31. Magnar

“You’re alone now, slayer,” Fabian hissed between gritted teeth as I fought to buck him off of me.

Julius had been beneath the waves for an eternity. Rage and grief flooded me in equal measures as I began to lose hope.

“I’m going to tear your guts from your body and force them down your foul throat,” I snarled.

Fabian’s fist slammed into my side and pain flared through me as a harsh crack sounded and my ribs broke for a second time. I coughed, bringing up blood and he laughed.

He punched me in the same spot again, sending stars swimming across my vision.

I caught his fist as he aimed for the same place a third time, squeezing as hard as I could until I felt his fingers shattering.

Fabian tried to rip his arm from my grip, but I gritted my teeth, clinging on as I twisted my hand sharply, feeling his wrist snap.

He jerked back, rolling off of me and I released him as I moved to follow. The pain in my side flared angrily and I coughed up more blood as I made it to my hands and knees. The bastard must have punctured my lung and I cursed him as I struggled to draw a breath. The injury would heal but not quickly and I didn’t have time to spare. Julius needed me.

I tried to push myself to my feet and Fabian’s boot landed on my side, sending me tumbling through the air.

I crashed into something and a metallic gong rang out before I struck the ground.

Someone was screaming, but I was still struggling to breathe and for a moment I couldn’t open my eyes. Darkness loomed as I started to lose consciousness and more blood pooled from my mouth. I couldn’t shake it off. I couldn’t rouse my muscles into action. I needed oxygen but each breath was a torrent of pain and I couldn’t draw enough in.

Soft hands touched my arm, shaking me with a desperate urgency as I struggled to remember where I was.

“Get up. You have to get up!” her voice was pleading, and her pain set something stirring in my chest but I couldn’t quite remember what.

“Magnar,” she begged, forcing her tongue to bend to her own will instead of Idun’s.

The sound of my name on her lips drew me back to her. She was fighting for me as I should have been fighting for her.

I groaned as I forced a breath into my lungs and agony blossomed in my chest. But it paled into insignificance as I opened my eyes and found her looking down at me through the bars of the cage. She was beautiful. This perfect thing which had been so damaged by the world. I wanted to take her pain from her and make it my own. If I could make her truly happy for even a single moment, then I knew my life would have been well spent.

I managed to reach between the bars and my fingers brushed along her cheek for a fleeting second, the moisture from her tears coating my skin.

Callie’s eyes turned from me and she looked up fearfully as footsteps approached. She reached out as far as she could, spreading her arms across me as if she could protect me from what we both knew was coming. My body was failing me. It wouldn’t heal fast enough and I could hardly breathe.

“Please,” she begged as tears streamed down her face. “Please- I’ll do anything you want. I’ll leave with you. I’ll be yours; you can have me and I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me. But just let him live.”

Fabian stepped over me, nudging my injured side with the toe of his boot, drawing a hiss of pain from my lips. I could feel my gifts flowing through my body, fighting to repair the damage to my ribs but it was too slow and I still couldn’t draw enough air into my lungs.

“You would leave with me?” Fabian asked her and I could hear how desperately he wanted her to do just that. But I would rather die than seal her to that fate. I knew she wasn’t bluffing, she would give herself to him to save me. But I wouldn’t let her do it. I would die first. If I was dead she wouldn’t have to go with him and I knew she’d fight to escape, she would have a chance to be free.

“No,” I growled, ignoring the pain it caused me to speak. “If you take her, I’ll never stop coming for you.”

Fabian snarled, placing his boot on my chest and pressing down so that agony raced through my body. Callie screamed but I blacked out for a moment and when I came back to myself he’d released me.

Callie’s touch had left me too and she was standing within the cage, holding Fabian’s arm so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

“You swear you’ll be mine?” Fabian demanded, staring into her eyes like he was searching for a lie.

“Callie,” Montana breathed in horror, looking from me to her in fear.

Callie’s eyes fell to me too and a desperate sob broke from her chest. “I swear,” she breathed to Fabian. “Just let him live.”

Fabian’s eyes narrowed as he followed her gaze and I could see jealousy flaring in his expression. No matter where he took her, he could tell she’d always be with me in her heart.

I wouldn’t let her condemn herself to a fate at his side just to protect my miserable existence.

“She’ll never stop loving me while I live,” I growled and I could see the truth of my words hitting him like a physical blow.

He knew I was right. And he knew what he had to do.

My eyes slid to Callie as he pulled his arm out of her grasp and a desperate sob broke from her lips. She was all I’d ever dreamed of. If I had to give my life to protect her then I’d do it willingly. I only wished it wouldn’t hurt her like I could see it would.

Fabian grabbed my arm and hurled me away from the cage. I hit the ground hard, rolling over several times and coughing up more blood. I tried to force my body to do something, anything, but I could barely push myself up onto my knees.

My enemy reached me in a blur of motion and kicked me back down so hard that the concrete split beneath me. He leapt on top of me with a snarl of anger.

Fabian wrapped his fingers around my throat and started to squeeze as he leaned closer to me.

“When you’re dead, I’ll take my wife back to my bed and show her what it’s like to be with a real man,” he growled as I fought to prise his hands from me. “I’ll make sure she forgets all about you and then I’ll give her the gift of immortality. She will stand by my side for the rest of time while you fade from memory as you should have done a thousand years ago.”

His words lit real fear in my soul, and I desperately tried to fight him off but my strength was leaving me.

Darkness started to curtain my vision as my damaged lung burned with pain from the ribs which pierced it. Fabian’s fingers gripped me tightly, cutting off what little oxygen I could find.

My arms grew slack and her screams began to fade away. I didn’t want to leave her. But if I had to die to keep her safe then my death would mean more than I’d ever hoped it could.

With me gone she wouldn’t have to go with him. She could fight. She could have a chance at the freedom this life had denied her.

My only regret was that I wouldn’t be there to share that freedom with her.

The life we could have had slipped away like the sun setting into an eternal night. Any chance of happiness, of having our own family and living out our days together were suddenly, unalterably over.

My cause had always been the driving force of my existence. I’d let my thirst for revenge guide every move I’d ever made. But now I realised that there had been so much more to life. And it was too late to grasp it. I’d chosen vengeance over my human desires. That path had stolen everything from me: my family, my soulmate and ultimately, the final, desperate beat of my heart.