Page 69 of Forever My Siren Luna (The Hidden Cove #2)

King Brennus

Everything happened so fast. I was already feeling weak because of draining as much of my magic into the necklace as I could.

It was not just my daughter I needed to save anymore.

It was all of them. My daughter, son-in-law…

.and their child. I wouldn’t let all the sacrifices her mother and I made be in vain.

With the bond connecting them, I prayed that the magic would flow through that and keep her safe, while also protecting the one that will protect her and my grandchild in my coming absence.

When my mate told me before we reset the fabrics of time once again that his happiness was hers, I didn't understand what she meant.

I thought that just Elelira being alive and safe was all that mattered.

Then, she ran away, joining the pirates, and though she was fierce and found her inner strength, I could see that it only made her bitter. Not happy.

Her happiness didn't come until she finally forgave and accepted her mate. Now, he was dead, and everything was coming full circle once again.

When that creature came down from the sky, it snapped Lachlan’s neck so quickly that I didn’t have time to save him.

None of us did. In that fraction of a second, we were all forced to watch in horror.

By the time my hand moved to send a bolt of lightning from my triton, throwing the dark fae off my son-in-law, Lachlan's beast was already falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. He was dead, and his Lycan’s body faded back into Lachlan’s.

His neck was bent to the side, and his eyes were void. Lifeless.

Cherum and Cedric gripped their chests, bending and falling to the ground. The pained sounds and howls of Lycan’s out in the far distance told me that the rest of the pack already knew that he was gone.

Anger boiled inside of me. The creature was struggling to sit up, and before he could accomplish that feat, I rained down four more strikes of my power, plummeting him back to the ground.

It groaned with excruciating pain, unable to find the strength to push itself up again. As I dismounted from my horse, I sent down one more bolt for good measure, making him lifeless, though I knew he was not yet dead.

He would be. Whatever the creature was, it would be dead. Soon.

Bending beside Lachlan, I righted his neck, fixing his head back to where it should be.

“Just a moment, my son,” I whispered. “Just give me a moment, and this will all be finished.”

I pressed the tip of my triton to the necklace on his chest, giving my magic residing in the pendent the final push it would need. Just a few minutes, and I would be back to finish the rest.

When I saw the glow of the pendant burn brightly, then spirals of my magic slipped out and moved around Lachlan’s limp body until they rested against his neck, I knew it was working. I knew my magic was working to heal his brokenness, though it could not give him life.

Cedric was crawling towards his Alpha now. Lachlan wouldn’t be alone. Even the Gamma, back in his human form now, was staring from where he was crouched on the ground with tears and snot gathering in his beard. He would be next to his Alpha soon too.

With vengeance on my mind, I turned back to the creature that fell from the skies of this hell.

His breathing was harsh, and he was clutching his chest. He hissed at me, his black eyes full of hate when I pressed my triton to his chest. Focusing on the wounds around his heart, I recognized the magic lingering in those wounds.

It was the same magic enveloping Lachlan right now. It was mine.

“Where is she?” I bellowed, putting the full weight of my authority into my voice.

The struggling fae cackled loudly, dark, thick blood oozing from the corners of his mouth.

“It was you,” he stammered. “You-you gave it to her.”

“Where is she?” I asked again, expelling enough power to send a wave of pain through his already dying body.

He roared, thrashing on the ground. The magic in his chest glowed inside of his chest. I was surrounding his heart.

My daughter. My beautiful, fearless daughter tried to crush his heart.

His heart wasn’t able to fully beat in his chest, the magic around it was so tight.

He was slowly dying. He may have literally fallen from the sky, aiming to take the Alpha from the south out with him.

I can only guess who this dark being was.

His enmity and the dark power dwindling in his body led me to believe he had a hand in the army of demons to the south.

I was about to ask him one last time where she was before finishing the job she had started when I felt her presence closing in.

Though the necklace was on her mate, their bond reflected it to her.

I could sense my magic emanating from her coming closer and closer, though it was still far off in the distance.

She was alive, and she was heading here. I have to finish this before she arrives.

“THAT WHORE!” the dark fae spit, tar-like blood bubbling with every word he spoke. “YOU G-G-GAVE YOUR MAGIC T-TO THAT-”

“I, King Brennus of the Siren Kingdom, bestowed my magic on my daughter,” I sneered, pressing my triton right above his heart.

His eyes went wide. “Now, die knowing you face no mercy, even in your death. The heavenly deities don’t take kindly to those who countervail their chosen ones. They will punish you justly.”

I would know, because the magic I used to bring back my daughter and accomplish her future happiness came from them.

With a final blast from my triton, I finished what my daughter had started.

His heart burst inside of his chest. Dark blood flowed from his mouth, nose and eyes, even his ears until the final traces of his spirit burned into the atmosphere, his soul readying to face the consequences of any and all sins he committed in his life.

My body felt heavy. My breathing was more labored now that I had extinguished almost all the remaining magic inside of me. There was just a little more left, just enough to finish the job my love and I started.

“My love, I will be with you soon,” I whispered under my breath.

I fell to the ground, kneeling beside my daughter’s future. Cedric looked up with the heaviest grief set upon his face. He knew this was coming. He knew this was inevitable, but the events of today made it sooner than we were ready for.

I sensed the second life in my daughter’s blood, and I knew that I had to keep her and her baby safe. I used her mate to accomplish that, because as I gave myself to Elelira's life and happiness, I finally understood my mate’s sacrifice for him.

You do not disrupt the balance of the gods, and that is what we did. My mate and me. With this final act, everything will be made right once again.

Lifting Lachlan’s hand in mine, I kissed his palm, then rested it over my heart. Then, I put my hand over his.

“Watch over them all,” I looked at my most trusted knight. “I leave my family to you.”

His tears were heavy, his choked sobs wracked with grief. Cedric found the ability to nod, but he didn’t have to. It was an order he would carry out even if I had never given it.

“My son,” I bent to place a kiss on Lachlan’s head. “I leave you in charge of my heart and her happiness.”

With a final burst of all the magic left in me, I transfer all the rest of my life’s essence to him. My magic healed his body, and now my life will be traded for his. I can leave this world with the satisfaction of knowing that we finally made everything right. Everything.

~

Elelira

My soul was torn. My heart felt like it hadn't beat since the moment we felt the pain of his death. Val was howling and roaring furiously as we tore through the rugged terrain to get to the place we sensed he was.

Something was pulling forward, whether it be desperation or insanity, or maybe some lingering trace of our dying bond, our body just knew where he was.

He can’t be dead. There was no way he would die just like that after all we had been through. After everything we overcame to finally be together, I can’t accept that it was all ending just like this.

I could sense others behind me, but Val wouldn’t slow down for anyone. She was maddened with her desperate need to see our mate. To see with our own eyes that this was truly the end.

As we raced forward, I suddenly felt another tear in my heart that had Val roaring loudly with the pain. I’m choking with the dread of finding out what it was from. My world was collapsing, and we could do nothing but run towards the end.

The howls and cries of sorrow from our pack members started to flood my mind. The warriors of our pack must be close. Was the battle at our borders where this….this happened?

My necklace. I left my necklace for him. I had hoped it would keep him safe the way it always kept me safe. I felt it would. Did Percy not get it to him in time?

The guilt and despair in me were amplified by the cries of our people. This can’t be happening. He can’t be gone.

The sky started to change. It began to clear into a normal night sky, though still polluted by dragon's smoke. We must be getting closer to the border. I could feel the pull getting stronger. My heartache was getting stronger as well.

“ Cherum,” I whispered, seeing his silhouette when we climbed the final hill. “ Cedric.” Both men were bent over a large heap. It took Val’s eyes a moment to adjust in the dim light to realize that the heap was the bodies of two men. My father and my mate.

Lord Tenebris was dead several yards away, but it appears he took the lives of my only family I had left with him. I can’t believe this. I don’t want to believe this.

“ No,” I cried brokenly. Val, too stunned and too weak to take the final steps to confirm what we already knew, threw herself into the back of my mind and pushed me forward. The tears in our hearts were too big.