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Chapter 44

Prince

G od, I fucking hated the taste of my own blood.

I licked my lips, grunting when the cracked things split, sending even more into my mouth. I'd already coughed it up, had it sliding down my nose like an insufferable leak.

And now this. I was supposed to make it to the fucking Rights, and this all would have been fine. Instead, here I was, not even a full day after Mags told me in no uncertain terms that I would stay dead if I didn't rein this in, questioning why my soul was such a temperamental bitch.

I leaned into Eirik as he came to my side, my knee giving with a grunt as he hauled me to my feet. Pride be damned, I sank every spare ounce of weight I could onto him. He could make fun of me for it later. I'd even let him carry me again, if he offered, because I would not be giving Aaliyah anymore reason to worry.

She had enough on her plate, and I was already pissed she had to deal with this much.

I'd known this had been coming since I'd crawled out of the mausoleum and found myself in Mags's care. I knew I was on borrowed time, one memory after another, just like Aaliyah. I'd thought I'd managed to keep it under lock and key, but somehow it seemed I'd lost the fucking key.

I coughed again, blood splattering the front of my shirt.

"Hang on, Prince," Aaliyah whispered, the warmth of her hand against my abdomen breathing life back into me. She rubbed gently, back and forth, until my trembles faded, and my head stopped screaming at me.

We inched the last few feet into the living room, each one feeling like the greatest accomplishment I'd ever had. I slipped down the moment we hit the softness of a rug; the shivers becoming manic, the pressure in my head spiraling out of control.

More blood flowed from my nose, over my lips. Wetness on my ears told me there as well. At least hitting the floor instead of the nice bed.

Who the fuck decided we needed to go to the living room?

Oh, that was right. Me. I wanted to move.

Fuck me, I was an idiot.

Warm hands circled my neck, my head finding comfort over Aaliyah's legs on her lap. Lavender sweetness muddled the pain, and it was enough to let me focus for one second.

Enough to catch her eyes, see the worry in them, and hate myself a little more for being the cause of it.

I'd fought for so long to be someone who could help her, to be more than just a burden or a ghost she couldn't touch. Now that I was alive, I was little better than before.

On the fucking floor like some shitty rug with great hair and a blood fetish. Blood that was now getting all over Aaliyah.

I tried to jerk away, my brain rattling in my skull, bouncing and snapping. The pressure spiked, a sharp pain behind my eyes telling me that if it didn't stop soon, I'd be losing them. I gritted my teeth when Aaliyah didn't let go.

"I'm going to make a mess out of you, and not the fun kind," I mumbled, the joke coming out with a cry.

She didn't let go, her fingers brushing softly against my cheeks. Weakness stole my muscle movement, the tremors the only thing I could do as I sank into that feeling of her touch, more than happy to cling to her as she hummed.

I ignored the shake in her fingers. I ignored the pain I knew she could see as a scream caught behind my teeth, and the pressure in my head became overwhelming.

There was the tear of teeth into flesh, the sound of my brothers' choked protests, before a wrist hit my lips. Blood, floral and sweet, like the rivers of heaven had found a direct path to my lips.

I took several mouthfuls, soothed by her hand in my hair, before my eyes rolled back, and the blood turned sour in my stomach. My entire body contracted, my back bowing as everything came back up, and I was forced to choke on it.

"It's not working. My blood isn't working," Aaliyah whispered as the door flew open. She curled around me, hugging my shaking body to hers. "Where's Mags!"

I wanted to, more than anything, besides maybe stopping those tears that streaked down her face. Another appeared at my side, and God, I doubted I'd ever been happier to see Mags's crazed face, my brothers barreling in behind the scowling Sorceri. This time, they weren't even holding a skillet.

It was the little things.

"Thought you'd last longer," Mags snorted, shaking their head as if it were my fault that my soul was even more of a temperamental bitch than I was. "I said the First Rights . It is not time."

"Oh, Mags, just when I was starting to miss you," I grunted, shaking my head. "I really do love these chats."

I still wasn't used to the body they'd taken the shape of. Their black hair swooped away from their face, damp from either a shower or a dip in some forbidden pool somewhere. They wore simple clothes, a black T-shirt, and matching black slacks.

"And I was missing the quiet," Mags snapped, and I was too tired to say anything against it. My mouth went numb, my throat contracting as if trying to close. I felt the pulse behind my eyes like a heartbeat, the thud unending. " It is not yet time. "

Mags shrugged as if there were nothing more to do. "Shame, such shame … my favor will die with you."

Another bout of blood flooded my mouth, and it felt like my body was trying to rip itself apart at the seams. I seized in Aaliyah's arms, holding back a scream with only sheer will as a Rend tried to happen.

I felt the pull, the rip, but I stayed lodged firmly in my body. A fact that said body was not a fan of. That couldn't be good.

"He won't last any longer," Aaliyah whispered, no doubt having seen it, as well, a fine layer of sweat on her forehead as she brushed the hair away from mine. Her hands trembled against my skin, my only comfort in the place I'd found with my head in her lap. And her eyes, those lavender eyes that I'd learned were the best place to get lost in.

God, if I was going to die, at least it was in her arms.

" No. If he dies, it is because the Hallowed will it. It is not my time to intervene." Mags grunted after they spoke, turning to leave, even as Fallon and Eirik moved to stop them. "There is nothing to be done."

Nothing. Gravity might as well have fled the fucking room with the way the breaths around me stopped, the words a blow that I'd been expecting for weeks. Mags said them callously, as if my life didn't matter to them. I hated to admit how much that stung my budding friendship, seeming as nothing more than a nuisance. Not even enough to try to save me.

I'd known I was dying ever since I'd woken in that tomb, since I'd found Mags.

Since I'd found Aaliyah.

I was on borrowed time, time I never should have had to begin with. I'd gotten to live when any other would have stayed dead. I got to hold the woman I loved in my arms.

Got to say her name.

That was a life worth it for me. Even if we didn't get to finish it, that dream was still there. In a perfect world, we'd live together, with my brothers. She'd never want for anything. She'd curl up in the library with a good book, Adrian's food keeping her content. Eirik singing while Osiris and I picked at that damned old piano. Fallon always staying close to feed her another chocolate.

"Aaliyah," I said, hoping she heard it, the first word I'd needed to say when I woke, the only word that ever mattered to me. Her name was like a prayer.

Tears flooded her eyes, and she curled around my head, her hand still buried in my hair.

"No, not like this. I just got you," she whispered, her voice cracking as another fresh bout of hell had me seizing again. "You promised me forever, Prince. I'm not letting you take that back."

Another bout. Rip. Pull. Rend. The scream came out this time, spattered with the blood that caught in my throat. Aaliyah cradled me the entire time. Another of my brothers, maybe more than one, held my limbs to keep me from hurting her.

Hours, that was how long it seemed like it went. Each Rend was a blow that left me reeling. Aaliyah's hands were my single grounding point as my eyes closed, and I lost sight of her lavender gaze.

Then a soothing spread over my taut muscles and burst blood vessels, as though someone had placed me in a cool bath. Aaliyah's hands were on my chest, warming me through my shirt.

My soul expanded for her, the cracks that had come from being thrown back into my body after she'd brought me back filling but not closing. It was enough to breathe, to catch the look of concentration on her face as she grew pale, her eyes dimming.

Whatever she was doing was stemming it, but it was causing havoc on her as well. Her eyes rolled back, and her heart stopped beating as her hands went limp where they'd been pressed.

The Rend swallowed her, the stability that we'd given her seeming to have slipped away, and I jolted, trying desperately to catch her. My arms were little better than wet noodles, and Eirik was by my side in an instant, holding her up with me. I couldn't understand his words, my mind mush.

Minutes went by before Aaliyah sucked in a ragged breath. A memory played behind her eyes as the pressure in my skull grew again. The seams she'd sealed shut split open. She gritted her teeth, moving me again, holding her hands to my chest even as I tried to sit up and push her away.

The weakness of my own body was shown in how easily she kept me pinned down, another wave of ease shooting over me. The cracks sealed, and she coughed, blood sliding down her chin.

My protest died on the next Rend that had me looking over the scene, time slowing as the others rushed around us. Aaliyah went next, her body jolting as her soul ripped itself away. She looked at me, her gray reflection making me sick.

She smiled softly like she did, pressing her hand over her chest even as I screamed. Her ring and pinky finger were tucked away, and I could only watch in horror as her eyes rolled back, and I was slammed back into my gasping body.

Aaliyah might not be able to save me … but it was easy to see that she would die trying.