Page 108 of Visions of You

Jaron shook his head. "No, there has to be another way. We can destroy the sphere."

They both looked at the sphere. It had stopped glowing. It wasn't necessary anymore. All that power was inside of Keegan now.

Keegan reached out to cup Jaron's face. How he loved that face. Those kind eyes. He would remember them long after he was gone. "There is no other way. The magic, it's a part of me now and it's going to keep working. If I don't die, everyone else will."

He could see the pain in Jaron's eyes, the desperation to find a solution that didn't involve losing the one he loved. But Keegan knew, with a certainty that came from the depths of his being, that this was the only path forward.

"You have to do it, Jaron," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the crackling energy that surrounded them. "You're the only one who can end this now."

Jaron's jaw clenched, tears trickling down his face as he struggled to come to terms with the reality of their situation. Keegan could feel his mate's sorrow, the agony of being faced with an impossible choice.

But there was no choice, not really. If Jaron didn't do this, his brothers would die.

Keegan looked deep into Jaron's eyes. He knew that what he was asking of his mate was too much, but time was running out, and they had to act.

"Jaron, I know you can do this," Keegan said, stroking his cheek. "The ritual is almost complete. If you don't stop it, it will kill me, but if you end my life first, at least no one else has to die."

He could see the conflict raging within Jaron, the desperation to find another solution warring with the realization that there was none.

With a gentle hand, Keegan drew him into a long, tender kiss, pouring all of his love into that one final moment of connection. When they parted, Keegan reached for a stake that had fallen from one of the unconscious mages and pressed it into Jaron's hand.

Jaron's fingers curled around the weapon. "But the fate of the world," he tried to argue, as if that suddenly mattered to him.

"I'll take care of it," Keegan promised.

"How?" Jaron demanded.

Keegan didn't have time to explain. "Trust me."

When Jaron killed him, the snapping of their bond would release a tremendous amount of energy, compounding the magic already coursing through his veins.

In that moment, as his soul departed his body, Keegan would tap into his connection to fate itself. He would harness all of that raw power, all of that potential, and do everything in his power to set things right. It was a gamble, a desperate hope that he could continue to be undead for just a little while longer, just long enough to undo the damage that had been done.

That was why Jaron had to be the one to put that stake through him. Keegan would need that extra energy from a fate-bond severed so brutally.

"Please," Keegan said. "If you love me, don't make me complete this ritual."

An inhuman sound wrenched itself free from Jaron's throat, a cry of pure emotional anguish that echoed through the lab. Keegan's heart ached for his mate, but this was the path they had to take.

It had always been the path they had to take.

"Do it for your brothers," Keegan pushed. "Do it for me."

Jaron's tears flowed freely now, streaming down his face as he struggled with himself.

"Never blame yourself," Keegan whispered.

Jaron nodded, and then, with a swift, decisive motion he lifted the stake and buried it in Keegan's chest.

The shock of it was so sudden, so intense, that Keegan couldn't even cry out. He felt the sharp, searing pain as the wood pierced his heart, felt the rush of energy as his soul began to dissolve into raw power.

But even as he lay dying, Keegan's mind remained focused on his final plan. He reached out with every fiber of his being, tapping into the vast well of energy that now coursed through him.

He could feel the strands of fate, the delicate web that connected all things, became one with it more than ever before. This was his moment to shine.

The one chance he had to course-correct fate.

CHAPTER 26