The past twenty-four hours have felt like an eternity in hell. I keep waiting for Laila's mind to open up to me, but all I get is nothing. The last thing I felt from her has haunted me to the point I'm fucking sick over it. I know the torment she went through when the blade stuck through her skin and how it felt like fire as the poison spread inside her body. I wanted to take it all away from her, but instead, I have to watch it consume her, knowing there isn't a single damn thing I can do but wait to see where her fate lies.
Holding Laila's hand, I bring it to my lips. I changed her out of her blood-soaked clothes and put her in one of Seraphina's white robes. She looks like an angel with her red hair fanned out over the bed. I keep waiting for her to open her bright blue eyes. Her skin is cold, and her heart beats fainter by the minute. I thought bringing her to Seraphina's house would somehow magically heal her, but nothing seems to work, not even Seraphina's plants or my blood. I poured some into her wound, and it would heal over, but then after a while, it would open back up. Still, I keep on trying.
A knock sounds on the door, but I don't even look back to see who it is. Ryker comes around the other side of the bed and sits down. "How are you holding up, brother?"
My eyes burn like fire, and my heart feels like it's been shattered in two. I keep my focus on Laila. "I'm so livid I can't think fucking straight." Hot tears fall down my cheeks. "I can't lose her, Ryker. I've lost way too many people."
He reaches across Laila's body and places a hand on my arm. "I know. There's still hope with the full moon tonight." Our shifter magic is more potent during the full moon, which is our last hope. "Have you heard anything from Beck?" he asks.
I shake my head. "He left for the Land of the Fae and hasn't been back yet. His mother is the only full-blooded fae to have ever survived an attack like this. He didn't stay long enough to tell us how she did it."
Ryker sighs. "He'll be back. It's a good thing you completed the bond when you did. She's more shifter than fae now. At least, she has that on her side."
My throat grows thick. "Still, she might not make it." Swallowing hard, I tear my gaze away from her to look at Ryker. "If she doesn't pull through, I can't stay here anymore."
Ryker hangs his head. "What will you do?" Hell, if I know. All I know is I can't stay with the pack. Instead of answering, I turn my gaze back to Laila. Ryker stays for another few minutes and then leaves when Zayne enters the room. He sits across from me and stares at Laila; he hasn't spoken to anyone since the attack. He hasn't spoken to anyone since the attack.
"I'm sorry," I say to him. "I'd give anything to change what happened."
He kisses her forehead. "I don't blame you, Cedric. None of this was your fault."
"It doesn't feel that way. I'd give anything to trade places with her."
"And then I'd be sitting here with her while she mourns you. Either way, it hurts."
"Cedric," Amelie murmurs from the doorway.
I glance at her over my shoulder. Her lips tremble as she looks at Laila, but then she nods toward the hall. "The girls and I have everything ready outside. We thought it'd be a good time to get Laila under the moon, surrounded by all the people and things she loved."
I nod and turn back to my mate. Sliding my arms underneath her, I lift her gently and carry her out of the house. Everyone is waiting for us outside and standing by a bed of flowers surrounded by snow.
Amelie motions for me to lay Laila down, so I carefully place her on the flowers and kneel beside her. Amelie does the same and places a lily in her hair. "I went to the florist and picked out all of Laila's favorite flowers."
"She does love white lilies," I say.
Amelie traces a finger down Laila's cheek. "If anyone can pull through this, it's her."
"Laila. Please talk to me." When she doesn't, I glance around at everyone in the pack. Zayne steps forward, his face a stony mask, but then his eyes widen when he sees something in the distance. Ryker and Bailey step to the side, and so do Sebastian and Tyla. Beck appears outside of the circle and starts toward me, followed by two women, both with long, whitish-blond hair and pale skin with crowns made of ice on their heads. Although I can tell one is older than the other, even though she doesn't exactly appear to be, they look exactly alike. She has the wisdom in her eyes as Seraphina had. I'm pretty sure it's his mother, queen of the winter court.
Beck kneels on the other side of Laila, and the two women follow suit. The younger one takes her place next to me while Beck's mother is next to him. She gazes down at Laila and holds a hand over her chest. "She looks exactly like her mother."
Beck flourishes a hand toward his mother and to the other fae. "Cedric, this is my mother, Ariella, and my sister Ella."
"Thank you for coming," I say to them, but then I focus on Ariella. "Beck tells me you survived something like this before. How did you do it? Can Laila do the same?"
Her gaze saddens. "My situation was a little different." She reaches over and holds her daughter's hand. "Dorian's father, Alasdair, tried to take over the Land of the Fae many years ago. When it came down to the final battle, I did my duty and killed him, but was wounded with an iron blade. When I died, I was pregnant with Ella." Amelie, Faith, Bailey, and Tyla all gasp behind me. Ariella glances around at the pack and then back to me. "After a faerie passes on, we go to a place called the Hereafter. That's where I went for a short time. It's there where I found out I was pregnant, and Ella was still alive inside my body."
It all sounded too crazy to be true. The shifter world has its own share of magic, but theirs is something completely different.
"How did you come back to life?" Amelie asks.
Ariella nods at her daughter. "Ella brought me back. Her magic is what saved me. While I was still dead, I found out her destiny was to be a Keeper of the Hereafter. That means she has a foothold in the fae realm, your world here, and the Hereafter. She helps guide both full-fledged fae and the half-fae in your realm who are about to cross over."
My gut clenches with despair. "Is that why you're here?" I ask Ella, "to help Laila cross over?"
Ella frowns and looks down at Laila's body. "Laila is different. I can't read her as easily as the others. It's like there's a war within her body. Something is holding her here, but something else is trying to push her out." Closing her eyes, she hovers her hands over Laila's body and whispers a set of words I can't decipher. Laila's heart starts to weaken, her beats lessening with each passing second.
"What's going on?" I shout, squeezing Laila's hands. "She's slipping away."
A tear falls down Beck's cheek, and he hangs his head. That can't be it. "Laila!" I shout, cupping her face in my hands. "Come back to me!"
Ella places a hand on my arm. "It's time. I'll do everything I can to bring her back."
Leaning over Laila's body, I kiss her gently on the lips. The moment my lips leave hers, her heart stops. She's gone.