Chapter 247
Ava’s POV
I froze. For a second, I forgot how to breathe, how to think, how to do anything but stare. My heart thundered violently, its pulse pounding in my ears like war drums. Then, when I finally moved, when I blinked—he was gone.
A fresh wave of grief slammed into me, knocking the breath from my lungs. The hope that had briefly flared was torn away, leaving an aching void. The wind howled, rattling the trees, but I barely noticed. He wasn’t there. It had only been my mind, playing cruel tricks.
A choked sob escaped. I collapsed, my forehead against the cold earth, tears pouring down my cheeks. I cried until my voice was hoarse, until my lungs burned, until there was nothing left but emptiness. Until the world blurred. Until everything faded into nothingness. Until I was just an empty, shattered thing kneeling in the dirt, clinging to a love that no longer existed.
I don’t know how much time passed. The sky had darkened, the last light bleeding into the horizon like a dying ember. Then, after what felt like an eternity, I felt someone sit beside me.
At first, I didn’t react. I was too exhausted, too hollow. But then, I turned my head—just enough to glance at the figure. It was Raina.
My grandmother sat there, her back straight, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her silver hair caught the dim light. Her gaze was fixed on the tombstone, her expression unreadable. She didn’t speak, didn’t reach for me, offered no comfort. She just sat there, silent. And so, I looked away.
We sat in silence, lost in our own thoughts, our own pain. Then, finally, she spoke.
“Death is a tedious thing, isn’t it?”
Her voice was quiet, almost contemplative, as if speaking to the universe.
I lacked the strength to speak. What could I say? That it wasn’t fair? That I wanted to scream at the sky and demand to know why Grayson was taken? That I would trade anything to have him back? None of it mattered. It wouldn’t change the reality before me. So, I said nothing.
Another silence settled between us, thick and suffocating. Then, Raina spoke again, her voice barely louder than the wind.
“If you could take it all back, knowing this exact moment was waiting for you—would you have chosen not to love him, knowing he would die?”
A shudder ran through me. My fingers dug into the cold dirt, my nails biting into my palms.
“How do you expect me to answer that?” My voice was hoarse. “How could I not have loved him? How could I not still love him?”
Raina sighed, a sound heavy with understanding. “Loving him doesn’t make his death any less real.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, but the tightness in my chest grew.
“You will carry this pain,” she continued, her voice steady, certain. “But pain is not proof of weakness. It is proof of love. And love, no matter how brief, is never wasted.”
Her words should have meant something. Maybe, one day, they would. But right now, they meant nothing. None of this would ever be okay. I wasn’t strong enough to move forward, and I wasn’t strong enough to focus on the realm, on Damien, waiting in the shadows. I should have cared. But I didn’t. I didn’t care about any of it.
I parted my lips, ready to ask Raina to leave, when a sharp, searing pain exploded in my chest. It felt familiar. I gasped, trying to breathe, but the breath never came. Then I started coughing, and the sharp, metallic taste of copper flooded my mouth. Blood. Dark, crimson streaks spilled onto Grayson’s grave.
My stomach twisted violently. Something deep inside me—something old, something terrible—stirred. White-hot pain. Burning. Tearing. Spreading like venom, like fire licking at my bones, like something inside me was breaking apart. A strangled scream ripped from my throat. I doubled over, my body convulsed.
Raina’s voice cut through the haze, sharp with panic, “Ava!”
I barely heard her. I barely heard anything over the deafening roar of whatever was inside me—whatever was clawing its way out. The pain reached a breaking point and exploded. A blast of energy shot from my body, a force so violent that the earth trembled. The graveyard quaked, cracks splitting the ground. I gasped, my body seizing, my breath stolen. My limbs locked, my skin burned, my head pounded. My body started shaking—violent, out of control, unstoppable.
Then, with one final, agonized scream, the pain stopped. So sudden. So absolute. Silence fell, thick and unnatural. The world had gone still. Too still.
My breath came in ragged gasps. I couldn’t feel the dirt anymore. I couldn’t feel anything. A cold dread slithered through me.
“Raina?” My voice cracked.
Nothing. A sharp pang shot through my chest. I tried again, stronger this time. “Raina.” Still nothing. I turned my head, searching for her, then I heard it. A voice. My voice: “I might have actually missed you.”
My breath caught. Slowly, I turned my head and saw her. The other version of me, standing there, smiling. I opened my mouth—to tell her to go away—but she spoke first. Her smile softened, something sad flickering behind her eyes.
“Come on,” she said quietly. “We have one last adventure to go on together.”
I blinked, my heart pounding. “What?”
She tilted her head. “The curse,” she murmured. “It’s lasted long enough, don’t you think?”
“We’re going to get Grayson and we’re going to break this damned curse,” she said. She took a step closer, her eyes burning. “Then you two are going to end this. Once and for all.”