Chapter 161. A Sacrificial Love

Alison’s POV

“No!”

It was all I could scream. Just one word. One desperate, gut-wrenching, soul-tearing scream that tore from the deepest part of me. Because right in front of me, Xander had done the unthinkable. The unimaginable.

He had thrown himself in front of the witch’s curse.

One second, I was standing there, trying to gather my wits, watching the cursed energy coil around her fingers like smoke from hell and the next, Xander had shoved me back and taken the hit meant for me.

The sound that came out of him wasn’t human. His body convulsed violently, jerking like a puppet with its strings slashed. The blast hit him dead in the chest, and he fell with a sickening thud onto the dirt-covered ground.

“XANDER!” I screamed, dropping to my knees beside him. My voice cracked from the sheer agony tearing at my insides.

His eyes were wide open, but they were... blank. Hollow. Like the spark of him had been pulled from his soul. His body t