The cold steel of the blade was still in my hand, trembling slightly as the weight of what I’d just done settled over me. Ash lay before me, the blood pooling beneath him, dark and thick, a stark contrast against the pale glow of the cave. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths, the life slowly draining from him, but there was something in his eyes that would not fade: the anger, the disbelief, the darkness. He wasn’t done yet.
“You think you’ve won?” Ash’s voice was a rasp, thick with blood, his hand weakly reaching out toward me. “You think killing me will solve anything, Lux? You’re a fool.”
His words hit me like a slap. A part of me had hoped that this would be the end, that the chaos would stop once he was gone. But as I stood over him, knife still in hand, I realized that I h
