Alex swallowed hard, but still didn’t say a word.

“Alright, that’s enough questions.” Stephan raised his hand in the air and snapped his fingers. “Bring me the memoria extracto.”

I glanced around the room. Who was he talking to? And what was the memario extracta or whatever the heck he’d said. Well, I was about to find out. A single Death Walker strode through the back door, carrying a small black box with a red eye painted on it.

It handed the box to Stephan and then left the room, taking all the warm air with it.

My body felt heavy and numb, but I wasn’t sure if that was from the cold air or from the significant amount of blood I’d lost.

Stephan’s dark eyes lit up as he opened the box and took out a grey rock.

Yeah, you heard me right. A rock.

“What is that?” I said, not sure whether I should freak out or not. I mean it was a rock for crying out loud. How bad could the thing be?

But any trace of humor I possessed slipped away as the rock turned black and started puffing out smoke.

“This is the most magnificent thing I’ve ever discovered.” Stephan held the smoking rock up for Alex and me to see. “It is so much better than detaching your soul because not only will it rid you of all of your memories, but it will wipe away everything inside your mind. You won’t even be able to function anymore.”

Vomit burned at the back of my throat. And even though I didn’t want to, I started to cry hysterically. My tears had no affect on Stephan whatsoever, which I assumed as much. But I caught a glimpse of guilt flash across Alex’s face.

Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t over for me yet.

“Alex, you can’t let him do this,” I cried. “Please. This is so much worse than detaching my soul, and you know it.”

I could see in his eyes that he could feel my pain, and for a moment, I thought I had him.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. “Please.”

And then….he turned his head away from me.

My heart broke. I knew I should’ve never trusted him. How could I have ever kissed him? As beautiful as he was, and as wonderful as his kisses felt, a part of me had always wondered if everything he did was a rouse.

And now I knew. That part of me had been right.

The prickle traced up the back of my neck, releasing an overwhelming sense of pain. And I’m not talking about the pain throbbing in my leg. Nope. This was a whole new level of pain. The kind of pain that grips at your heart and rips it apart. The pain that comes when someone betrays you.

Stephan walked up to me, the rock smoking madly in the palm of his hand. “It’s time.”

With tears streaming down my cheeks, blooding dripping down my leg, and my heart breaking, I shook my head. This was it. This was the end of my life. As short and sad lived as it was, I didn’t want it to come to an end.

Stephan held the rock in front of my face. For a split second, I thought I felt my skin glow warmly beneath where the locket was touching. But it happened so quickly that it was probably just my imagination. The sparks of electricity were going insanely wild, after all. They were probably heating up the metal.

“It’s time.” Stephan repeated.

I took one last look at Alex. His bright green eyes seemed to have lost a little of their shine. When I turned back to Stephan, a rush of warmth swept through my body. Funny, I would have guessed it would be cold.

Stephan grinned as I let out a painful gasp. I clutched onto the edge of the couch as my head started to hum. I was slipping away. I could feel it—the life leaving my body. I tried to think of my mom, her bright blue iris, her warm smile.

I tried to picture the life I’d never know.

The humming in my head rang louder and louder until I couldn’t think anymore—couldn’t feel. The last thing I saw was Alex’s horrified expression before my eyes slipped shut. He had no right to be horrified. He let this happen.

I thought I heard a loud crash, but my eyelids were too heavy to open. Everything shifted black, and then…

I was gone.