Geoffre lets go of me, and I drop to my knees, clutching my throat and gasping.
The healers are struggling to pin Tyler to the floor. Geoffre takes a thin metal chain from his pocket and binds Tyler’s wrists behind his back. Tiny symbols etched in the chain start glowing, and Tyler groans. His face goes pale.
“Stop it,” I cry out. “What are you doing to him?”
Geoffre lets go of Tyler, who sags to the floor. He curls into a ball, groaning and panting.
Geoffre pulls me up by my hair until I am looking up into his face. “You should be worried about yourself,” he says, his voice dangerously quiet.
“Please don’t hurt him.”
“Who did you give it to? Who sent you here?”
“Nobody. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He drags me to the bed, and yanks the fake bloodstone off Aeron’s neck. The fine chain cuts into Aeron’s skin, but Aeron does not react. His body is so still.
I scream, and grab Aeron’s arm. “Wake up!”
Aeron’s body is cold under my touch. Geoffre drags me away. He dangles the fake bloodstone in front of me.
“I wore this for half my life,” he says. “Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize it?”
I shake my head, trying to think of what I can say to make all of this stop, but the only word that comes out of my mouth in a moan of despair is, “Aeron.”
Geoffre slaps me hard. “I threw it in the ocean. How did you get it? Who sent you?”
“Nobody,” I whisper.
Tyler struggles to his knees. Perspiration is dripping down his face. He looks horrified when he sees the bloodstone dangling from his uncle’s hand.
“No!” he whispers. “You can’t—“
Geoffre kicks him in the stomach, and Tyler keels over.
“It’s not the real one,” he snarls. “Your little girlfriend stole the real one. And you let her.”
“What?” Tyler looks stunned.
“Tyler didn’t have anything to do with it,” I cry out. “Neither did Aeron. This wasn’t his fault. What have you done to him?”
“It’s you who have done this to him,” Geoffre says. “I underestimated you. Pathetic human.”
He pushes my index finger upwards until the bones strain. There is a snap, and a flash of agony that makes me screech.
He pushes another finger back slowly, and the pain intensifies. “Tell me who you gave it to!”
“Tell him!” says Tyler, staring at me with glazed eyes. “You have to tell him.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. He was going to kill them all with it.”
Geoffre goes still. The pressure on my finger eases. “How did you know that?” he says, his voice dangerously quiet.
“Someone told me,” I say. “I know you used Aeron and Tyler, how you’ve lied to them. She told me what you were going to do. You’re evil.”
Geoffre throws me away from him. My head bangs against the wall.
“Bring Cilla,” he says.
The healers hurry from the room.
I crawl to Tyler and wrap my arms around him. I cradle him, rocking us both back and forth. He is panting in pain, his whole body shaking.
“You have to… tell him where it is,” he whispers.
“I can’t.”
“The oracle said you would… betray us,” he pants. “I never… thought you would… do this.”
“It was hurting Aeron! It was draining his life force, giving it to Geoffre. Everything Geoffre did was for show. He never loved either of you. He was going to kill the angelli. How could I let that happen?”
Tyler shakes his head.
I cannot believe that even now he doesn’t trust me.
“It’s true!” I cry out.
“You don’t understand. We could have stopped it some other way. Aeron can’t take the bloodstone off. You’ve killed him.”
“What?” My voice comes out high pitched. Time seems to slow down as I realize I have done this to Aeron. Me. My arms, which were wrapped around Tyler, fall slack to my sides.
The door of the room opens. The healers have returned with Cilla.
Her eyes widen when she sees what is happening. The look on Geoffre’s face makes her take a step back. But there is nowhere for her to run. The healers are standing in front of the door.
“You told her about my plans,” Geoffre says. “Why?”
She raises her chin. “I told her no such thing.”
“Then how does she know?”
Cilla frowns. Her hands clench into fists. Geoffre has a small knife in his hands. He is spinning it between his fingers like it is a toy. Over and over it circles, the sharp blade flashing. Cilla’s eyes never move from it. Her face is pale now.
“I never told her. I swear it.”
“It’s not her fault,” I say. “She doesn’t remember. I gave her a memory emetic.”
Geoffre laughs. “You fool,” he says to her.
“No!” she cries out. “It’s not true. It isn’t. I don’t remember…”
Her clenched fists are trembling now. Her eyes flick from him to me and back again, like a trapped animal.
I realize what is about to happen the second she does. I shout a warning.
Geoffre’s knife flashes across her throat like a whip. Her eyes go wide. Her hands fly to the wound, but there is no containing the gushing flow of red. Her knees give way.
I scream in disbelief. “No! No!”
He drags Tyler away from me. He grips Tyler’s hair, pulling his head backwards until his throat is exposed. He puts the knife against it. A drop of blood seeps down Tyler’s skin. I cannot tell if it is Cilla’s or Tyler’s.
“Please don’t,” I whisper.
“You love him,” Geoffre says. “You love them both, and yet look what you’ve done to them. I would have let them live for years yet. But you betrayed them, just as the oracle said.”
“Please don’t do it,” I beg him, my eyes fixed on that blade.
Tyler’s eyes are glazed over, and he seems in such pain now that I cannot tell if he even knows what is going on.
Geoffre slides the knife down Tyler’s throat, leaving a fine red line in its wake. He watches me as he does it.
“I don’t have it,” I babble. “I gave it away. I don’t know where it is now. I don’t even know who he was. He said the bloodstone was hurting Aeron. That was all. I swear.”
The knife goes still. An understanding seems to come into Geoffre’s face.
“Dane,” he says.
My mouth drops open. How does he know?
“But I killed him,” he says, almost himself.
And then his eyes flash with fury.
“You little bitch,” he roars, throwing himself towards me. “You’ve ruined everything!”
He smashes my skull into the wall, once, twice. My vision goes blurry. The pain has not hit me yet.
And then there is an almighty crash. The door flies open, throwing aside both healers. Dane is standing in the doorway. Dane with his eyes blazing. Dane is here.
I mouth his name, my heart soaring.
And then Geoffre’s blade flashes across my throat, slicing deep.
The last thing I see is Dane coming towards me, screaming my name.
