I was in unbelievable amounts of pain.
My body felt like it was being pulled apart.
My veins were burning.
My soul felt like it was being ripped out.
Dionysus was screaming.
And somehow, I needed to get both my mate and brother out of this alive.
“Well, Oscar?” Elijah’s drawl carried across the clearing. “What’s it going to be?”
Elijah must have known that something like this would happen, and that’s why he perfectly placed
Ava and Callum so I wouldn’t be able to get to both of them before he could kill whoever I didn’t go
for first.
I still didn’t believe for a minute that he’d let Ava go, regardless of what I did. If I went for her, it
would just get me close enough for Elijah to kill me. If I went for Callum, he’d do whatever to Ava,
probably rip her throat out some more, before killing me and then Callum.
“What do you think you’re going to achieve by doing this, Elijah? I know you won’t let Ava go, you
want her too much.”
I ignored the pleading look on Callum’s face. Knowing my brother, he was silently begging me to do
whatever it took to save Ava, and leave him to die.
If there was a way to save both of them, I was going to find it. Even if it meant sacrificing myself for
them. I’d do it in a heartbeat, for both of them.
“Both you and your brother are a problem, Oscar. As are Noah and Theo, but Theo is on death’s
doorstep, and I can’t imagine Noah is doing well right now either. But more than anything, this is
kinda fun.”
“You’re a psychopath, you know that?”
“I do, my dear boy. I’ve been told that many times.”
“Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to force Ava into a bond?”
I was looking intently around him as I spoke, whilst walking towards him incredibly slowly now the
vines in front of me had been removed.
“She was promised to me, she is mine!”
“No, Elijah, she’s not yours. She’s mine. She’s Callum’s, Noah’s and Theo’s. She’s not and never will
be yours.”
“Oh, but she will. Even now, her veins are moving my venom throughout her body, and it will be
starting to take its toll on her organs. One by one, her vital functions will start shutting down. And
when they do, her body won’t be able to fight me off anymore. The mark will take, and she’ll be
mine.”
“I’m not going to let that happen, Elijah.”
“Oscar!” Callum shouted. “Just save…” He got cut off by another vine, this time wrapping around his
neck and mouth.
Any time Callum tried to speak, the vines tightened.
Then it clicked. The witch. The witch was the answer. I just needed her distracted and in the right
place… now, how to distract a witch?
“Callum, Callum, Callum,” Elijah tutted. “Don’t make me kill you before your brother makes his
choice. That would skew the outcome, son.”
Callum growled, before getting cut off again as the vines tightened around his neck.
I growled, low in my throat. “This is a dangerous game you’re playing, Elijah. Do you really think
you’ll get out of this alive?”
“You’ll have to let me live,” he smirked. “Once my mark is established and your precious little
Avelina is mine, killing me will only hurt her, which I know you’ll never do.”
I’d managed to creep close enough that I had the best possible direct line to get to the witch as I
possibly could.
I tried to calm my erratic breathing, focusing on my telekinetic ability. I could see a rock in the forest,
big enough that it would do some serious damage if it just happened to fall from quite a height on
someone’s head.
I lifted the rock into the air, moving it closer until it was over the witch’s head. I let it fall, and shifted,
starting running towards Elijah as fast as I could.
I reached him before he could react. Dionysus took over for a moment, his jaws wrapping around
Elijah’s abdomen, ripping out chunks of flesh. He crumpled to the floor, surrounded by a pool of his
own blood.
By the time I turned my attention back to the witch, she’d deflected the rock, and was watching my
every movement with a murderous expression on her face.
I saw her starting to chant, and my gut feeling said it would be bad. I didn’t really have time to find a
weapon to use against her or focus on my abilities; instead opting to do it the old fashioned way, with
Dionysus jumping and taking her head straight off her shoulders.
Before she died, she finished chanting, and I felt the spell hit me right in the chest. It was agony.
Dionysus was whimpering in my mind, laying on his side. He lost strength, causing me to suddenly
shift back where I lay, hardly able to move.
My body was hurting, everything hurt. It started to feel like I was struggling to breathe, like my heart
was having to beat harder.
In my mind, Dionysus’ whimpering got louder, his breathing ragged as he struggled to remain
conscious.
“Oscar…” his voice was low. I could hardly hear him. “I’m sorr…” and then his voice cut off.
Dionysus was hardly moving in my mind, and I didn’t have enough control over my body to pull
myself up, but I didn’t care.
Ava and Callum would be okay. Elijah would not be able to survive his injuries, and no witch can
survive decapitation. I’d done it.
I’d made my choice, I’d gladly made the sacrifice. And I’d saved both my brother and my mate. I
would die happy knowing that they are both okay.
My heart felt like it was slowing, and my lungs were gasping for breath, and all I could hear was the
sound of Ava screaming, but she sounded so far away.
But she was alive. Ava was alive.
“Ava, Callum,” I spoke as loud as I could, knowing that with their hearing, they would be able to hear
me. “Take care of each other and dad… I love you both, and I’m sorry.”
With that, I let the darkness take me.