Chapter 107

XAVIER My eyes open to warmth and familiarity. Ophelia’s soft body is curled against mine, her face nestled into my chest, with Malachi’s hard torso at my back and Axl’s face on the pillow next to me. The feeling of contentment lasts for all of half a second before my entire world comes crashing down around me and a fresh new agony engulfs me like a forest fire. He’s gone. Just like that. All his power and his knowledge and his … I choke down a sob. Everything he was—it’s gone. And soon, we will be too. It all hurts so fucking much I can’t breathe. Ophelia’s fingertips skate over my chest before landing on the place directly above my heart, as though she’s still checking that I have one. I do, even if it feels broken beyond all repair. “Xavier.” Her warm breath rushes over my skin, reminding me I’m alive, and soon her pain merges with my own, swirling into one raging torrent of grief. Malachi and Axl must feel it because they stir awake. It takes but a few moments for the anguish to so