CHAPTER 8
“No,” Jack says immediately.
Messiliah doesn’t flinch. “It’s not your choice.”
“It is,” he snaps. “I won’t leave them.”
“You’re already gone,” she says. “They just don’t know it.”
I look between them. “What does the spell cost?”
Messiliah’s eyes soften. Just a fraction.
“Truth,” she says. “And fire.”
Jack turns to me. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I already chose,” I say.
He looks like that hurts worse than the fire.
The ritual doesn’t work.
The candle burns. The words cut my tongue. The smoke swallows him.
And then—
Nothing.
No miracle. No heartbeat. No breath.
Jack fades.
Gone.
I scream this time.
