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CATALINA

T he world spins around me, the edges blurring in a haze of blood and fading magic. My body is failing, my breath coming in short, painful bursts. But none of it matters. Not anymore.

Because I see her.

Eryss.

My little sister.

She kneels beside me, hands pressing desperately against my wound, her magic flickering weakly against my skin, trying to hold me here. Trying to keep me.

She doesn’t understand. She can’t.

“N-no,” she gasps, shaking her head wildly, eyes glassy with panic. “I won’t let you die.”

I smile, or I try to. The pain makes it hard. “Eryss?—”

“Shut up,” she snaps, voice breaking. “You’re not allowed to talk like that.”

Her fingers clutch at me, trembling, drenched in my blood. My vision dims, but I can still see the sheer desperation in her eyes. She isn’t ready to lose me.

Yet, she will.

Because I have already decided.

“I know a way,” I whisper. The words slip through cracked lips, barely a breath of sound, but they shatter her.

Eryss freezes.

Her pulse jumps beneath my touch. “What do you mean?”

Naranus shifts nearby, his presence a force of solid heat. He should be dead already, but somehow, he still stands. Still fights. The cracks in his stone flesh deepen with each second, the cursed magic devouring him from the inside out.

He’s out of time.

So am I.

Eryss demands answers, her hands tightening on me as if she can anchor me to this world. “Catalina—what way?”

I exhale slowly, letting the truth settle over me like a weighted blanket. “A third way.”

She flinches.

“The curse,” I continue, voice shaking, “is bound to the balance of power. It requires one of two things: His death or a willing soul of equal power to take his place.”

The moment the words leave my lips, Naranus reacts.

“No.” His voice is like stone cracking, rough, raw. Final. “You will not do this.”

Eryss stiffens, shaking her head, already rejecting what I haven’t even spoken aloud. “That’s not—no. No.”

I ignore them both. This is my choice.

Not theirs.

“There’s a cost,” I murmur. “A sacrifice. But it must be done willingly. It must be done out of love. And—” my voice catches, the weight of it pressing down on me, “—it must be a soul with enough power.”

The truth strikes like a blade.

Naranus grows still. His dark eyes burn into me, emotion swirling like a storm just beneath the surface. “You think that makes it right?”

Eryss is already shaking her head, tears streaking her dirt-stained face. “No. No.”

I smile. It’s small, weak. But genuine.

“Eryss,” I whisper. “I tried to kill you once.” My fingers twitch against her wrist. “Now, I can save you.”

Her sob is sharp, unrestrained. “I don’t want you to save me. I want?—”

“You want us all to live,” I say softly. “But you can’t have that.”

She breaks. I see it in the way her shoulders shake, the way her lips tremble. But I cannot stop now.

If I don’t do this, Naranus will die.

Eryss will lose everything.

Naranus suddenly moves, dropping to his knees beside me as his men fight the enemies desperately, his hands fisting in my torn cloak. “I won’t allow this,” he growls, voice low and dangerous, his breath uneven. “I refuse.”

I laugh, the sound brittle. “You don’t get a say.”

His fingers tighten. “Like hell I don’t.”

I lift a hand, weak but steady, and place it against his chest.

This is the only way. I am ready.

“Let me do this,” I whisper. “Please. Take care of my little sister, gargoyle.”

Eryss screams, hands clawing at me, trying to stop what must happen. “No! NO!”

Tears streak her face, mixing with blood and sweat. She fights me, resists me, her magic sparking wildly as she tries to undo the inevitable.

But I don’t let her.

I can’t.

I begin the ritual.

The moment my magic ignites, the world shifts.

The symbols I etch into the ground glow with deep violet energy, an ancient incantation spilling from my lips. My voice shakes, but my conviction does not.

The air thrums with energy. The curse inside Naranus responds, sensing the change, sensing the trade.

It fights.

It flares.

Naranus shouts, his body jerking as the magic wraps around him, trying to resist the pull.

His claws dig into my wrist. “Catalina, stop?—”

I keep going.

The power surges through me, raw and unforgiving, a burning brand that seeps deep into my soul, binding me to the curse. The cracks on his body begin to close.

The curse leaves him.

And takes me instead.

My scream rips through the night, the agony splintering through my bones as the magic devours me whole.

Eryss wails, her magic slamming against the ritual, trying to tear me away.

Too late. The process is already sealed.

A heartbeat later, the curse is gone from him.

Inside me. I feel it. Creeping through my veins. Eating me alive.

But I smile.

Because Eryss is safe.

Naranus will live.

I have finally done something right.

Eryss collapses beside me, sobbing, her hands gripping my face, her entire body shaking in denial.

I cup her cheek, my fingers barely solid, my form crumbling, fading.

“Shh,” I murmur. “You always were… my little sister.”

Her sob shatters me.

She shakes her head wildly, refusing to let go. “No. No.”

With my last remaining strength, I stare at our enemies. At the darkness that destroyed my coven.

I take a deep breath, releasing every power my soul has. I become pure magic to eliminate the darkness.

I burst into light, melting and becoming one with magic.

“Sister!” I hear Eryss wail, and I embrace her within the light.

“I’ll always be here. Now, become free. Use your magic. Feel it.”

My last gift to her is unlocking her magic, destroying the bindings preventing her from using it.

I disappear with a sad smile on my face.

But a satisfied heart knowing I did something right.

I gave my sister a chance at life. A shot at happiness.

Now, it’s up to her and Naranus.