Chapter 48

Rhi

Pressure squeezesagainst the sides of my skull, and the sound and light around us bends and warps. I hang on to Tristan's arm with all my might, feeling Renzo's fingers tight in my hand, and praying with everything I have that the other two – Stone and Spencer – are with us too.

The oxygen in my lungs runs out and there's no air to breathe and just when I think I can stand it no longer, we land with a thump on the hard kitchen floor of the mansion.

"Rhianna!" I hear Azlan call and then a pair of strong arms catch me as I sway on my feet.

I blink open my eyes and as my vision swims into focus, sweep my gaze around the room, desperately counting, checking everyone is with us.

Renzo stands in front of me, swaying too. Tristan is hunched over his knees, retching, and Stone cradles Spencer in his arms, Winnie already hunched over him, examining his injuries.

"Spencer!" I cry, struggling in Azlan's arms.

"It's okay, Rhi," Stone says. "He's going to be just fine. We're going to sort him out."

I go to step towards him, to help them, but Azlan holds me tight.

"Just take a minute, Rhi. Just breathe." I do as he says, my racing heart rate slowing in the warmth of his embrace. "You did it," he says, kissing my crown. "Although what took you so long? I was beginning to worry."

"Things didn't quite go according to plan," I admit.

"I hate to say I told you so," Stone mutters, lifting Spencer's face to take a look at his nose. "But I most definitely did tell you so."

"And I definitely told you she could do it," Azlan says with pride in his voice.

"With Tristan's help," I say, and Azlan glances towards his cousin. "Where's Pip?" I ask and I hear a squeak from Renzo's ankles. I swing my gaze that way, in time to see the assassin sway left and then right.

"Fuck," he mutters before slamming down backward onto the floor, his head hitting the ground with a thwack that makes me wince.

"Renzo!" I cry as Pip butts his snout against the man's cheek.

I struggle free from Azlan's arms, rushing down to his side.

"Renzo, are you okay?" He stares up at the ceiling. His eyes unblinking and unmoving. Blank. His chest still. And I can't feel his magic – usually so vibrant, so chaotic, so alive. It's not there. I can't feel it at all.

"Renzo?!" I cry again, this time with more urgency, shaking at his shoulder.

Nothing. No response. And though I search for his magic, I can't find it. He's drained, completely drained.

"Azlan!" I scream. "Azlan!" I shake Renzo harder. "He's not moving. He's not moving." I lay my head above his mouth and will his breath to hit my cheek, to feel it rustle against my skin. Nothing. "He's not breathing. Winnie! Winnie! What do we do? Oh my god, what do we do? His magic's gone."

Which means …

Renzo is dead.

I scurry backwards, away from him, away from his lifeless body.

The world swoops and swerves and I can feel it spinning away from me, tipping me over into despair, like it did before, like it did when …

No, no, this can't be happening. Not to him. He's unstoppable. Im-fucking-mortal.

Faces spin in front of me, voices rise and fall. I don't understand. I don't know what's happening. I curl myself up tight into a ball, pain coursing through my body.

Not again! Not again!

"Rhi!"

A voice in my head. A hand at my shoulder.

"Rhi, stay with us."

Stone.

"Can you hear me?" he says, inside my head.

"He's gone," I say, unsure if I'm speaking out loud, the despair seeping through every part of my body. "Renzo's gone."

"You can save him, Rhi."

Save him?

I grab hold of the world with both my hands and force it to stop spinning. It comes to a screeching halt and then I'm back in the cold, silent kitchen with the body of my mate lying lifeless by my side.

"Save him?" I murmur. "Me?"

"Yes, Rhi," Azlan says. "You know what to do," he hesitates, "if you want to."

I stare down at the assassin's face. I know he's committed hideous crimes. I know he's killed and tortured and maimed for fun. I know a man like him should pay for his sins and maybe giving his life to save us all was the ultimate atonement. Perhaps that is justice.

Perhaps I don't give a shit!

I crawl forward, resting my hands above his heart and staring down into those empty eyes – the green one and the brown, staring straight back up at me, unseeing. Beneath my palm, his usually strong heart lies dormant, silent, waiting, and his face isn't frightening anymore. I see the boy he was. The lost boy. The boy without a family, without a home.

I let myself fall into his eyes and let my magic fall with me into his body, curling around his heart, caressing and cradling it, willing it to beat again. My magic seeps into his veins, binds into his being.

I give him my magic – just like Azlan gave me his – and I save Renzo Barone's life – just like Azlan did mine.

And in doing so, I seal the fated mate bond between us – permanently, irreversibly, forever.

Beneath my fingers, his heart murmurs, the faintest of twitches. Then another and another until it's thudding against his ribs. He sucks in a lungful of air, his eyes focusing in on my face.

For a heartbeat, he simply stares.

Then he smiles. He smiles like someone who just won the lottery.

"Fuck me, little rabbit," he laughs, "I fucking died."

And I fall backwards onto my behind and sob with relief into my hands.