Page 45 of One Last Touch

My eyes found Sage and my hands shook at the tears that streaked down his face as I opened my palm to reveal the last three berries I’d brought with me. I didn’t want to suffer—Sage was right, I wasn’t a masochist and the tea I’d been drinking infused with the belladonna leaves were taking too long. They couldn’t hold him back forever.

“Wait for me?” I asked him as I blinked away the tears in my eyes, letting them slip down my cheeks undaunted as I slid the berries into my mouth and bit down.

“No!”

Jared lunged for me as I swallowed and I grinned at him as my body began to convulse, seeing my purple lipped smile reflected in his pupils.

“Rot in hell,” I choked and the last thing I saw was the horror on his face as I toppled to the ground.

Chapter Eighteen

“You are perhaps the most infuriating woman I’ve ever known.”

The words sent a complex rush of joy and despair through me. My eyes opened, the bitter taste of poison still on my tongue. Had it worked? Was I dead? Was Jared gone?

My eyes found Sage’s and, for a second, I relaxed. Until I noticed his eyes were more grey than brown, his pale skin bordering on insubstantial.

“No,” I breathed as I sat up and pressed a hand to my own chest, feeling my heart beat where there should have been none. “What did you do?”

His smile was weak and I screamed when he fell to the ground at my side, the sound torn from my throat instinctively as the glow around him burned bright silver in a way that I hadn’t seen before. “Couldn’t let you die, love. I’d be a shit boyfriend otherwise.”

No. No. How could he even be joking about this? “But Jared—”

“Is gone,” he said faintly, “I managed to give you enough of my energy to bring you back.”

“I don’t accept this—”

“Live,” he whispered and I could almost see myself reflected in the brightness of his eyes. “Live, Georgina.”

I reached out my hand and placed it on his chest, determined to keep him with me, but nothing happened. I was too weak. I had nothing to give except what sustained me, my body refusing to cooperate.

Another hand covered my own and I looked up into familiar blue eyes.

“Mum,” I sobbed and she brushed away one of my tears with her free hand before reaching behind her to clasp Edward’s.

“It’s okay, darling. Know that I love you, I will always be with you. Live well, okay?”

“Don’t go—”

“It’s time for us, Georgina. I’ll wait for you wherever we go next.”

I opened my mouth to reply but only a sob fell out as light exploded from her, streaming from Edward too and into Sage’s chest beneath my hand. My hand shook as the light slowly began to fade and my parents smiled at me before the remainder of their souls faded completely and Sage’s chest moved beneath my palm. A breath.

I blinked frantically, trying to clear the moisture from my eyes so I could see him as I clasped his face in my hands. “Sage? Sage, can you hear me?”

Colour had returned to his face, his hair shining brighter than usual and his cheeks a flushed pink. I cautiously moved closer and set my face against his chest, hardly daring to breathe as a sound that was gloriously out of place filled my ears.

Lashes fluttered and golden-hazel eyes found me. “Georgina?”

A laugh fell out of my mouth as I threw my hands around his neck. “You—Sage, you’re alive!”

His face turned pale as I pulled back to look at him. “What did you—”

I shook my head, taking his hand and placing his palm to my own chest. “Not me. My parents, I think they gave you the rest of their energy.”

“They moved On,” he said, wonder in his voice as his other hand came up to cup the back of my head. “I’m so absolutely mad at you, but right now I need to—”

I kissed him and he met my mouth with a desperation I felt all the way to my soul, his tongue coaxing mine into a rhythm that had us panting. I pulled away and he groaned. “Don’t you think we should take a second—”

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