Rylee!" Snow and the rest yelled, waiting for her to be thrown back by the force of the fire, but wait they did; however, Rylee and Ryan did not come out.
"What just happened?" Snow asked, walking close to the fire, and as she put her hand in it, she was thrown back forcefully, and if it weren't for Jacob jumping in at the right time to catch her, she would have landed on Cain's feet or even in front of the deranged.
They both fell on the ground, crashing heavily.
"That is what I expected to happen," Idrissa said in shock as Malachi rushed to help them up.
"But why didn't it happen to Aliyha?" Maleeka asked the very question in everyone's mind; even Cain was shocked as he never saw that happen.
Taking the cue, Cameron ran out into the clearing; he had heard Snow scream for Rylee, but from their position, they couldn't see the front of the palace, so he didn't know what had happened.
Damien knew Cain would see him, and to protect him, he rushed after him, causing Steven and Aton to join as well.
Cain was shocked to see them; at first he had thought four of his deranged had lost control, but when he saw how they ran up to the palace and didn't attack, he knew they were still okay, and he frowned.
He was sure that every wolf had been infected; how come they were safe?
Cameron ran into his tent to shapeshift and put on some clothes; Steven did the same, and when they walked out fully clothed, Aton and Damien followed suit.
"What happened?" Cameron asked Snow now, still holding Anita in his arms.
"She jumped into the fire," Genevieve answered.
"What?" Cameron and Steven asked at the same time, "How is it possible? No one can pass through the fire; I know because I tried," Cameron said.
"Rylee did," Vertimon answered, "and now I am wondering if it's because she is his mate or something?" He glanced at his fellow demons to help him out, but they shrugged; none of them had witnessed such a thing before, so they didn't know what to make of it.
***
Rylee landed in front of the palace; the front door was right before her, and she quickly checked herself and Ryan for any burnt mark, but they were okay.
She couldn't believe that worked. She had seen in her dream last night that Ryan could pass the fire, although in her dream, it had seemed he crawled into the fire himself, and while trying to pull him back to avoid him getting hurt, she had grabbed onto his leg, and her hand touched the fire, and nothing happened.
She had woken up then to see that she was carrying Ryan in her arms, and the fact that Ryan was still a few weeks old and hadn't even reached the stage to crawl made her wonder if that was actually a dream or a revelation.
However, she had been too scared to try since morning, not wanting to hurt Ryan or herself. But desperate times call for desperate measures.
The only place Ryan could be safe is inside the palace, and besides, for what she planned on doing, it is only right that she left him with his father and also got to say goodbye to him.
She heaved a deep sigh and hugged Ryan closely as she pushed open the big door.
The palace was as she remembered it; everything was intact and looking peaceful.
She went up to her bedroom, but Kieran was not there, and so she went to search for him in his private living room. He was also not there.
She frowned. Where else could he be sleeping if not in their bedroom?
At that moment, she remembered that she had once shown her a throne room; now that he has a throne, there was a possibility he was there when the fight happened, and so she found her way to the room.
The door was left ajar like something or someone had crashed into it, and there were tiny pieces of glass scattered everywhere on the floor.
Immediately she stepped into the room, she saw him. He was still in the attire he wore that night that she last saw him.
Her eyes brimmed with tears as she rushed to him. Placing Ryan beside him on the floor, she placed her head on his chest and wept.
His heartbeat was slow, beating once in a minute, and she raised her head to look at him. He looked peaceful, and there wasn't any wound on him.
She reached up and caressed his smooth and fair face softly, sniffling as she did.
"You promised to always be here, remember? You promised to always be by our side, but look at us; we are forced to live without you."
She waited, but there was no movement from the man lying on the floor. Rylee cried some more, her tears
"Cain is attacking; all the wolves and nightwalkers have been turned. There is no hope to ever survive this or walk out of it alive unless you wake up, unless you help us. Please, Kieran, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes? Please," she sobbed.
"I don't know what to do; I can't let everyone die; I will never live with myself if I do. I have to do something, Kieran, but I'm afraid if I do it, I won't be able to wait for you to wake up. I won't be here waiting when you do. What will you do then? Will you kill the people I died to save?"
Ryan whimpered softly, and she left Kieran to pick him up. She carried him in her arms, sitting beside Kieran on the floor.
"I don't know what else to do; without you, I am the only hope. Also, even if you wake up, how can you heal the infected? At least you would see that it's my decision, my decision to save them, and then you won't hurt them, right?"
She sighed and kissed Ryan on the forehead, sniffling as she looked at him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, and his eyes flashed blue. "I won't be here to watch you grow up, but I'm sure you will get all the love you need, and plus the fact that your father would be with you, he would protect you. I am sorry, but this is the only way to save our people. You will understand when you grow up, right? And know that I didn't abandon you, right? I love Ryan; I love you so much," she hugged him, her tears wetting his black hair.
She had always wondered what Snow meant by that she would die if she tried to save everyone; with Kieran's healing speed, she would have healed as soon as she was cutting herself. But what Catherine said earlier, she finally figured it out: with a slow healing speed and loss of blood, that's how she won't survive. It was all starting to make sense.
She forced herself to stop crying and wiped her nose. She glanced at Kieran and smiled softly, "You know, I only have one regret: not getting to hear you say you love me. I know you do, but it would have been sweet to hear you say it all the same."
She sighed and placed Ryan beside him as well, then she leaned forward and kissed Kieran's cold lips.
"I love you, Kieran. I always have, and I always will. If I can get to come alive again, even if it takes another two thousand years, I will still love you if I see you; I know that now."
She sighed and caressed his face, tracing his brows with her fingertips. She leaned forward and placed her forehead on his, closing her eyes and remembering their times together, the time he was sweet to her and also threatening to kill her.
She smiled and opened her eyes. "I hope that when you wake up this time, you will be as you used to be, not the Kieran I have come to know these past days, but the real you, the Kieran that I fell for."
She glanced at Ryan; the boy was looking at her; however, he wasn't crying or even whimpering. She smiled and kissed his forehead once more.
"Look after him for me, would you? He can be stubborn, but he is really nice. What am I saying? You might grow up to be just like him," she chuckled and laid her head on Kieran's chest.
After some minutes, she forced herself to get up, and as she did, she picked a broken glass with her. With one last glance at her family, she sighed, and her eyes became determined as she turned and walked away from the love of her life with only one thing in mind: to get it over and done with.