, that isn’t fading light and empty air.

But there is nothing. Catalina’s sacrifice is final.

Inside me, something snaps.

Magic erupts, surging like an uncontainable force, wild and feral. The barriers that once bound me, that choked my power into dormancy, are obliterated.

I feel it.

Every thread of power that was stolen from me. Every inch of magic that had been bound, shackled, hidden away, Catalina’s final gift to me.

It bursts free.

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