Chapter 40

40

LINCOLN

S creams and shouts ring out around me as everyone starts moving, but it's like everything is happening in slow motion. I'm trying to move but I can't, my feet aren't moving fast enough, I can't get over to him fast enough. Suddenly I am eight years old again, watching my mother die right in front of my eyes, and I can't do anything to stop it.

No, this can't be happening, not again.

"Logan," I roar, his name tearing from my throat as I drag Asher towards where he dropped, and look down at him in disbelief. "Lo," I snap, as Marcus comes to my aid and takes over holding Asher, as I fall to my knees, pressing my hands to his body and he grunts in pain. "Someone call 911," I yell, wondering where Arthur is, as blood starts to appear at the side of his mouth. "Logan, what can I do, tell me what to do?" I beg, as panic almost threatens to consume me, my eyes searching his body for the worst of his injuries, but they're everywhere.

"Look at me," Logan splutters, his fingers flexing as if he is trying to reach for my hand, and I intertwine our fingers. "I love you, Lincoln Blackwell, I want you to know that, I love you so fucking much," he tells me firmly, his words gasped and forced, but I 'm already shaking my head.

"No, don't you fucking dare say that to me, not like this," I snap, ripping open his shirt, only to choke out a cry. His entire torso is turning a mixture of black and purple. Fuck . "He's bleeding internally," I cry to no one in particular, and all of them just stand and stare, knowing none of them can save him.

"I love you," he forces out again, staring at me with nothing but pain, before he flicks his eyes up to Ash. "And fuck, I love you too, Asher Donovan. I think I have since the first moment I saw you," he splutters, coughing out more blood, but Asher just stares at him in complete and utter silence.

I hear Elle crying, as Arthur bursts out of the door screaming his son's name, but Logan's focus moves back to me, his tears mixing with blood as he looks at me expectantly.

"I love you too," I breathe, leaning down and pressing my lips to his, kissing him with everything I've got, and tasting his pain, before dropping my head to his. "I love you. You're the first person I ever let myself love since I was a fucking kid, so you can't fucking leave me, not like this, stay with me, please," I plead, knowing that if I lose him, I will never recover.

"I love you," he repeats, his voice fading a little, and I pull back and see his eyes glazing over, as Arthur drops down on his other side.

"Son, can you hear me?" He asks, filled with nothing but pain, as his medically-trained eyes assess the damage that's been done, only to look completely defeated. "It's okay, my son, I'm here, I've got you," he forces out, swiping his tears with his shoulders, as Zack drops to his knees in disbelief.

Jace is holding back a crying Helen, but the pain-filled scream comes from his twin's mouth, as she rushes from the house. "Logan," she shrieks, running towards us, only for Max to catch her around the waist, as she collapses when she spots Logan lying on the floor. "What are you all doing?" She wails. "Do n't just fucking stand there, do something, help him!" She fights against Max's hold, as Logan seems to finally hear her pained cries.

"Lily," he breathes out her name with a contented smile on his face, and my heart starts to break. "My sweet Lilypad," he sighs, looking up to the sky, and his hand goes loose in mine.

"I'm here, Logan, it's okay, I'm here, just stay with me, please," she begs, breaking her way out of Max's arms and crawling on her knees to reach her twin. "You can't leave me, remember? It's just me and you against the world. You have my back, and I have yours," she sobs, throwing her arms around him, but he doesn't respond, he can't.

Because Logan Royton is dead.

She must feel his life slip away beneath her, because she pulls back and starts to scream. "No, please no, I need you, don't fucking leave me," she sobs, moving to start CPR on him, and watching her pump her hands against his lifeless chest will probably stay with me forever. "No, you promised me, Lo, you promised you would never leave me, and you never break your promises," she blubbers out, as Arthur tries to console her.

"He's gone," he chokes out, and more cries sound out around me, as I drop back from my knees to the floor, staring at his body in shock.

"No, he can't be gone, he was all I had left, I can't lose him," she cries, her entire body beginning to tremble, as she starts to shake her brother. "Wake up, please, Logan, just come back to me, I can't do this without you, you have to wake up, please," she begs, her voice breaking completely on that last word, as Zack staggers to his feet and moves towards her.

"Lils," he breathes, dropping back to his knees beside her, and gently grabbing her chin between his fingers. "Lils, he's gone, Sweetheart, he isn't coming back," he forces out, tears streaming down his face, as Helen breaks completely, and Jace has to slo wly drop them down to the floor just to keep hold of her.

His words seem to get through to her as she mutters, "No, he's not gone, he can't be." Then the sobs shake her entire body, as Zack pulls her into his arms and they cry together, yet all I can do is stare at Logan's body.

Two minutes ago he was telling me he loved me, and now he's dead.

How fucked up is that?

"Asher," Elle screams in a panic, and I turn just in time to see his body go limp in Marcus' arm, as he struggles to hold him upright, and all I can do is watch in horror as he passes out completely.

My eyes flick around the driveway, as sirens start to blare in the distance, and I can see the sorrow and pity in the eyes of the security team. Like them, I watch as a family mourns their dead son and brother, the man I love, while the rest of them rush to Asher's side. Marcus performs CPR as Max stems the bleeding in his shoulder, while Elle screams his name over and over, and all I can do is sit and watch it all unfold.

I can hear Jace calling my name, shaking my shoulders, as two of the security guys lift Helen off the floor, but my eyes only move between Logan and Asher. One of them already dead, and the other one dying, and it's all my fault.

I should have known that monsters don't ever get happy endings.