The sickened luna’s last chance

“I’m so sorry,” I choked out between sobs. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Sorry? Why are you sorry?” Liam pulled back just enough to look at me. He was smiling, even if he knew he was condemned to die. “You’re alive. You’re here. I thought I’d lost you forever, but you’re here.”

“Liam, you’re not listening to me.” I pulled out of his arms, stumbling back a few steps. “Everyone who learns the truth about my curse dies. The farmer is dying right now because I told him who I was. And now you… You’re going to die, too. Because of me. Because I was too weak to keep my secret.”

The smile faded from his face. “You don’t know that for certain-”

“Yes, I do!” My hands were shaking so violently I had to clench them into fists at my sides. “Every single person Lilith told died within days, weeks at best. Every. Single. One.”

Liam was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “So we’ll just have to find a way to break the curse before that happens.” “There is no way to break it.” The words came out flat and dead. “My mother has been living with this curse for over twenty years. If there was a way to break it, don’t you think she would have found it by now?”

“Maybe she didn’t look hard enough. Maybe-”

“Liam, please.” I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “Please don’t give me false hope. I can’t… I can’t handle that right now.”

I wanted to run away and never look back and live in solitude for the rest of my life

“I’m telling you that I’m not going to just accept this. If

so impossibly stubborn. It was exactly like him

let him do this. I couldn’t let him waste whatever time he had left chasing after a cure that

“Right now. Go home and stay there where it’s safe. Don’t go anywhere. Don’t do anything risky. Just… Just stay

not going to lock

exist? Put yourself in danger trying to help me when I’m the reason you’re in danger in the first

the curse. Talk to people who might know something about it. Look through

more people? More potential accidents?” I shook my head violently. “No. Absolutely not. I won’t

get to make that

I wanted to throttle

I finally whispered.

another quick hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said against my hair. “We’re going

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