As the pain finally recedes, I reach my hand up, lay it on his cheek. Then reach inside me to find the brilliant blue thread that’s never been there before—it’s right on top, laid over all the others like it’s just been waiting for this moment.
Then again, maybe it has. I’m sure Hudson knows what to do with his powers much better than I ever will.
With the last remaining strength I can muster, I wrap my hand around the string and channel Hudson’s power back into him.
There’s a lot of it, more than I’ve ever imagined was possible for one person to hold, let alone wield. I’ve seen Jaxon’s power, felt it through the mating bond, and it’s immense. But this…this feels limitless.
The exchange goes on and on, Hudson’s eyes glowing a little brighter with every second that passes, his lips moving, but I can’t make out the words he’s saying over the sound of his power rushing in my ears as it leaves me. Until finally, finally I’m empty. Finally, the last remnant of Hudson is gone, and I am well and truly alone.
Which seems fair, actually. I guess when it all comes down to it, everybody dies alone.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, tears blooming in my eyes once more and mingling with the soft rain on my face. “I should have—”
“You,” Cyrus says, his fury barely contained as he stares down at the son he so recently lost. “How are you here?”
Someone must have told him Hudson was beside me, and he came back to see for himself. I wish he would leave. I can tell I only have a few more minutes left, and I want to spend them with Hudson.
“Does it matter?” Hudson responds. “You were always going to pay for this, whether I was here or not.”
“She cheated. The rules are very clear—only a mate can help you pass the test, and she has no mate. Cole made sure—”
My heart stutters in my chest, rage and regret burning inside me at what Cyrus just revealed. He did know what Cole had planned—had maybe even put him up to it.
I want to say something to Cyrus, want to call him on the atrocity—or atrocities—he committed today, but I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. It’s taking every inch of strength I have left to try to follow what’s going on. Arguing is impossible. And it wouldn’t matter anyway—what’s done is done, and it’s not like getting him to admit his complicity changes anything. I just want him to leave me to die in peace.
Hudson doesn’t argue, either. He just stares his father down, face blank and eyes blazing, until it’s obvious that Cyrus starts to get uncomfortable, his face growing pale as he shifts back and forth. But still he blusters. Still he pits his arrogance against Hudson’s strength.
“You know the rules,” he says. “She cheated.”
“She did not cheat,” Hudson tells him. And neither says a word for a second, maybe more. “And I will find a way to heal her. She will rule the Circle one day.”
Cyrus turns pale and panicked at Hudson’s words, his eyes darting back and forth between us. “No gargoyle will ever rule the Circle again,” he tells us. “Just suggesting it is to invite genocide against your own species, Hudson.”
“No, that’s your trick. That’s what you brought to your people,” Hudson snaps back. “And to too many others. Besides, pretty soon you’ll be too busy healing to worry about who sits on the Circle and who doesn’t.”
“Healing from what? I’m—”
Hudson cuts him off with a wave of his hand.
And just like that, Cyrus screams in agony…as he seems to melt before my very eyes.
123
It All Comes
Crashing Down
“What was that?” I whisper, torn between trying to watch what happens to Cyrus and closing my eyes and resting my head against Hudson’s chest.
The closed eyes win, mostly because I’m so tired and everything hurts so much. But also because the little bit I just saw—Cyrus’s body literally caving in on itself like he imploded from the inside—might be the most terrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed.
“Nothing for you to worry about. The bastard’s bones will regrow…eventually,” Hudson answers softly and smooths the hair around my face. But when I lay my head on his chest and try to block out the stomach-churning pain, he tells me firmly, “Don’t go to sleep, Grace.”
“I don’t think vampire bites work the same way as concussions.” I drag each word