Music Recommendation: Heartbeat - James Arthur

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"No!!!"

Violet let out a blood-curdling scream. The sound ripped from the deepest part of her, tearing through the air with such force it might as well have carried magic with it.

For a moment, the world seemed to pause. Everything collapsed into the singular, horrifying image of blood pouring from Asher’s throat.

"No... no, no, no—!"

Violet rushed forward, barely catching him at the last moment, his weight dragging them both to the ground. She moved immediately, her hands shaking violently as she pressed them against his neck as if she could somehow force the blood back inside.

"Stay with me," Violet choked out, her voice breaking with fear. "Asher, stay with me!"

The blood was warm. Asher opened his mouth, trying to say something, but all that came out was a wet gurgle as blood filled his throat.

"Don’t speak!" she shouted at him.

Goddess, there was too much blood. It slipped through her fingers no matter how hard she pressed, slick and relentless, staining her hands and soaking into her clothes.

"Why aren’t you healing?!" Violet cried in frustration, pressing harder against the wound. Tears blurred her vision as she tried to summon her healing powers.

She had been told that earth wielders often possessed healing abilities. Unfortunately, that part of her power had never been trained. They had been too focused on combat.

After all, what use was minor healing in battle? No one had planned for this. No one had imagined she would be here, trying to save one of her mates from himself.

Moreover, there were healers in the palace.

The palace. Goddess above, this was her fault.

If they had stayed, Zuru could have saved him. She should carry him back, but deep down, Violet already knew that they wouldn’t make it.

Asher was dying.

Instead of stabilizing, her power surged wildly beneath her skin, unstable and frantic, reacting to her panic. The ground beneath them trembled, and the flowers around them wilted under the pressure of her grief.

"M-my p-purple queen..." Asher’s hand lifted weakly, reaching for her as he called her favorite name, his voice breaking with pain.

His eyes were filled with such quiet wonder as he stared at her, as if she was the only thing that mattered.

Violet shut her eyes, leaning into the touch she desperately wanted to feel, but it never came.

The weight of his hand dropped and her eyes snapped open.

Asher’s gaze was still and unmoving.

He was gone.

"No... no... this isn’t happening," she rasped, her voice hoarse. "Asher? Asher?!" She shook him, as if this was all a cruel trick and he would wake up.

"Asher!" Violet screamed as cold, suffocating fear settled deep in her chest, reality crashing down on her.

"No! Asher! No! You can’t do this to me!" she sobbed. "You can’t do this. You can’t leave me like this..."

Violet’s breath hitched violently as she leaned closer, pressing her forehead to his, her entire body trembling.

"You said... you said you’d never leave me..." Her voice shattered. "I won’t let you. I won’t!"

Then Violet lifted her gaze to the sky, anger blazing through her grief.

"You cannot take him away! This is not what you promised me! Give him back to me. I command you!"

Nothing answered. The sky did not split open. No goddess came. There was only silence.

Desperation clawed its way through her chest, and her voice broke completely.

"Please... do something," Violet whispered, praying to a goddess who did not answer.

What was the point of being called the goddess’s daughter if she couldn’t even save him?

Anger coursed through her. If this was what the goddess allowed, then maybe she should burn it all. Asher had always said he would destroy the world for her.

Now she would do it for him.

Power thickened in the air as darkness began to seep from her body, spreading outward. There was no more light inside her, only grief and rage.

The field darkened as the corruption spread, flowers turning to ash the moment the darkness touched them.

But then came his voice. "Control. Discipline."

The memory of his training struck her like a blow.

Asher would never want this. Not if it meant she would carry the weight of every life lost because of it.

Just like that, the darkness vanished.

Violet collapsed, her strength giving out as she slumped over his body, sobs tearing through her.

"I can’t do this... please..." she whispered into the emptiness. "Please just take me. I cannot live without him. Just take me too."

Then she remembered. The pixies. Her wish.

"Pixies!" Violet shouted desperately. "If you can hear me, I need your help! Please, help me!"

"Please... don’t turn your back on me too," she begged, the words falling from her lips like a broken prayer as she clung to Asher’s still body.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then out of nowhere, the pixies blinked into existence, their small wings beating rapidly as they hovered together, speaking over one another in their bright, chirpy voices.

"The princess calls in her favor."

"Yes, the princess wants our help."

"But pixies do not raise the dead."

Violet’s heart dropped at once, her last shred of hope shattering with those words.

"Please!" she cried, desperation stripping her bare. "Tell me how to get him back then. I’ll go to hell myself if that’s what it takes."

"Yes," one of them said, "pixies can show the princess how to get the beast back."

Violet’s eyes widened, hope slowly creeping back in.

Another pixie said, "The princess can share her life force with her beast."

"What?" Violet blinked, unsure she heard right. Wasn’t soul-sharing the same thing Queen Seraphira and Baron had done? Not that Violet cared about the consequences. She would do anything to get Asher back.

"But the beast is dead," another pixie argued.

"I see the beast," one replied stubbornly. "He’s not far gone. He still lingers here. The princess can bring him back if she’s strong enough."

"It’s too dangerous. The princess can die!"

"I’ll do it," Violet said with firm determination. "Show me how." It wasn’t a request. It was a command.

The pixies stopped fluttering about, all four of the tiny creatures hovering in place as they exchanged glances.

Then they nodded in silent agreement.

"As the Princess wishes," the one with yellow hair and wings said, flying forward and gently pressing a kiss to Violet’s forehead.

For a moment, nothing happened. Violet frowned, confusion flickering across her face and then the knowledge of the ritual flooded her mind all at once.

It wasn’t just a memory, but magic. The kind that took hold of her completely.

As if guided by something beyond her control, Violet reached for the dagger and slit her palm. She did the same to Asher, and then pressed their palms together, letting her blood spill over his.

Her lips began to move, unfamiliar words she had no business knowing spilled from her mouth.

"Fuil go fuil. Anáil go hanáil.

Stróicim an brat idir bás agus beatha.

An té a éilíonn thú, diúltaím dó.

An rud a choinníonn thú, brisim é.

Níl d’anam caillte fad is a dhóitear mo cheannsa.

Ceanglaím thú leis an mbeatha. Ceanglaím thú liom."

"Blood to blood. Breath to breath.

I tear open the veil between death and life.

What claims you, I defy.

What holds you, I break.

Your soul is not lost while mine still burns.

I bind you to life. I bind you to me."

Violet felt it at once, like something had clamped onto her heart, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

"Don’t give up now, princess!" she heard the pixies encouraging her.

"Fuck!" Violet screamed, breaking character. It hurt like hell, as if someone had physically grabbed her heart and was trying to split it into two, if that even made sense.

Was this what Baron felt when he bound her mother’s soul to his? Okay, maybe she understood his anger just a little. This hurt like a bitch.

But she didn’t give up.

Violet kept chanting, holding tightly onto Asher’s hand even as tremors wracked through her body. She knew the moment she felt that tether, that she had grabbed onto Asher’s soul.

However, the pain doubled.

"Aah!" she screamed as blood rushed from her nose, ears, and eyes.

Violet understood the resistance. Death didn’t want to let go.

But even death hadn’t felt the fury of a princess fighting for her mate.

Above them, the sky began to churn, dark clouds gathering as thunder cracked and lightning split across the heavens. The wind picked up violently, and Violet could hear the shrieks of the pixies, but she was far gone now.

Right now, she was at war with death, and he was not winning. Not today.

"I’m the goddess’s daughter!" Violet shouted, her voice booming like thunder as she pulled at Asher’s soul from that tight, diabolical vice.

She must have been hallucinating, because she swore she saw herself dragging Asher from a bottomless pit that had been trying to swallow him whole.

Then a sudden, overwhelming calm washed over her.

The last thing she saw was a pair of familiar, slitted gray eyes fluttering open, and a small smile curved her lips. She won.

"Mine," he whispered.

Then the darkness claimed her.