Monty edged up next to me. “Joke’s over, Blake.”
“Are you sure about that, Kevin? I offer you and your sister a future. You do realize what the other option is…”
“Death. Yeah, except I’m not scared of you.”
“You are not?” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “Yet you can barely stand with that wound. How do you expect to stop me?”
“I can stand fine.” I’d hoped no one had noticed.
“I do not think so.” Blake closed his eyes.
I felt a choking sensation. My eyes watered, and my hands went to my throat. Suddenly, Monty crashed into me, pushing me aside. I could breathe, but I would have traded my breath for what I saw. Sprawled on the ground, I watched Monty wriggling in agony as his body hung suspended in air.
“No!” I reached for my sword and threw it straight at Blake’s chest.
With his eyes closed, Blake wasn’t prepared for the attack, and he fell backward onto the cobblestone walkway. Monty’s body crashed to the ground.
I ran over to my uncle. I panicked when I saw his blank eyes staring up at the sky. “Monty?”
No answer.
“Monty, please.”
“He’s dead.” Henry stood immobile, watching in shock.
“No.” I shook Monty’s body, but there was still no response.
I spun around, looking for the man who had killed my uncle. Blake slowly stood, pulling my sword from his chest as if it were merely a splinter. He tossed the sword to the side and looked at me with an expression of pure satisfaction. I stepped toward him, still in shock. I grabbed Blake and slammed his head down on the rocky ground. I looked around. Hopefully, Charlotte was in place and ready to go. I dragged Blake over to the river, my anger and hurt giving me the strength I needed for the task.
Blake thrashed underneath me as I tried to keep him down in the water. He’d just killed my uncle, a man I’d loved my whole life. Monty may not have been perfect, but he had been a good man. I couldn’t let Blake go. I couldn’t let him hurt anyone else.
Blake cackled, his eyes turning a hazy gray. “You cannot do it. Even if you had the nerve, you cannot kill me.”
“Yes, I can. We know what to do.” Even as I said it, I worried. Charlotte seemed so sure of herself, so set, but she wouldn’t tell anyone what she’d learned from the scroll.
“She does not have it in her.”
“Of course she does. Charlotte can do anything.” She’d proven herself as one of the strongest people I’d ever met.
“You do not know, do you? You do not know what she is supposed to do.” He laughed louder.
I pushed him down farther into the water. He struggled, but I refused to give up. What was Blake talking about?
I waited for the signal. It felt like an eternity, but it was probably minutes. I pulled the Onyx out of my pocket and showed Blake. For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes. Finally, Liam made his call, and I pressed the Onyx onto Blake’s chest. The water turned an inky black, then a surge of light temporarily blinded me, but I held the Onyx in place. Blake stopped fighting, and his body settled limply in the river.
“No!” Charlotte’s scream broke through the air.
I let go and took off up the mountain.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlotte
I was ready to jump. I was ready to jump in the river and make the sacrifice the scroll had described. Giving my light to the river would cause a new Essence to be born, an Essence that could rule without the darkness of Blake.
I said my goodbyes silently, unwilling to tip off either Liam or Calvin to what I was about to do. I wanted to do more, to hold them both close to me, to tell them that they meant the world to me. I hoped that they’d understand my choice.
“Make the signal,” I ordered Liam.
Instead of making the bird call, he held me back, wrapping his arms tightly around my waist from behind. I knew in that moment what was happening. Calvin had figured it out. His eyes said it all as his hand enveloped mine. I squeezed it, unwilling to let go of the man I loved. He let go and walked to the water.
I screamed, but Liam never loosened his hold. He made the bird call as Calvin dove into the river. The blinding light told me everything I needed to know—Calvin had given his light so I wouldn’t have to give mine. The dark clouds began to part, and the water turned completely black before settling into a fluorescent hue.
I tried to follow him, but Liam still held me. He whispered something in my ear, but I didn’t hear him. His words were drowned out by the endless beating of my heart. A heart breaking into a million pieces.
I finally broke away from Liam and ran to grab Calvin’s body before it could disappear over the falls. His eyes were closed, and he almost looked as if he were sleeping.
Pain like I’d never imagined. That’s the only way I can describe how I felt as I held Calvin’s limp body in my arms. He was more than a friend, more than a lover, more than anything. He was part of me in a way I couldn’t possibly find the words to express.
I heard voices behind me, then hands gripped me, but all that mattered was the body of the man who held my heart. He was still wet from the water. Black liquid dripped down his chest and soaked into my shirt. I concentrated, convinced I could find a way to make that water fix everything. I was the Essence; I should be able to do that. I just wasn’t trying hard enough.
Eventually, the voices died down, the hands disappeared, and I was alone. I kept seeing his eyes—those beautiful green eyes that I’d do anything to see open again. How could I possibly go on without him?
It couldn’t be over. I could still feel a strong sense of wholeness I shouldn’t have felt. I remembered Mom telling me about when she’d lost her Gerard—about the numbness, the emptiness that never completely disappeared. I felt cold and lost, but there was still something making me feel strong. I shook him. He had to still be there.
“Charlotte.”
I heard the voice but didn’t understand the strange new pull.
“Charlotte, please.”
The pleading got me in a place it shouldn’t have—in a place that was only Calvin’s—but the voice was Liam’s. I turned to look at him, finally allowing Kevin and Henry to take Calvin’s body from me. Calvin wasn’t there—the body was just a shell. I knew that with complete certainty. I also realized that, in death, Calvin had given me not one gift but two. He’d given me my life, and he’d given me another chance at love.
Liam fell to his knees beside me and pulled me into his arms. “Charlotte.”