Chapter 159

“Meredyth? No! Never!”

“It is the only way to fully wake your powers, Emily,” another relative said, her voice hard. “If you don’t take her life, you cannot have the gifts that belong to you.”

“What kind of choice is this?” Anger burned inside me, hot and sharp. “I won’t take anyone’s life! I am a healer. I am not a rogue!”

My mother stepped in front of me, looking serious. “Are you sure, Emily? Think carefully. If you refuse, you will go back to your body. Declan will force the blood ritual, and slowly, he will drink your power until you die.”

I looked at Meredyth, then thought of Nathan and how he would hate me. Living forever meant nothing if it cost the life of someone I loved.

I looked down at the water, staring at Meredyth’s broken, bloody form.

She wasn’t just Nathan’s mother anymore. She was my family.

Flashbacks rushed through my mind, one after another.

I remembered how Meredyth stood by me and bel