But I’m helpless.

I’m weak.

Olivia, takes another step, but I can’t scream.

It’s when she touches Dare that I bolster my strength.

She puts his hand on Dare’s shoulder,

And I can’t take that.

Don’t touch Dare, I want to scream. You died, but you’re not taking him! He’s innocentHe’sInnocentHe’sInnocent!

But her fingers drum on Dare’s skin,

And everything in me boils,

And screams.

And somehow,

Some way,

I harness my energy,

And my finger twitches.

Dare’s humming stops.

“Calla?” he asks quickly, hope so potent in his voice. “Wake up. If you don’t wake up, you’ll die.”

I move my finger again, and it’s all the strength I have left.

I can’t move again, but I think it was enough.

Dare’s gone,

Gone from my side,

Yelling for someone,

For anyone.

Other voices fill my room,

Circling my bed,

And Dare’s voice is drowned.

He’s gone,

but others have replaced him.

I’m poked,

I’m prodded,

My lids are lifted and lights are shined into my eyes.

“It’s a miracle,” someone announces. “It took. She’s not rejecting it anymore.”

I can’t stay awake.

My strength is gone.

I fall asleep wishing Dare would come back.

I don’t know how long I sleep.

I only know that I dream,

And now, when I dream,

They’re lucid.

I’m no longer insane.

I don’t know why.

Olivia sits in front of me, her smile gentle and soft.

“My boy wasn’t meant for you, but you took him anyway. I thought you’d be each other’s downfall, but maybe you saved each other.”

I swallow hard because I did take him.

“You have to know that’s the way of things,” I offer. “Boys can’t stay with their mothers forever. It wasn’t my fault you died.”

“I killed myself,” she says simply. “I’m a child of Salome, and I thought my blood was bad. I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t take any more pain. I made sure you were all three safe, then I just let go. I drifted away and the darkness came, and it was soft and warm. And I let go.”

I understand pain.

I nod.

“If you’re choosing to be dead, then can my brother live?”

Hope surges through me, but the look on Olivia’s face shuts it down. And my chest hurts and hurts and hurts as she shakes her head.

“He chose,” she answers, and her words her words her words. “He chose to die to keep you safe.”

And I think about the blackness and how I stopped breathing, and how I suddenly was alive. Finn did that.

Save me, and I’ll save you.

A lump a lump a lump forms in my throat and I can’t swallow it.

“I can’t live without my Finn,” I say limply. But Olivia is firm.

“You have to. He’s gone, but you’re not. He chose you, Calla. He chose to protect you.” In my head, I remember him handing me his medallion and I cry because she’s right. Finn chose for me to live.

Olivia gets up and her form is so slight, so small. She’s dark like Dare and her eyes gleam like the night.

Black, black eyes that examine my soul.

She cocks her head, in the same way that Dare does.

“History can’t keep repeating itself. Mr. Savage killed himself to protect his children. He chose himself rather than them because sons shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of their fathers. But his son Richard was evil and it should’ve been him. Laura sacrificed Finn because that’s the way it had to be. Let it be now, Calla. It is as it should be. You’re descended from Judas, and it’s in your blood, but don’t betray this.”

“Wait,” I suck in my breath. “What about Dare?”

He was by my bed,

He’s been here the whole time,

humming to me.

“Is Dare safe?” I ask her breathlessly.

“A sacrifice has been made,” she answers. “It’s been accepted. Don’t change it.”

Her voice is small because the sacrifice was Finn.

“Our story is so sad,” I tell her, because it is. The saddest thing I’ve ever heard, because it makes everything seem hopeless, as though our own actions don’t matter, because we pay for the sins of those who came before us. Olivia shakes her head knowingly.

“It’s not. The saddest thing is if everything was in vain and if history keeps repeating. Don’t let that be, girl. Save my son. Save yourself. Don’t sink into the oblivion. You’ve got to open your eyes. Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.

Open your eyes.”

I startle awake, the insistence of her voice shocking me into lucidity.

My eyes open.

The light is so bright it’s blinding.

The humming stops.

Chapter Thirty-One

The room swirls white and medicinal, filled with beeps and blank walls and cold skin. Goosebumps chase each other in confusion up my arm, and I gulp hard.

I’m in a hospital.

I’m cold.

I’m afraid.

But.

Dare is.

Dare is.

Those are the words in my head, and the words sound like Finn’s voice. And at first I think it’s an interruption in the sentence, but then I realize. It’s not Dare is… it’s a statement. Dare is.

Dare exists.

Dare is alive.

I exhale, and I think about where I am.

I wiggle my fingers and they’re heavy, and there’s pain, and I can breathe.

Slowly

Slowly

Slowly,

I open my eyes.

I’m alone, and even though the echo of Finn’s whispers linger here, I know that he’s not.

My body feels heavy and I can’t lift my arms, and a nurse comes in and when she sees my eyes open, she’s startled, then she rushes to my side.

“Ms. Price! You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

I don’t know. My thoughts are murky and my chest hurts so much. I try to lift a hand to rub at it, at my chest, but I can’t. There are too many tubes, too many wires.

“Don’t,” the nurse tells me as she watches my attempt. “You’ve been through a lot. You’ve got to rest to recover.”

“Where is Dare?” I ask and my voice is hoarse and my throat is sore, like I haven’t spoken in a hundred years.

“He’s in another room,” she tells me. “He’s fine. He’s going to make it.”

Joy leaps at me, lapping at my face, and then I picture my brother and everything falls around me.

“Finn?” I ask, and even I can hear the fear in my voice.

“I think it’s best if the doctor explains everything that happened,” she tells me. “I’ll be right back with her.”

I close my eyes because I’m exhausted and afraid, and it isn’t long before the doctor comes and when she speaks with her raspy voice, I know immediately who it is and I try to leap from the bed.

Sabine stands there, calm as can be in a white lab jacket, and she places a hand on my arm to restrain me.

“Ms. Price,” she says, her dark eyes staring into mine. “You’ve been through quite an ordeal. I’m Dr. Andros.”

“I know who you are,” I hiss at her and she stays calm, because she knows who she is, too.

“You were in a car accident. Mr. DuBray drove off the road. You suffered extreme trauma to your chest and your heart. Your brother suffered massive injuries that unfortunately, he wasn’t able to recover from. He remained alive on life support until a transplant could be made. Your brother’s heart saved your life.”

My hand fingers my chest and there is a fresh scar from my collarbone to my belly, swollen and warm.