Page 110 of A Fate of Blood and Magic
Elias stood beside me, his hand immediately seeking mine. I turned around, trying to find Donnie in this realm. Eiran’s cloaked figure approached us, and when he drew back his cape, he gave us a quiet smile. Elias took a small step back when Eiran’s shadows lurked toward us. When I didn’t move with him, Elias drew closer to me, positioning his body in front of me as if he thought he needed to protect me. Eiran’s lurking shadow covered Elias’s feet and trailed around his ankles.
“Eiran,” I said. Although I knew my heart ached back in my realm, I didn’t feel it here. Still, I wiped my cheek at the nonexistent tear that never fell. “Is Donnie . . .?”
“He’s not here,” Eiran said.
I looked back at Donnie’s body that shone duller than the rest of our friends back in our realm.
“He’s not there either,” Eiran continued.
“Where is he?” I looked around, that feeling of hopelessness reaching me even in this realm.
“He hasn’t accepted his death and is somewhere in between.” Eiran’s deep green eyes watched me carefully.
Good. If he wasn’t here and hadn’t accepted death, then maybe Eiran would let him live the way he’d let Brenton live.
“I told you before, Theodora, death isn’t meant as a punishment.” His words came out soft and tender as if he willed me to believe what he said.
I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“This isn’t a gift.” I cleaved the words from my heart and offered them to Eiran. “Maybe for some, but this . . . Eiran, please.”
Because Donnie . . . for so many years, he’d been my safe place. Even over Ryenne, I’d sought him out because I knew he’d sit with me through any pain I’d felt. Sure, he’d also try to make it better, even if I wasn’t looking for a resolution, but first, he’d sit with me, never feeling uncomfortable with my emotions.
“Grief is the gift,” Eiran said. “The anger, the fear, and the hopelessness are the gift. In the aftermath of death, love dresses up as grief because love doesn’t simply vanish when someone dies. It transforms, and that enduring love is the gift.”
I bit back the whimper that built in my throat. “Can we save him?”
Eiran gave a sullen nod. “As the dragon stated, Nalari can strip you both of your magic, thus removing your bond, and use it for your healer to absorb and heal your friend,” he replied, stroking his long fingers across his chin.
“Okay,” I said. “We know that.”
“We’re willing to make that sacrifice,” Elias said, his words echoing mine.
Eiran quirked up a sleek brow, his attention fully on Elias. “Teddy’s life span will no longer match yours.”
Elias tipped his head down. “I know.”
“What?” I asked and turned to him. “I can’t. You can’t. No.”
“Mo elma,”he said, his voice quiet but full of affection. “Eternity would never have been enough for me, but if all I get with you is your lifetime, I’ll use every moment of it loving you.”
“There has to be another way,” I said. “Can’t you heal him the way you healed Brenton?”
“I’m sorry, Theodora,” Eiran said. “If he were here, I could heal him myself, but I can’t reach him where he is. The only way to save him is if you and Elias relinquish your magic for your healer to absorb.”
“One of your best friends gets to live,” Elias said, running his fingers through my hair before his palm rested on my stomach. “Our babes will get to grow up with the most honorable male I know as a part of their extended family.”
I stepped into him, hugging his waist while I rested the side of my head against his chest. “What about you, though?” I tipped my head up to look at him.
He kissed my forehead. “I’ll make every beat with you count, and when my time is over, I’ll meet you in the afterlife.”
“You’re sacrificing so much,” I told him.
It was one thing to give up my magic. As much as I enjoyed it, I hadn’t lived with it very long. Elias, on the other hand, had never known an existence without his magic. And our bond, while it was something I once didn’t trust, I’d come to treasure it. I loved threading our very souls together. I loved knowing I was made for Elias as much as he was made for me. But this . . . asking Elias to live hundreds of years without me while I waited for him in the afterlife? It was too much.
“Only a few months ago, you were willing to give up your life to save Brenton,” he said. “Allow me to do the same.” He drew in an unsteady breath. “Besides, you have given me everything I could ever ask for.”
“Elias.”
