Page 47 of The Raven
Once and for all.
Picking up the knife Grim used to stab Mason, I staggered over to him, trying my damned hardest to ignore the pain threatening to swallow me whole.
Grimmumbled something incoherent as I reached him, his dazed eyeswidening as I grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him up to hisknees. Standing behind him, I lowered my mouth to his ear.
“Say hi to the others for me when you join them in hell,”I whispered, myvoice choking with emotion.
This was it.
This was the end.
Everything he had done in our lives hadledto this very moment.
With a firm grip on the knife, I slid the blade across Grim’s throat. His shoulders shook as blood cascaded from the gash, spilling down his body and creating a pool around him within seconds.
Ireleasedhis hair, and his body slumped forward, unmoving.
Dead.
The In-Between
The Raven
In an instant, everysingle ounce of pain drained from my body like a damhadjustbeen opened. In its place, a calming warmth descended.
Rushing over to Mason, I fell to my knees by his side.
“Mason!”I yanked his shirt up, covering the wound with my hand.
His head fell to the side, and through one swollen eye, he met my worriedgaze. A small, affectionate smile tugged on his split lips.
“You did it, Blackbird,”he whispered as if it had taken him a whole lot ofeffort to speak.
I didn’t reply; my attention focused on the amount of blood flowing from hisbody.
“You’re going to be okay, Mase. I’ve got you,”I said, placing my other handover my now blood-soaked one and not noticing him reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Raven, look at me.”
Huge tears rolled down my cheeks as I lifted my head, my bottom lipquivering at seeing the color draining from his face.
“It’s okay, Blackbird. Let me go…”he trailed off as blood bubbled from hismouth. Removing my hands from the wound, I wiped the blood away, stopping only when he snagged my hand in his.“Let me go. I don’t…want to…live this life without you.”
Wracking sobs consumed my body, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaningover him to kiss his lips.
“No, Mase. You have to stay,”I whispered through tears.“I’ve seen yourfuture. You don’t die here. You can’t. You’re going to go on and have children and a wife. You’re going to be happy again. Please. Stay for me.”
I shifted to rest my head against his chest, listening to his heart, the beatweak and irregular.
He didn’t reply, instead lacing his fingers through my hair. I closed my eyesand began an internal mantra.
Mason can’t die.
Mason can’t die.
Mason can’t die.
As I said the words in my head, something strange happened. His heartbeatstarted thumping a little harder, a little steadier. But the darknessthathad shrouded my vision earlier returned, light at first, but growing darker every time I repeated the words silently in my mind.
