I am Sam
Chapter Forty

ATLAS

My dragon surges through my veins, showing in my eyes; how fucking dare Ronan come swooping down in his dragon form. Eris climbing off his back is the absolute cherry on the cake; what is she even doing with him?

Watching Ronan’s beast shift back into his human form, I immediately pull Sasha to me, burying her face against my chest; she definitely doesn’t need to see him naked. Jeez.

“Put some fucking clothes on,” I shout at him, and he immediately gives me a sinister grin as he raises a brow,

“Well, hello to you too, son.” I instantly cringe,

“Don’t call me that,” I grumble; furrowing his brows with an amused look on his face, he scoffs,

“What, son? But that’s what you are, Atlas, you are my son, and just like me,” Narrowing my eyes on him, I taste the bile rising in my throat,

“I’m nothing like you.” I grumble; Eris comes to stand beside Ronan, handing him some clothes; the grin on her face tells me all I need to know; she truly has gone to the dark side.

“What’s the matter, Atlas? You seem... tense.” She sniggers, and Ronan smirks when she turns her head towards him before tilting her chin up to him and kissing her. My jaw goes slack, and I’m between wanting to hurl my lungs out and being eternally grateful that I never slept with her. I definitely dodged a bullet there.

Once Ronan releases her, she turns her head back to look at me, a devious little grin painted across her over-the-top makeup,

“You’re disgusting, you know that,” I grumble. Smirking, she sighs,

“Luckily for me, I don’t care what you think of me, Atlas.” Narrowing my eyes at her, I shake my head.

“So, how long has this been going on?” Shrugging, she turns her head to look at Ronan with a little grin,

“Does it really matter?”

“Oh, it matters, considering you wanted to marry me.” Scoffing, she rolls her eyes at me,

“Well, let’s just say I wasn’t exactly going to marry you for anything other than the crown, you know, unless Ronan ordered me to fuck you, then I suppose I would have had to; sorry, Atlas, you’re not really my type.” At that moment, Sasha turns her head to glare daggers at Eris, her entire body tensing in my arms.

“You’re nothing but a gold-digging whore, Eris.” A low growl rumbles in Sasha’s chest, and I can’t help but feel so proud of my baby twin sister right now. Eris, however, glares fiercely at Sasha,

“I would be cautious of what I say, Sasha; don’t forget, I don’t have to play nice with you anymore.” Ronan suddenly raises his hand to her as he frowns,

“That’s enough, Eris.” He grumbles. And she huffs, her brows furrowing, and she looks just like a little kid that just got scorned by her father, oh right, because that’s pretty much what Ronan is to her, a father figure. Gross.

Malvessa suddenly steps closer, followed by Perseus right behind her like a little tail that can’t seem to think for himself amid chaos; raising a brow at Ronan, Malvessa smirks,

“Well, look who decided to grace us with his presence.” Scoffing, Ronan rolls his eyes at her,

“Oh please, don’t pretend like you weren’t expecting me; we both know you knew I was coming; besides, I wouldn’t miss the party for anything.” Looking around, Ronan furrows his brows, “So where is the birthday girl anyways?” Malvessa’s eyes narrow in response, turning her head to glare at Caleb, who’s utterly stoic as his eyes remain darkly fixed on Malvessa; she slowly turns back to look at Ronan with a sigh,

“Maybe you should ask you’re earth element; he seems to have hidden her somewhere.” She sneers, and Ronan immediately raises an amused brow at Cal as he grins wickedly,

“Oh, really,” Narrowing his eyes on Cal, he sighs, “Out of all of my elements, you were always the brightest; it doesn’t surprise me that you figured it out.” Cal narrows his eyes on Ronan, his jaw clenched tight in response. I won’t lie; hearing him say that about Cal when he’s only ever scolded me for everything, I did the wrong, like I was his biggest disappointment, kind of stings.

“You knew?” Cal murmurs in a low voice as his eyes narrow on Ronan; scoffing, Ronan shrugs,

“Of course, I knew; why do you think I kept you away from here. Every time you wanted to venture into the Unseelie desert, did you think I kept saying no because I was worried about your safety,” Smirking, Ronan shakes his head, “I’m assuming you’ve got Vanya hidden somewhere no one will ever replace her?” But Cal doesn’t say a word, “Where’s the girl, Caleb; what have you done with her, hmm? Have you hidden her here in the desert?” Narrowing his eyes on Cal, he sighs, “No, you wouldn’t be that stupid, perhaps, the witch’s forest,” There’s a tick in Cal’s jaw, but he keeps dead quiet. Ronan sighs again as he shakes his head at Cal, “I will replace her, you know that, right, and when I do, I will make sure you get a front-row seat in watching as I torture her because of your disobedience,” Cal’s eyes turn like molten lava as he grinds his teeth, “You know all about my methods of torture, don’t you Caleb? Do you think you’re little mate will be able to endure my kind of punishment as well as you do?” He grins, and I’m suddenly frowning as I look from Ronan to Caleb, whose chest is rising and falling heavily as he stares at Ronan. I’ve never seen so much hatred in Cal’s eyes towards another person as I’m seeing right now.

Wait, torture... Did Ronan use to torture Cal? Swallowing hard, I suddenly feel sick to my stomach when I look back at Ronan, but before I can say anything, Malvessa suddenly steps towards Ronan, as she snarls,

“You don’t get to touch her; she belongs to Perseus if there is any torturing. Believe me, after this little stint, she’ll be lucky if she ever sees the light of day again. Perseus will be the one to dish it out, not you.” She sneers. Cal immediately looks over at Malvessa, and he’s suddenly trembling; the twitch in his eyes as his dragon presents itself has me realizing Cal’s dragon is right near the surface; I have to admit it, Cal has some serious self-restraint; I don’t think I would be able to hold it in like he does.

I’m still clutching tightly onto Sasha; the thought of Ronan touching her has my entire body tensing. There’s a sudden shift in Ronan when he looks past us, narrowing his eyes; he tilts his head, pushing away from Eris; she gasps as she stares at Ronan, almost in shock. He takes two steps towards us, and I tense, my grip tightening even more around Sasha, except he’s staring straight past us; only then do I turn my head to look at who’s behind us.

Lisbon.

“You,” Ronan grumbles, “After all this time, you’re actually standing right in front of me,” Lisbon’s eyes widen, and she’s trembling. “You’re coming back to Aeonian with me, my dearest Lisbon; we have... much to discuss.” My brows furrow as I stare from her to him, the expression on his face is like some creepy stalker, and the look on her face is... fear?

Sasha suddenly pushes out of my arms and jumps in between Ronan and Lisbon, I try and stop her, but when Sasha makes up her mind, there’s no stopping that runaway train.

“Sasha, what are you doing?” I’m asking as I try again to move her out of the way, but she won’t budge; she’s glaring up at Ronan; wait, Sasha’s defending Lisbon now? I feel like I’m in some warped universe all of a sudden; when did Sasha become a Lisbon supporter.

SASHA

Looking up into the eyes of a monster is never easy, especially when the beast you’re staring at is Ronan. There’s always been something about him that seemed off to me and had me questioning the very fabric of whether or not he ever had any morals at all. To begin with, he might have fathered my brother, but Atlas is nothing like Ronan; I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that Atlas is just like our mom, just like Yana.

Ronan looks down at me as he narrows his eyes,

“Would you like to die first, little Sasha, seeing as you’re so willing to defend the woman who cursed you,” Clenching my jaw, I swallow hard. Lisbon cursed Wolf and me, but that curse is now broken. I’m not sure what the outcome will be for Wolf and me, but I’ll figure that out when I get back to Erebus. The point is, Lisbon has no powers to defend herself against Ronan; call it supporting the lesser evil in this case; because on a scale of one to ten, I loath Ronan way more than Lisbon.

“Leave her alone,” I grumble; smirking, Ronan shakes his head in amusement.

“Or what, exactly?” And my eyes immediately illuminate with my blue element.

“Or else you’ll replace out just how dangerous I can be,” I grumble as I go to pull my sword from its pouch against my back. The moment it slides out, I swing it once as I get into position. Ronan chuckles, and it’s so low and sinister that it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“Sasha, I’ve been around for a very long time, and no one has been able to kill me; I doubt you would be able to succeed where everyone else has failed.

“We’ll see about that,” I growl, and Ronan merely gives me a bored expression.

ASHER

Eris suddenly steps in between Ronan and Sasha, glaring at Sasha as she grins wickedly. I’m standing right behind Sasha, and my entire body tenses as an involuntary growl reverberates through my chest. I can’t believe I fell in love with Eris; now, looking at her makes me feel sick. I wouldn’t touch her, even if she sorted herself out and apologized to us for what she did. Looking over at Caleb, he’s still staring daggers at Ronan and Malvessa.

Eris smirks as she tilts her head towards Sasha,

“Running doesn’t matter, Sasha; I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth if I have to,”

“Why are you going through all this trouble over me?” Sasha asks, and I can feel the tense confusion just by how her temperature fluctuates.

“Isn’t it obvious? I hate you,” She sneers. My eyes narrow on Eris; how could she say something like that? She hardly even knows Sasha.

Without warning, Eris suddenly lunges at Sasha; she’s about to collide with full force when someone dives straight into Eris, knocking her down to the ground. My brows furrow as I blink back the surprised look on my face,

“Liam?”

Eris jumps up and glares at Liam,

“You,” She sneers, “I should have known you would choose her over me; you’ve always been so pathetic, Liam.” She spits the words like a venomous viper,

“Enough, Eris, stop this. I am not your enemy,” Liam pleads to her,

“To hell your not; I hate you, Liam. I’m ashamed to even call you my brother; now get out of my way, so I can tear this bitch a new one,” She snarls. And I’m feeling utterly dumbstruck as I stare at her; how did Eris go from the girl in my bed to this monster, or was it a lie all along when she was with me? Are these her true colours?

“No,” Liam says as he shakes his head at her, “Please, Eris, don’t do this.” Again he pleads, and that’s the thing with Liam; he’s not the conflict type; he’s not aggressive, doesn’t mean he can’t be if he needs to; Liam is gentle, and his mate is actually kinda perfect for him.

Scoffing, Eris shakes her head at him,

“You know what, little brother, maybe once I’m done with Sasha, I’ll go and pay a little visit to my new sister-in-law; she looks to be just as much of a pathetic loser as you,” A sudden deep growl reverberates through Liam. It’s then that I notice a side to him I’ve never witnessed before. Okay, that’s new.

“Don’t talk about Lana that way,” His voice is so low and gravely as he speaks to her that it almost doesn’t sound like him, and I blink back in surprise; besides his dragon, I’ve never seen Liam even get mad, ever.

“What are you going to do, Liam? You gonna cry in the corner again, like a pathetic little baby, is that it?” Rolling her eyes, she scoffs, “Get out of my way, Liam,” She shoves him out the way as she comes for Sasha again, and Sasha’s ready to take her on when Liam suddenly swings around and grips Eris around her throat,

“Please, Eris, stop.” Narrowing her eyes on him, she shoves out of his hold, shouting at the top of her lungs in his face,

“I will never stop! I will hunt that bitch down and make sure she dies; why? because she’s someone you care about, and when I’m done, Liam, I’ll go after Lana so that you can feel what it feels like to lose everything!” She shoves past him and comes at Sasha, suddenly pulling two daggers from behind her back before lunging at her; I’m expecting her to knock Sasha to the ground, but Sasha suddenly sidesteps her, Eris screaming like a mad woman; she’s completely lost her mind as she lunges at Sasha again; and Sasha’s avoiding her, she could defend herself, I’ve seen her fighting capabilities when I spied on her back when she trained with Caleb, she’s more than capable of standing her own against this crazy bitch.

Eris looks like she’s gone completely crazy, swinging around with her blades aimed at Sasha. Sasha just keeps ducking and spinning around, avoiding contact, when suddenly, the sound of someone screaming her name distracts her.

“Sasha!” It’s Aslan; oh fucking great, just what we need, I think as I roll my eyes. Eris uses this moment to her advantage as Sasha’s distracted and slices into her shoulders. Wincing, Sasha grabs for her arm, and Liam suddenly yanks Eris away from Sasha, who swings around and punches him square in the face; the next thing I know, there’s a floodgate of action that happens as I notice people coming our way, Noah, Circen, Miera and Lana come running our way, as Seelie troops flood in from the far side, now this is what I’m talking about, shit just got real, I think with a grin.

NOAH

Ronan suddenly attacks Sasha; we’re bolting towards them; Atlas jumps in between them as he growls at Ronan. We just came from the castle; Malvessa must have teleported them all here; man, that woman is insane.

“Touch her, and I’ll kill you,” Atlas snaps at Ronan, who merely bellows with laughter as he grips Atlas around his throat and begins squeezing tightly; I watch as Sasha jumps forward at Ronan, shouting and pulling at his arm.

Atlas is starting to go blue in the face; he’s killing him,

“Atlas, Atlas! Fight, fight back!” I’m shouting at him, but Atlas doesn’t fight back; why isn’t he fighting back? It dawns on me at that moment that as much as Atlas hates Ronan, he’s still his father, and fighting you’re own father must be the most challenging thing to do. There’s a lake nearby, and I’m about to use the water to my advantage when Ronan suddenly backhands Sasha through the face, “Urgh.” The impact has her spinning around as she hits the ground with a loud thud.

It happens so quickly that I almost miss it as I glare up at Ronan; Caleb suddenly grips Ronan around his throat and yanks him off Atlas. Ronan stumbles back but quickly corrects himself as he glares at Caleb.

CALEB

“You could have been so much more than you chose to become; I had such high hopes for you, Caleb.” Smirking, I shake my head as I narrow my eyes at him,

“High hopes, you know, every time that you tied me up and beat me within an inch of my life, I thought it was because I had done something wrong; eventually, it just became a regular occurrence; and I realized you weren’t beating me because I had done something wrong, you were beating me because you enjoyed it. Every time someone pissed you off or defied you, you took it out on me.”

“I was making you stronger,” He grumbles, “Look at the kind of fighter you became because of it; you’re the best I have.” Scoffing, I’m grinning as a sinister smile reaches my eyes,

“Had,” I repeat as I look him in the eye, “This is where we part our ways, old man,” The sudden rage in Ronan’s eyes has him growling at me,

“You are nothing but the monster I created in you,” Grinding my molars together, a shimmer of my dragon bursts into the irises of my eyes,

“Oh, I’m a monster, am I?” Nodding, I scoff, “Perhaps you should speak to me more softly, then. Monsters are dangerous, and just now, kings are dying like flies.” Another growl reverberates through him as his dragon surges into his eyes, and the moment he comes at me, I almost want to laugh; I’ve been fucking waiting for this day since he first laid his hands on me; I was only seven, then.

Ronan’s fist collides with my jaw, and the impact itself would knock anyone on their ass, but I’m not just anyone; I’m the fucked up result of years and years of conditioning into the very messed up man he shaped me into.

He hits me again, his dragon showing in his eyes, and I laugh; I fucking laugh like I’ve lost my goddam mind. He swings another punch, and I suddenly spit out the blood pooling in my mouth, call me crazy, but I’m enjoying this way too much, and the old dragon is getting tired; I can tell he’s out of shape.

The moment he stands panting, brows furrowed, shaking his head at me, I slowly look up at him, wiping the blood from my face with a smirk,

“My turn,” I growl. He frowns at that moment, and the confused look on his face is wildly comical, when I swing a fist at his face; I feel his jaw crack as he stumbles back, bewildered eyes looking back at me. And it’s like I see red from that moment onward, flashes of memories spiking through my head as I swing at him. Every time he hit me, every rib he broke, every cut, every bruise; every childhood memory he stole from me and replaced with darkness and hatred. I’m swinging fist after fist at him, and he’s too fucking slow to respond.

Fuck. I'm enjoying this.

Well, all good things must come to an end, and I guess Ronan gets fed up that he’s losing; he suddenly shifts his hand into the claws of his dragon and swings at me, instantly colliding with my side. Groaning as the pain seers through me, I stumble as I see stars. My hand immediately grabs my side. Looking up at him, I smirk; pain is my friend; it always has been; let’s see if Ronan feels the same way.

“So that’s how you wanna play, old man.” Blood is gushing out of my wound; I know he’s ripped a chunk of my skin away without even looking down; this only fuels my rage when I hold my hand out to my side. He’s giving me a suspicious look when my sword suddenly flies up and launches at my hand. I grab it by the handle, and the look on Ronan’s face is priceless, shock, surprise. Fuck. What, does he really think that I’m limited by my own elemental abilities? Laughable.

“Let’s play.” Swinging my sword around a few times, Ronan suddenly launches himself, like fucking pre-ejaculation; he’s too early, rushing it. Big mistake.

“Pace yourself, old man; it’s not a race; I want to enjoy killing you.” And Ronan just loses it, swinging his clawed hands at me like a possessed animal. Gone is the calm facade of a mask; this is the real Ronan; unstable, unhinged and unpredictable. His dragon.

He’s about to shift into his beast, and I wait, moving around him, waiting for just the right moment, and he doesn’t disappoint; he forgets that I’ve studied dragons. I probably know more about dragons than even Ronan himself. That day that Sasha came into the library for the first time, the open book on the table, Draco. Yeah, I had been reading up on exactly this; how to kill an ancient dragon.

Swirls of green spark through my eyes, down my arms and through my sword, my element, my own dragon as I swing back, sidestepping him one last time before he finally attempts to shift. The heart. You aim for the heart when it comes to a dragon; the fire-beating heart throbbing through his chest calls to me like a beacon when I sidestep him one last time, swing around, plunge the blade of my sword straight into his chest, exactly on point to his heart.

Ronan gasps, the horrified look on his face as his eyes widen; looking down at me, he grips my shoulders, and nothing has ever been more satisfying than this moment. Looking into his eyes, seeing the fear and realization that he’s about to die by my hand, a true thing of beauty.

After plunging the blade’s last piece all the way into him, Ronan suddenly splutters and coughs up blood.

The gasp.

The blood.

The empty eyes.

Death.

Ronan drops right in front of me, and I smirk, a grin creeping up at the corners of my mouth as I stand panting over his lifeless body; I’ve got blood gushing out of my side the moment I move my hand away; I can actually see my ribs. Smirking again, I replace it funny. I guess that makes me fucked up somehow, the fact that I enjoy pain and blood. I’m staring at the open wound, and I actually fucking chuckle; Ronan’s lying dead on the ground, and I walk away with my ribs on display. Nice.

SASHA

All hell has broken out all around us; Malvessa and Perseus have summoned Unseelie monsters that, combined with the Seelie troops, turn this place into a chaotic bloodbath.

My eyes scan our surroundings when I notice the Wendigo coming out of nowhere, getting in on the action as they fight against the Unseelie.

Spinning around, I’m suddenly facing Aslan as I gasp. Looking down at my shoulder, his brows furrow.

“I’m getting you out of here; you shouldn’t be fighting; this isn’t you’re war.” Gripping my arm, he begins to pull me with him, but I yank my arm free as I frown at him,

“Then who’s fight is this, Aslan? We’re all here because of me.” I’m distracted a moment too long when an Unseelie creature collides with me, knocking me down and onto the ground. Aslan instantly pulls the beast off me, but because of how I fell, my sword completely empaled me; the blade had gone straight through me. Gasping, I look down as I groan, and Aslan is instantly by my side,

“Sasha, my sweetest Sasha.” He grips the handle of the sword and I instantly cry out in pain. Panting and wincing as tears well up in my eyes. There’s so much blood, and I can see the panic in Aslan’s eyes as he looks into mine, gently running his hand down my cheek. Crying out again, Atlas suddenly skids down onto his knees beside me, his eyes hurriedly scanning over my body; they widen as he looks up at me,

“We need to get the blade out,” His voice suddenly hoarse; shaking my head, the tears begin to fall, my eyes already feeling bloodshot as I blow out deep breaths; it hurts so much. “Sasha, look at me,” Atlas says as he cups my cheek and his eyes pierce mine. “I can’t heal you with the sword still inside of you; we have to get it out.” Whimpering, I nod as more tears begin to fall; I know this will hurt like a bitch; just touching the handle sends a zapping sparks of unexplainable pain coursing through my body.

Atlas suddenly pulls his shirt over his head, folding it a few times until it’s long and straight, like a stick almost; he holds it close to my mouth,

“Bite down hard,” He encourages, and I do as he says when I take the fabric into my mouth and bite down against it. Atlas tells Aslan to sit behind me, to give me some support so I can sit up a bit more, the moment Aslan slides in behind me, holding my hand. Atlas nods, grips the handle and then pulls back hard and fast.

I scream out, biting down as the fabric of his shirt muffles my cries. Tiny sobs and whimpers have me feeling like I’m gonna faint. Atlas immediately places his hands against the gushing wound. Focusing his energies, my injury begins to heal, repair and close. After a few seconds, I look down, and the only reminder of my wound is the blood, now drying against my skin.

Looking up at Atlas, I remove his shirt from my mouth and grip him around his neck, pulling him to me as I hug him tightly, “Thank you,” I breathe, and he hugs me back, “Any time.”

Everything is turning beyond chaotic when Atlas gets up and calls Noah and Circen over to him,

“We need to use our elemental powers to end this; it’s getting out of control." He says in a panic. Looking over at Caleb, Atlas’s eyes suddenly land on Ronan’s lifeless body on the ground; blinking back, he looks up at Caleb, shock and surprise sketched on his face as his jaw goes slack.

"Is he..."

"Dead, yeah." Caleb shrugs nonchalantly. Clenching his jaw, Atlas lowers his eyes to the gushing wound against Caleb’s ribs, he closes the gap between them almost instantly as he places his hand against Caleb's injury, "You okay?" Caleb asks him as he cocks his questioningly. Nodding, Atlas smirks as he looks up at Caleb,

"Yeah, I thought I would feel something, but I don't." He shrugs, and Atlas then does what comes naturally, he heals Caleb's wound.

It’s then that I notice Lisbon behind me; she’s opening a portal; what? Swinging around to face her, my breathing picks up the moment she turns her head to meet me, raising a brow as she grins,

“I told you we’re not friends,” Her words have me swallowing hard, “But to show my gratitude for healing me, I won’t kill you today, and your curse is broken now, so, I’ll see you on the other side I guess,” She smirks. Just like that, I watch her disappear into the portal. And I don't do anything to stop her. Why don't I stop her?

Atlas grabs my arm and swings me back around; he’s scanning the area for Liam, “Where is he? He was fighting Eris; so where are they?” He grumbles,

That’s when Atlas suddenly freezes; he’s staring out in front of us, frowning; my eyes focus on where he’s staring and then... “Liam,” I breathe.

He’s crouched over, on his knees against the ground, rocking himself back and forth; he’s holding onto...

“Eris.”

Gasping, my jaw goes slack.

Her body is just lying there; she’s not moving. Both Atlas and I start steadily making our way over to him; once we’re standing right behind him, the horrifying scene becomes all but clear.

Eris is dead.

Lana sits beside Liam as he continues to sob, her hand gently resting against his shoulder. Even among the chaos, it feels like everything fades away at that moment.

I don’t feel anything for Eris; it’s Liam my heart is breaking for, and even though Eris treated him terribly, Liam has such a soft and kind heart, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, let alone another person, if he could help it.

“Liam?” Atlas’s voice comes out raspy, and only then do I notice Noah and Circen come up beside me; Circen wipes away a tear, her brows furrowing in the knowing agony of what it means to lose a twin. Asher, Miera and Caleb come up behind them, and we’re all just staring at Liam. Sympathy sketched across everyone’s faces. Caleb’s jaw clenches as he looks at Liam; of course, he knows all too well what it feels like to lose a twin. The pain Liam will be experiencing... I couldn’t even imagine that loss.

Shaking his head, Liam wipes away at his cheeks,

“She wouldn’t stop, she... she attacked Lana and...” Gulping, I gasp; he doesn’t even need to finish that sentence for me to grasp what happened next. Liam killed his own sister; he killed Eris.

“Liam, I’m sorry.” Atlas murmurs, “We need you, man. We need to stop the madness; it’s getting out of control and...” Liam turns his head towards Atlas, his brows furrowing. His eyes are bloodshot from crying, and I expect him to go off at Atlas, but he doesn’t. Instead, he slowly gets to his feet and stands right in front of Atlas as he nods once. I can’t help but wipe away my tears because even though Liam is distraught and in so much pain and agony, he still manages to put his feelings aside for his friends, the cause, and the responsibility of being who and what he is.

Spirit - Earth - Fire - Water - Air.

Atlas, Caleb, Circen, Noah and Liam all stand in a circle, a five-point star drawn out in the sand against the ground. And I stand on the sideline, watching them intently.

They begin chanting, holding hands in a circle, watching them, sends a shudder running down my spine. I’m proud to be part of what they are, to be one of them.

Asher comes up beside me, slides his hand in mine, and something drops from his wrist. Furrowing my brows as I look down, my eyes widen when I look back at him. His wolf cuffs have opened, and fallen to the ground. The enchantment is broken; it must be because of Eris.

Gulping, he smirks in disbelief; all the while, chaos continues to swirl around us, but I’m not focusing on that right now; all my focus is on them.

Watching their eyes light up with their elements, the energy shifting as the air begins gushing all around us, I vaguely notice Malvessa come up on the far left, but Aslan jumps on her, knocking her back. The chanting continues, and so does the increase in energy. Squeezing Asher’s hand, I really hope this works.

And then...

Like an atomic bomb, a booming, explosive force of air goes off from the star’s inner circle, the brightest light, my vision tunnelling in blinding white illuminated wonder .

Opening my eyes, a breath I didn’t realize I was holding escapes my lips.

The only one’s left standings are Seelie and us; everything else, everyone else... gone.

Asher lets go of my hand just as I start moving towards Atlas, turning to face me; he smiles as I dive into his arms, tears welling in my eyes. He just holds me tightly to his chest; I’m so grateful for him, my brother, my twin.

Slowly pulling away from him, he gently wipes away at the tears against my cheeks.

“Is it over?” I ask in a croaky voice; nodding, he smirks,

“It’s over.” Pulling me back into his arms, I sniff and whimper. Suddenly so internally grateful for all these fantastic people in my life, they have become more than my friends; they’ve become my family.

I slowly turn my head, and that’s when I notice him standing beside me, his eyes piercing mine with something so raw and honest, a small smile curling up at the corners of his mouth.

“You can go home now.” His words have me turning and climbing into his open arms, feeling them fold around me in a warm embrace; I couldn’t stop the tears from falling even if I wanted to.

“Thank you,” I whisper against his warm chest, and he tightens his hold on me,

“I made a promise,” He murmurs, and a smile creeps up at the corners of my mouth as I tilt my head up to look into his eyes,

“And you never break a promise.”

Gently running his hand down my cheek, he smirks when he places a gentle kiss against my forehead.

“Never.”

Looking back at Caleb, I can suddenly see the restlessness in his eyes, and I think I know why.

“So, Vanya is yours, huh?” Smirking, he nods as his brows furrow,

“Yeah,” Smiling, I nod.

“I like her.” Grinning at me, I suddenly notice something strange and foreign against Caleb’s cheeks. Is he blushing?

“So do I,” He replies with a smile, and I’ve never seen his eyes this alive when he speaks of anyone.

“Everyone else is going to head back to Aeonian,” My words have him clenching his jaw as he furrows his brows,

“I’m not going back to Aeonian,” He murmurs; swallowing hard, I nod,

“Vanya?” I ask softly. Nodding, he smirks, “I’ll never forget what you did for me, Caleb.” My voice is suddenly so small as I lower my eyes. Tilting my chin up, so our eyes lock, he smiles softly,

“We’ll see each other again,” Swallowing a lump as fresh tears well up in my eyes,

“Say you promise,” Smirking, he nods,

“I promise.” Pulling back to look at him, he’s suddenly holding something up to me; furrowing my brows, I tilt my head as I gently run my fingers over it,

“What’s this?”

“A dream catcher; I made it for you a while ago; it’s to help keep the monsters away,” Smirking, I smile as I take it from him. It fits perfectly within my hands,

“You made this,” Running my finger over the detail, tears instantly welling up behind my eyes as I look back up at him, “Thank you, it’s beautiful.” Nodding once, he pulls me back to him, and he hugs me tightly.

“I’ll see you around, little one.” He mumbles; pulls away, and without looking at me, he turns and walks away.

I’m wiping away the tears as I watch him go, and my heart suddenly hurts, allot. I'm going to miss him.