lucan stood triumphantly over amory, a sinister victory grin twisting his lips, his eyes wild and drunk with power. he was draining amory of his magic. he was taking the original life blood of this race and grafting it to his own corrupt and prejudice bloodline.

"no!" i screamed, forgetting about the half-drained titan laying on the ground and racing at lucan, pushing him with my bare hands but finding him unmoving.

i looked down at the anguished, onyx eyes of my grandfather and lost myself in despair.

"get away from him!" i screamed again, sending my magic full force at lucan, but not even phasing him.

"he was trying to save you," lucan laughed out loud; a dark, haunting laugh that would cloud my nightmares for the rest of my life.

"eden...." amory whispered through clenched teeth. i knelt at his side, taking his hand in mine, not knowing what else to do.

suddenly and quite surprisingly, a sharp stream of electricity began flowing through our grasped palms. i tried to jerk away, overcome by the force of magic. amory gripped my hand tighter, pulling me with unexpected strength back to the floor.

i looked up at him, into his black endless eyes and realized he was giving me his magic. lucan was taking what he could, but amory was still in control of his destiny.

i pressed my palm tighter into his and braced myself against the force of amory's electricity rushing into my blood. his magic was different than mine: lighter, deeper, older. his was the first magic. the ancient magic and it fused with mine in a jolting and exhausting cataclysm.

sweat poured from my forehead, and my arms and legs began to tremble violently. amory had more magic than anyone i had ever encountered or taken from. his magic seemed endless, filling my blood for what seemed well beyond the capacity i would be able to hold.

lucan stood above us in arrogant triumph. whether he knew amory was splitting his magic or not, i didn't know. but either way the evil king was pleased to finally end the long life of the last oracle.

the flow of magic slowed and amory leaned his head back against the cold, hard floor with a peaceful sigh. i held tightly to his hand, hoping to give him back his magic, to revive him and help him fight again.

lucan stumbled backwards, drunk with power and unstable from amory's magic. i, too, felt wobbly and dazed.

"it is finished, eden," amory whispered, closing his eyes when i tried to return his magic and nothing happened. "it's time, my child. it's time for me to go home," he smiled peacefully, and his face relaxed into the ancient man that had lived the kind of life that was happy to end. "carry on, eden. carry on and finish the task." and then he was gone.

chapter forty-four

"no!" i screamed, over and over again, banging my fist against amory's chest, refusing to give up, refusing to believe that he was dead.

tears streamed in unrelenting waves of desperate emotion. i laid my head against his chest, hoping for the faint sound of a heart beating for survival but there was nothing, not even the echo of a life once lived. i kept my head against amory's still warm body, breathing him in one more time.

"eden, love, it's time to go," kiran called to me from above, in his soft, accented voice.

i looked up at him, confused for a moment. the world around me spun and i caught myself against the cold concrete, afraid i would vomit. kiran held out a hand to me, as if offering help.

"no," i whispered hoarsely back.

"eden, they are waiting. it's time to go," kiran was calm and patient, waiting for me to reach for him, waiting for me to let him take me away. talbott stood by his side protectively, but quietly. he was bruised and unkempt, his clothes torn and hair messy, signs of the fight.

i stood up slowly, without his help. i took in my surroundings painfully. the battle was over and from where i stood inside the barn it looked as if the snow had stopped blowing as well. the titans, hundreds of them, surrounded what was left of the resistance, loading them into armored vehicles.

i searched slowly for avalon, letting my gaze fall on every single member of the rebellion, on lilly, on jericho, on roxie, promising each one of them silently that i would give them retribution for my betrayal. that i would see them again. and that i would save them.

finally, my eyes found avalon. he was beaten and bloodied almost beyond recognition. his face was swollen and one shoulder hung awkwardly lower than his other one. he was surrounded by two dozen guards and isolated from the rest of the captured.

he was watching me, his face expressionless and his eyes cold. i stared at him, wanting something, needing something.... hatred.... hurt.... hope.

something.

"i am not going anywhere with you," i growled, my tone acid.

"eden," kiran's voice broke and he reached out to me again.

slowly, but steadily more guards started to surround the two of us. soon we were standing in the middle of two dozen guards, watching us carefully.

"you did this," i accused venomously, and kiran dropped his hand to his side.

"eden, my love, i had no other choice," his voice was full of emotion and behind his eyes, what i would have once considered tears.

i couldn't trust him now. i couldn't allow myself to believe his lies, or allow him to manipulate me again. everything had been an evil deception. every single thing and i had just paid the consequences; i wouldn't suffer any more from naivety. from this moment forward, every breath i took would be dedicated to destroying the kendrick line. to finding justice for the lives lost here today. i was finished with kiran, in every sense of the word.

"my grandfather is dead!" i screamed at him, stomping my foot, sending a ripple of magic shuttering across the smooth concrete floor. "my brother is in handcuffs!" i continued to yell, pointing a stiff finger at him. "you had a choice! damn it, kiran, you had a choice."

"not if i wanted to keep you safe, eden!" he raised his voice at me, frustration reaching a boiling point. his face grew red and he took an angry step forward. "this was all for you! so that you could have a life. so that we could have a life together," he finished quietly.

"so you betrayed my trust and sacrificed the only family i have ever known, just so we could be together?" the pain evident in my voice was unforgivable, but i was desperate for a rational explanation, for a reason for the chaos and shambles my life had been reduced to in a matter of hours.

"i had no other choice," kiran said again with conviction. "when i realized there was another option, another sacrifice.... when it became clear that i could save you.... i had to," his voice broke again and he took another step forward. "and now we can have the life we dreamed of, we can be together now.... forever."

"you should be thankful, eden," lucan chastised me from outside the tightening circle of guards. "my son paid a price for you, yes, but he saved you, didn't he? and isn't that the most important thing?" lucan was relishing in amory's stolen magic and i breathed deeply trying to hold myself together.

"no, it is not the most important thing!" i screamed, my voice echoing emptily in the rafters of the barn, my magic shaking the hard steel violently. "why avalon? take me instead, leave avalon and take me," i demanded desperately.

"you don't get it child," lucan broke through the titans, facing me head on. "kiran made his deal; he gave me avalon for you. and as it turns out, because of your brother, i don't need you. so now, i have what i want. and my son has what he wants. and that is how this story ends," he finished coldly.

i swayed back and forth, feeling overwhelmingly sick. the ground was spinning and a high-pitched ringing sound was growing louder in my ears. i reached out; trying to balance myself and kiran was at my side in a moment, steadying me, holding on to my waist.

"do not touch me!" i shouted, finding my equilibrium and fleeing from kiran's arms. i bounced off of a titan and felt the world closing in around me.

"eden, stop being ridiculous; it is time to go," kiran reprimanded me like i was a small child, but his patience was gone. lucan looked on with unmasked amusement.

"i will never go anywhere with you," i spat back, hatred seeping from the deepest parts of my soul.

"you are being difficult. this is unnecessary," he took another step towards me, and i moved around in the circle, unwilling to ever touch him again. "i will take you with me, whether you want to go or not," he promised in a low, menacing voice.

"no," i said simply. "you have taken everything from me! everything!" i shouted. "you don't get what you want anymore. you don't get me!"

"get in the car eden!" kiran shouted back, and the floor trembled underneath the force of his magic.

"no," i whispered, my body shaking from rage.

"god, you are stubborn," kiran collected himself, rolling his head casually, as if his neck was bothering him. he squinted his eyes at me, as if trying to read me, as if i wasn't being clear enough. "guards," he commanded simply with a nod of his head in the direction of the armored cars.

in that one gesture of possession, i couldn't take it anymore. i rushed at him, intending to rip him apart if i had to. i felt insanity overcome me and i was blind with rage.

i didn't make it to him. the surrounding guards were on top of me sooner than i had anticipated they would be; talbott stepped in front of kiran, blocking my path. six men grabbed hold of me with iron grips, holding me in the air. i kicked and screamed like a mad woman, shouting incoherently and shaking my hair wildly out of its ponytail holder.

"you betrayed me!" i shouted when i felt myself come back to my senses.

"betrayed you?" kiran took a brave step around talbott towards me, getting close to my face, while the guards held me still. "i did this for you! i saved you! if it weren't for me, it would be you being loaded on that truck, not him. you would be the sacrifice. you should be thanking me!" he finished loudly.

anger washed over me in new waves and i spit in his face, staring down at him with more hate than i believed one person could feel.

kiran wiped at his face, completely disgusted and a guard lifted his hand against my face, back-handing me in an unspoken demand for respect for my crown prince.

"do not touch her." kiran turned his wrath on the guard that slapped me. "never touch her like that again, or it will be the last thing you do." he growled, but it did nothing to calm the tempest i could feel rising to the surface.

kiran walked away from me, running his hands through his hair. he turned back and looked at me for a long time while i struggled against the hold of the guards. "eden," he continued with more restraint, but his blistering frustration was barely controlled, "i will give you one last chance to stop this foolishness and come with me."

"i will never go anywhere with you!" i shouted again, lashing out against the guard, but unsuccessfully.

"fine," kiran shouted back. "enjoy your life.... alone!" he turned around and began to walk away.

"guards, load her up." lucan demanded calmly.

"father, no," kiran spun around facing his father. "you have what you want, leave her be. if she doesn't want to come with us, that's her own choice."