Chapter 270: Chapter 270: Sacrifice

No. Failure was not an option. Give up on this amazing woman who had only ever been my friend? Never. I threw power at Danilo, pouring it into him as I had Iepa, feeling the strain of the loss of my magic so soon after encountering the void again but not caring, not even a little bit.

They could have it all. She could have every last scrap if it meant saving Femke Svennson from a fate worse than death.

But she was dying still, her mind falling from mine, grasping for me as I panted out the seemingly infinite power at my disposal, knowing then no matter how much magic I had access to it wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. I just didn't know what I was doing. Without the tools to separate her from Konstantin, she was doomed.

Her head turned, lolling back on her long, thin neck, eyes returning to that blue I knew so well. And, in the final instant Femke had, she surfaced like a drowning victim one last time, gasping for air, knowing she was through.

"Syd," she whispered. "Kill me."