Chapter 231: Close to Death


    When I saw my father’s gaunt, pale body and his ssy eyes, I reacted purely out of instinct. My eyes


    went wide and I stumbled backwards, mping my hand over my mouth in order to keep myself from


    yelling out.


    We had gotten here toote. Whatever Selena was doing to my father had already run its course, and


    he was going to die soon. I knew for certain from the way that Nina froze while she was looking at him,


    then slowly turned to look at me with an apologetic look in her eyes. If anyone was going to be certain


    about these sorts of things, it would be Nina. She knew what happened to the body shortly before


    death.


    “Enzo, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “We’re toote.”


    I couldn’t speak. The knot in my throat was too thick and heavy for me to get any words out. All I could


    do was stare, wide-eyed and in shock.


    Selena got what she wanted. My father was going to die, right in front of me, and there was absolutely


    nothing that I could do about it. All I could do was stand there and watch in abject horror as Selena’s


    poison worked its way through my father’s veins, causing him to have a slow, painful death.


    At first, I didn’t understand why she wanted to do this to me. My father had never done anything to her.


    He was always supportive of our union, and only helped me that one time when he opened a portal for


    me. He should have been considered innocent in her eyes; I was the one who pushed him to help me.


    She should have punished me instead.


    But now, as I saw my fatherying there limply while his chest struggled just to rise and fall, I realized


    that she had punished me after all.


    By refusing to be her mate, Selena had killed my only living parent. She used him to punish me, and


    therefore his death was all my fault. Even years from now, assuming Selena didn’t kill us all, I would


    never let go of the guilt associated with this. And in the end, she would still win. Even if she died, she


    would still win because I would still live with that guilt.


    Selena was far more evil than I had ever even thought possible.


    That must have been part of the reason why she wanted to take me back to Mountainview. If she really


    didn’t want me to remember Nina or my friends, she would never have taken me back to Mountainview.


    She easily could have kept me hostage in the mansion, and eventually I would have sumbed


    completely to her spells and would have never remembered my past. But she decided to take me back


    to Mountainview as a test, and when I failed that test, she made my father wither away.


    “Enzo.”


    Nina’s voice was stern. I hadn’t realized it, but she had walked over to me and was now standing in


    front of me, her hands firmly wrapped around my wrists. When I finally broke out of my daze and


    looked down at her, she was staring up at me with fire in her eyes. “Lori texted me. Selena ising.


    We have to go now.”


    Nina’s words broke me out of my haze and I nodded. I walked over to my father’s bed and scooped him


    up; even if he was going to die soon, I didn’t want to leave him here. As I picked him up, his eyelids


    fluttered slightly and he looked up at me through his milky eyes. He was so light now that he was


    practically a skeleton.


    “Enzo…?” he muttered.


    “It’s okay, dad,” I whispered, even though I knew that it was a tant lie. “I’m taking you home.”


    Another lie.


    My father nodded weakly. I turned to see Nina and Luke standing in the doorway, waiting for me, and I


    followed them. We quickly and silently made our way through the corridors to leave the way we came,


    and thankfully no guards spotted us even in our haste. I held my father close to my chest, not wanting


    to shake him around too much, but I knew that there was no way he would befortable anyway.


    Selena had made sure to poison him with something that would cause him the most pain. I was able to


    use a bit of my healing abilities to ease his pain, but it would never be enough and I knew that.


    We made our way back over to the narrow steps that we walked up before and ran down them, taking


    a little less care this time to be quiet. Luke led the way through the maze-like hallways with Nina


    between us. I made sure to keep her in my line of sight the entire time as we ran, because there was


    something else that scared the hell out of me tonight.


    I knew that Nina nned on fighting Selena. And part of me realized, from the look in her eyes, that


    she knew that she wouldn’t survive it.


    Nina would kill Selena. I was sure of it. But there was also a good chance that Nina would die, too. I


    didn’t want that to happen; screw the Alpha King. Of course I didn’t want toe back here now that


    we had my father out, and I just wanted to run away with Nina and our friends and get away from all of


    this forever. But at the same time, I knew that it wouldn’t happen like that.


    There was a legend about two twin sisters. One made of light, and the other made of darkness. One


    could not live without the other, one could also not live with the other. They would be fated to die


    together. The death of the dark sister would bring about the end of the apocalypse, but a little bit of


    innocence — the light sister — would die, too.


    I had always thought that it was just a myth, but the story of Selena and Nina was too simr. It was


    bound to happen, and I think that both of us knew that it would happen tonight.


    But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t determined to change the course of fate. I had a n of my own for


    when that time came, and I wasn’t going to tell Nina about it.


    I just hoped that it would work.


    Finally, we managed to make our way out of the winding corridors and into the servants’ quarters. We


    then sprinted through the hallway there, and finally burst out into the cool night. None of us cared at


    this point if anyone saw or heard us; within just a few moments, Nina would open a portal and we


    would get out of here.


    We sprinted across the road to meet our friends, who were supposed to be waiting for us just inside the


    edge of the forest.


    But as we ran, I sensed already that something was off.


    And when we reached our meeting point, all of us stopped in our tracks when we saw that our friends


    were not waiting for us… Not like they were supposed to be. Instead, all three of themid motionless


    on the ground.


    Above their bodies stood two cloaked forms.


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