Page 29 of Darkest Need

I look at Lilith. I watch her sleep, knowing I’ll soon die, and she’ll remember nothing. And then I wish.

I remember.

Stars.

They chose to fall.

The power of a star could save us—the power of a sacrifice. A tear runs down my cheek. I don’t want to ask. I don’t want to, but then I look at Lilith and know she’s my destiny. I realize I can stop all of this with one wish, one whisper.

I’m no hero.

I’m a son of Enoch, I have his blood. I’m a werewolf prince. I walk this Earth, knowing I was put here for a purpose.

Maybe this is it.

Saving the first.

Saving Lilith.

I’m so weak, I can barely breathe. She lays across me, my blood all over her face, the look in her eyes unreadable.

“Tell me a story,” I rasp.

Her head lolls to the side. “What’s the point? I’ve found the one person I’ve been searching for since he held my hand in Pompeii, only to kill him. Seriously, what’s the point? You’ll die, and I won’t remember this. Danu will take care of that.”

“Then look at me.” I use the last of my strength to reach for her face. “Kiss me goodbye. Make sure to bury me…well, I mean, if you remember.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing. But you’re really pretty. And don’t worry, I don’t need you to be my hero. I don’t need a rescue. Sometimes, the best stories end in sacrifice.”

A tear slides down her cheek, passing by her glorious blue hair that’s sticking to the blood on her skin. It falls to my chest, and I whisper in my head,worth it. It was all worth it because I found the one who held my hand and stood by my side. The one that was there when angels fell, when we were taken advantage of, when the world was destroyed.

She never left me.

I might have Enoch’s blood, I might be a werewolf, but nobody is coming to save us now—and they shouldn’t.

But I can save her.

I can save her from this Hell.

I can make sure she wakes up tomorrow remembering everything. I can give her the gifts given to me. What I always thought were curses and isolation, over and over again. I can give the last of me to the first of Creation.

I can finally breathe.

It’s like my soul knows it’s time to flicker out.

It’s like my body realizes that, in the end, maybe the best way to survive is to become the person who doesn’t.

I smile up at her. “Thanks for the orgasms.”

She shakes her head. “Again, not funny.”

“I thought it was funny. You know, good story. I’m a werewolf prince.”

“I know.”

“And we control the Earth, we protect it, we have special powers. I mean,Ido since I have the blood of Enoch and that creepy angel dude. But do you know what else?”

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