Don’t you dare listen to him, Zeph interrupted. I can feel his energy waning, Aflora. Don’t listen to him. Don’t let Kols do this!
Aflora,Shade whispered. Just take me… I’ve already lived seven lives with you. Eight including this one. It’s enough… it’s enough for me to know… that you’ve chosen this path, that you’re—
Zakkai’s growl infiltrated my mind as I released a pained gasp, the darkness roaring around me. I’m trying, but I can’t… I can’t hold on much longer… Aflora… Aflora you have to…
No!I shouted to them all. I won’t choose!
This wicked game had to end.
I wouldn’t sacrifice them.
I couldn’t.
And I told them that with a blast of power that left me breathless… yet bolstered their strands. Similar to what I’d done to Kols, my vines thriving around him, solidifying my grip.
I did it again.
They all pulsed back to life, their voices clearing more in my head.
Aflora,Zakkai warned.
I ignored him, shoving more vitality and power into their cords as the darkness around me began to shiver and retreat.
When I stopped, it crept forward again, yanking on my mates and weakening their bonds.
But when I pulsed outward once more… it stilled.
Constantine’s presence seemed to pause around me, his confusion a tangible brush to my senses.
And I smiled.
“I will not choose,” I said for a third time.
Then I released all my power and vitality into my mates, blasting them with every ounce of my strength and life, giving them my entire heart… and soul.
They shouted in my mind, demanding I stop.
But I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.
This was my sacrifice.
Wind whipped around me, the Dark Source accepting my path.
My veins began to throb, the energy spilling from me through four strands, invigorating my mates as my own soul began to weep.
They begged me to stop.
Kols demanded I listen.
Zakkai’s power wrapped around me as he tried to control my efforts, but I snapped his spell with one of my own, my heart breaking a little in the process at his resounding agony. I love you, I breathed to him.
I love you all, I said, whispering through their minds with my final words as I fell to my knees on an exhausted wheeze.
I was wrong before. Constantine wanted me to choose. I refused. Until now.
“I choose to sacrifice myself.”
My palms met the black floor.
And I unleashed every last drop of my being into their vines, their cries of pain at my loss… following me down… down… down…