𝐒𝐲𝐧 ┃𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

125. 𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛

Syn

Kill him.

You can't kill him.

You have to kill him.

My mind warred with the thought as Saint's body felt limp in my arms. His heartbeat was getting weaker and weaker by the second-- the intervals between each beat becoming more and more pronounced. I was losing him.

My mind stayed with Aiden, keeping him restrained as I walked to the barrier. I was sure if I tried hard enough I could manage to take it down, but it would probably kill me. I was already on my last limb from walking in here and getting Saint. My head spun, my vision becoming blotchy as blood dripped from my nose.

I blinked the blurriness away and shook my head, focusing on the spell he cast. There were a few things I could try...but I couldn't do two things at once right now. Taking down the barrier meant letting Aiden go. No doubt he'd attack me, but all I needed was one second to place Saint outside it. Whatever happened afterward didn't matter.

"Drake! Kill him!" I heard Aiden scream from behind me. My eyes snapped to Drake who was standing up and I glanced away. This just so happened to be the perfect time for him to get his revenge like he'd been wanting to.

Instead and to my surprise, he grabbed the grimoire from Cleo's hands and walked away. Good for him. Cowardly, but admirable. This way he'd get what he wanted and his hands would be clean. As he said to me before, "I'm not like you." Fine.

I began whispering spells, feeling a burn pass through my body and I heard Drake curse. "I'm going to kill you."

I looked at him and nodded slowly.

He muttered a response below his breath before flipping through the grimoire. "You should know I'm not as powerful as Cleo. I can only hold the barrier down for a few seconds at most. The moment it goes down, run."

A weak nod was all I could manage.

He knelt on the floor, working quickly and with a finesse only an experienced warlock would have. The clouds began rolling in, raindrops falling as the rumbling of thunder started. His chant was low as he cut his palm with a blade and let it drip onto each of the symbols on the ground. They sizzled, turning a bright red. He pressed his hand into each of them, burning his palm before laying it flat against the dome.

It crackled under his touch and my head seared in pain as Aiden fought my hold on him.

"Aperiam in diaboli," Drake said, the wound on his hand turning blood red. The barrier flashed the same color, disappearing completely as he screamed out. "Now!"

I set Saint down beside him, carefully as ever before stepping back. Into the barrier. It appeared again only a moment later and Drake looked at me. Only gave me a single nod of understanding before looking around at Saint and everyone around him. "I will take care of everything out here and we'll come back. Same plan."

I believed him but I had a feeling things wouldn't work out that way. The plan flew out the window the moment Aiden crossed the line and lured Saint in. Not wanting to give false hope or discourage him, I nodded once again. "Is he breathing?" I asked him, my voice breaking slightly. I couldn't make out a heartbeat anymore. All I could hear was the thunder and the pounding against my frontal lobe.

"He is," he nodded, throwing him over his shoulder. "He will be okay. When Cleo wakes up, we will send him back to his body." He looked at me, reading my expression. "Thank me later. Stay alive," he considered his words, "...or don't. Can I be king if you die?" I gave him a blank look. Out of all times..."Not the time?"