Page 94 of Total Eclipse of the Moon
Madeline turned from the window and nodded at Roman. For an instant she met Shane’s gaze. Her lips trembled and pressed together, but the warmth, the trust for him in her gaze gutted him. He couldn’t do this. He’d offer his own life to the magical beings that oversaw curse liftings in exchange for hers. Did such creatures exist? Who oversaw this sort of thing? Was it the goddess of earth or someone else?
"I forbid you do whatever the hell’s going on." The king stood imperiously and pointed at Madeline. "I order you to kill her."
Roman and Ky hunched over, grabbing their wrists. Flynn backed away from everyone, gasping.
Roman said, "We're good, Madeline. Cora did something. It helped."
Shane felt the burn of the curse band around his wrist as it pushed him to follow orders. He caught Madeline’s hand and reeled her in toward him. His hands shook so much that he had trouble keeping a grip.
"Are you going to kill me?" she whispered.
"Not from that order. I'm good." In a hoarse rasp he said, "I can’t do this." He shook his head back and forth. "There has to be another way."
"You’ve searched. I did too. For a long time. There is only this." Tears dripped down her cheeks and formed large droplets at her jawline before they fell off onto her shirt. Her lips trembled. He detected fine tremors in her entire body that echoed those in his. In a barely audible whisper, she said, "I’m scared."
Roman released a shaky sigh before he nicked his hand with the ceremonial knife. He nudged Ky in the shoulder with the blade until he took it. He muttered in Scottish Gaelic, "Feumar faighinn an-asgaidh." Must get free.
"You got this, Shane. We all do." Ky pricked his own palm and handed the knife to Flynn.
Flynn carved a small line into his palm and held out the knife to Shane, hand trembling so much he had a hard time keeping hold of the knife. "Time to end this. Hurry, bro. The curse is pushing."
The king screamed something, an order of some kind, but none of them paid attention. As if she and Shane were locked in their own personal cone of silence, he stared at her. She mouthed to him "Do it. Now."
Shane released her hand and took the blade. His hand shook too much between the power of the king’s order to hurt her, fear of her dying in all of this, and the fight with Baku who sensed weakness.
Madeline took his right hand and helped him nick the inside of his left palm. "It’s okay."
"You’re not going to offer your life in exchange for hers,"Baku said in his head.
"Yes, I will. There has to be a way. If she’s pregnant…"The back of his throat hurt to the point he couldn’t swallow. "We can’t allow her to die. She already lost one child over this. I won’t allow her to lose another. Stop fighting me for control. This is my choice."
Mirroring that which had been done on that fateful day, the four brothers joined hands, four together as best one could when four hands came together, to comingle the blood. This time, instead of vowing to assist the monarch, which they’d done willingly before being cursed, they each said, "I rescind my offer of assistance to the monarchy of England."
Roman’s nose actively bled, dribbling down to his chin.
Ky’s eyes had spots of red from ruptured blood vessels and his breathing came in rough gasps.
Flynn kept swallowing frequently and loudly.
Shane kept his head ducked and held his hands together to hide their tremoring.
"What are you doing?" The king thundered, "Cease!"
Shane didn’t know enough Sumerian to fully comprehend all that Madeline said, but picked up, "I do rescind that which was placed. No longer avowed are the cursed." In English she added as she held up her hands, "I do offer the greatest sacrifice necessary to make it be."
No.
Energy electrified the room. The hair on the back of his neck stood and goose bumps stippled his arms. Yet he kept his hand locked with his brothers’.
Baku said,"This is going to hurt both of us. A lot. Hold onto the belief I can make this work. I grant you all my demon powers."
"What are you doing?"Shane yelled out loud. He fell to his knees, losing his handhold with his brothers.
Lacerating pain as if someone took a scalpel blade and sawed him in half inch by inch dropped him to his knees. He groaned. "Baku, what is this? Stop. Please." He grabbed his head as if holding it would ease the feeling of someone cutting him in two.
"I’m leaving," the demon said out loud as it separated from him cell by cell. "It has been a revelatory experience to learn you weren’t simply a new body to possess. You became a friend. Friends don’t let friends do stupid things." With a laugh he said, "That sounds like something you’d say."
Shane tried to look at Madeline, to see her alive for one last time, but the world blurred.Must see her.
